https://www.cyclingweekly.com/group-tes ... ide-467037
Ho ho...

Lightweight bikepacking bags are good for a fast and quick trip, but the classic combination of a rack and panniers is a good way for carrying more things in a longer and more relaxed trip. If you aren’t a fan of rubbing your knees on frame and top tube bags, this can be a good option for keeping your kit out of the way.

How the hell do you rub your knees on your bag
And its all " adventure" bikes and pricey even the sonder is a Ti version

Well, that really is sh1te isn't it. I reasise it's Cycling Weakly but how can you list the top 5 bikepacking bikes and not include something capable of going off road

"while bikepacking bikes have extra mounts". Really? More mounts, more stuff.

£4000, £3900, £4800..... crack on chaps, see you out there.

Good grief Charlie Brown!

I almost died laughing when I saw the Pinarello!

Stalkers alert....

Well looking at Stefan Abram's FB or Instagram pages he's never ridden a bike in the rain or mud let alone stapped any bags to it.

Isn’t the best bike the one you have already? But that story doesn’t sell magazines or bikes.

Lazarus wrote: ↑Fri Sep 11, 2020 1:40 pm How the hell do you rub your knees on your bag
And its all " adventure" bikes and pricey even the sonder is a Ti version

Easily and its common.

Not really defending CW, but to give an idea of that page/article. It's just clickbait and thats how CW will make some money.
They will know that bikepacking is growing and popular, so thats why it has that headline.

They will only list the bikes they have actually tested too, so it can link to another page, then another page... etc.

I have that Pinarello coming in to ride and test something else on myself soon, so I will be able to let you all know if its actually any good for bikepacking!

I'll also say I know one of the main guys at CW (not the writer of this) and he is a top guy and a good rider, on and off-road,

Not really defending CW, but to give an idea of that page/article. It's just clickbait and thats how CW will make some money.
They will know that bikepacking is growing and popular, so thats why it has that headline.

I can't accept that as an excuse for lazy and misleading journalism.

Easily and its common.

Really - how?[genuine question]
Does it happen standing up ?
You are going to have to twist your knee in a fair way given the Q factor

The article is sub standard but frame, tt and stem bags do rub my knees and it used to drive me bonkers. I’ve got used to it now but it took a while.

At least they admit in their writing

"With each product is a ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Best Deal’ link. If you click on this then we may receive a small amount of money from the retailer when you purchase the item. This doesn’t affect the amount you pay."

Not much help for the small independent bike packing specialist shops and soft luggage manufacturers but perfect for the upper class R.apha mug dangler riders

Lazarus wrote: ↑Fri Sep 11, 2020 9:32 pm

Easily and its common.

Really - how?[genuine question]
Does it happen standing up ?
You are going to have to twist your knee in a fair way given the Q factor

Some bags will splay out if packed tightly. Some are worse than others.
If you pedal with knees close to the top tube normally then it is likely to be a problem.

Some bags, or rather some material is worse than others though. What also makes a big difference is the starting width and some bags are made wide to start, others are narrower and have some tolerance.

Sitting down with frame bags. Standing up with stem cells and top tube bags is most common.
Everyone is different though and that can be a difficulty in testing kit and trying not to make it too personal.

+1 another knee/bag rubber here

Cheers all I stand corrected - though never been an issue for me

Lazarus wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 10:02 am Cheers all I stand corrected - though never been an issue for me

Bandy legged cowboy maybe?

Road bike cranks put the pedals ~20mm closer in than MTB cranks, so leg-bag rub can happen pretty easily. I can scuff the hairs off the inside of my upper knee area on a muddy MTB-packing ride.

. I reasise it's Cycling Weakly but how can you list the top 5 bikepacking bikes and not include something capable of going off road

Controversial answer - because bikepacking doesn't need to include any off-road? And for roadpacking all you need is a road bike ideally with bigger tyres? And many of those bikes will go off-road - either with hard tyres that beat you up, or fairly slowly, on the brakes fully down every descent, in a way that suits roadies who can't handle a mountain bike that could go a lot faster? ( part of that last point was partly in jest).
I think it's just the roadie angle on it all from CW though.

I actually find the mug danglers quite motivating, having it attached to the rear pack if I come up behind one it redoubles my efforts to pass them. There were a few at the Badlands but they disappeared after the first 40km which wouldn't have been out of place on a cross country mountainbike race.

I'm going to start dangling a mug while riding fast on my light'n'tightly packed 29er just to annoy those who pick up on the usual stereotype of mug danglers

I have that Pinarello coming in to ride and test

Interested to hear what you think of it. My first reaction was a sort of horrified recoil, then I stated to like how bold they were with the styling. It really isn't my cuppa but I'm glad they went that far with it. I'm sure Colnago's Art Decor paint had the same reactions from some back then.

Controversial answer - because bikepacking doesn't need to include any off-road? And for roadpacking all you need is a road bike ideally with bigger tyres?

True but I still don't see how it's possible to "list the top 5 bikepacking bikes" and only include road bikes ... unless you add some kind of caveat to that statement?

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 10:54 am

Controversial answer - because bikepacking doesn't need to include any off-road? And for roadpacking all you need is a road bike ideally with bigger tyres?

True but I still don't see how it's possible to "list the top 5 bikepacking bikes" and only include road bikes ... unless you add some kind of caveat to that statement?

'Top 5 Bikepacking Bikes For Our Almost Exclusively Road-Riding Readership' is a clunky state-the-obvious title? : )

(though the alliteration helps smooth it out a bit)
(sorry)

Other reason may be - ever see the wailing and whining at an early e-bike feature on Singletrack? It probably threatened a few of those recent Enduro bike big-£ purchases or some readers' views of what 'the sport' was to them and how they fitted into it. I think people read mags or sites for a fairly narrowed view (or papers for an extremely narrowed view) and they don't generally like those views to be challenged. CW saying a 29er HT is a better bike for off-roading might be too far outside the range that the readers expect.

Oh, and they're more likely to get click-though money from featuring bikes close to what readers already have or may be thinking of buying (as mentioned above with the click-through transparency). 29ers will produce less interest and less £. After all, any larger media body is almost wholly about clicks and money isn't it.

Bandy legged cowboy maybe?

As opposed to the pigeon toed riders on here

Lazarus wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2020 4:30 pm

Bandy legged cowboy maybe?

As opposed to the pigeon toed riders on here

Knock-kneed more like

jameso wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 10:45 am I'm going to start dangling a mug while riding fast on my light'n'tightly packed 29er just to annoy those who pick up on the usual stereotype of mug danglers

Not mug dangling but my first BAM (in a while, gave up last one before I got the 12) last minth had me dangling the coffee dripper yhing (Hario) but I ensurwd to have the inner facing the bag. So Stu couldn't pop any fake poo in it if he rode past...