redefined_cycles wrote: ↑Tue May 13, 2025 12:08 am The best bike for bikepacking is the one you currently own and enjoy to ride (Bontrager or a friend of his maybe).

No but seriously, have you thought about something from Fairlight or a Santa Cruz. None UK made sorry. I personally stay away from Sonder but it might just be me and poor customer service/warranty experience.

If wanting something made in the UK I imagine you will be paying a massive premium and not necessarily getting anything particularly robust as many others!

Looking forward to the fights

Valerio wrote: ↑Tue May 13, 2025 12:37 am
I 100% agree with you, but I think it's time i try a MTB and see what the fuss is all about....

Fairlight Holt is on my short list (not shortlist)....but so is the Broken Road haha

I'd be very tempted by a cotic solaris if I wanted something UK based.

voodoo_simon wrote: ↑Tue May 13, 2025 7:18 am Cheeky pop at you but it’s hard to recommend a mountain bike when your gravel bike is more mountain bike than my actual mountain bike

Flat bar your chutthroat?

Maybe a shorter travel, full sus bike may compliment your bike shed setup?

I do like my Trek Procaliber, but it’s only 100mm front fork but the back end is very comfortable (despite being rigid there’s some built in flex) and so, feels similar to what you already have

I do love my Salsa El Mariachi but they don’t make it anymore, so maybe a Brother Big Bro but I’ve never ridden one

jameso wrote: ↑Tue May 13, 2025 8:52 am I'd be looking for something that isn't too LLS in the geometry but also not too XC. I used to be quite pro the 'normal' seat tube angles for long distance stuff but I've been getting used to steeper pedalling positions in the last 2-3 years and as long as that's not been related to my hip issues (who knows but I don't think so) I'd say I could ride something like that over long days as long as the overall ride position balance was good. The Cannondale Scalpel HT looked good to me but it was carbon and £££. If they'd have made an Alu CAAD 12 style version I'd have bought one.

Controversial maybe but I would go for aluminium. I don't have the same long-term relationship kind of aims with hardtails and for performance-oriented bikepacking I' say weight is important, it all adds up. I think the steel comfort thing is old now, a good alu frame can have a bit of torsional give that I like and the frame's a very small part of vertical compliance comfort.

Whatever it's made from I'd want something durable w/o likely failure points. A bike lke this gets a lot of use and a big trip or race that's halted by a frame failure would be really annoying (this is why I raced TD on my steel Jones not my Ti Jones, because I trusted the steel bike more and over that distance the weight was less important. In the end the Ti bike did fail, it just took another 8 years. The steel bike is going strong having done about 2x the use/ distance).
It suprises me how many bikes still seem to have fatigue failure points designed into them - poory-considered internal cable port locations, or heavily crimped chainstays for tyre clearance that seem to be starting to fail. I'd discount some bikes based on that.

So ... the Specialised Chisel hardtail maybe. Not really a 'heart' decision but if I wanted to be fast over an average ATB-style type route it'd be brilliant. Would make a great training bike for 2-3hr singletrack sessions and the complete bikes are a great price for a technically excellent alu frame.

Edit to add, if you're not looking for a hardtail and steel appeals, at least test ride a Jones SWB. Ignore the looks and just ride it a few hours on mixed terrain - everything from steep rocky tech to the lanes. You may not love it as much as some owners do, but it'll give you a perspective on all-round ATBs that pretty much no other bike can. And it's a good weight for a frameset full stop, I think it's 5.25lbs for a frame and 2.8lbs for a fork (that's light for a steel disc MTB fork). I'd say its light overall for something that can be ridden as hard as it can and handles loaded riding like it was made for it, and it rides as if it almost rides itself at times.

It's on the technical side that I feel it's a bit lacking (more like: i don't have the skills for it!).

an updated Ramin 3 which would be a rigid alu framed XC/bikepacker, he's got a captive audience here

Valerio wrote: ↑Mon May 12, 2025 11:20 pm Which bike would you buy/recommend for off-road bikepacking and racing?

I'm not sure if they V2 Cutthroat with flat bars would still be a bit too upright.

jameso wrote: ↑Tue May 13, 2025 2:04 pm

I'm not sure if they V2 Cutthroat with flat bars would still be a bit too upright.

At the risk of sounding like a Jones fanboy (a fair accusation) have you tried or thought of trying the Cutthroat with Loop bars on it? Upright can be good, the advantage of a swept bar lke the Loops is the fore-aft grip range. They don't suit everyone or every bike but I really like something in that 30-45 degree sweep range on a rigid ATB-style packer.