Hello again
I posted on here about 3 months ago wanting to try bike packing , which I've been doing and it's bloody brilliant.
I've done 3 trips now, 2 with my kids and one solo.
Only one night out but it's been such good fun with a great sense of freedom. I've even hit myself a wildcat seat pack harness and bar harness.
However I'm on a spesh full suss which is ace, but the issue I'm having is rear wheel clashing with the seat pack and the bar harness crushing the cables against the frame.
As I'm enjoying myself I thought I might invest in a specific bike for packing and wanted your thoughts and opinions in stuff.
I'm looking for a bike that'll be used mainly off road, some road as and when.
Something I can ride tech Singletrack on and down Lakeland passes.
I know nothing will handle that stuff like my 140mm trail spesh 29, but that's the way I'm leaning.
Salsa Dead Wood looks good and I'm
Supposing you can stick skinnier tyres on as required.
Or the Fargo looks cool too.
I'm not well up on bike packing specific brands so who likes what and what do you recommend
Thanks in advance

John

Ultimately everything is a compromise. A hardtail fits the bill regarding road, off-road, tech singletrack and not having the seat bag foul on the rear wheel but you aren't going to be blasting down Lakeland passes at the same speed as on your FS.

As you've found, you lose a lot of space between rear wheel and seat when the shock compresses so unless you are very tall and are starting with a big gap between those two points you are going to have problems with that. Basically you want at least your shock's rated compression between the bottom of the seat pack and your wheel, i.e. 150mm or whatever.

I've done 3 trips now, 2 with my kids and one solo. Only one night out

How does that work then?

A lot depends on budget really John. Both the bikes you mention are fairly costly, nice, suitable but not cheap. You're obviously thinking rigid will be okay for you, so there's quite a bit of choice.

My suggestions would be:

Stooge
Genesis Longitude B+
Pinnacle Ramin Plus ... I'm actually waiting to review one of these, James are you listening.
Marin Pine Mountain
Sonder Broken Road

All rigid and all accept plus size tyres in one form or another.

I can think of a few

Charge cooker midi
Trek Stache
Genesis Tarn?
orbea loki seen on the other day looked nice

I'm about to sell my Stooge if you are interested....

Tam.....noooo dont do it u know u love it

Listening Stuart yes, thanks for reminder .. will get it sent over asap

Mike wrote:Tam.....noooo dont do it u know u love it

Ha! It's one in one out I'm afraid and the new one is already here!

Thanks all.
Yep I know everything is a compromise but I grew up on fully rigid bikes so I'm ok with that challenge
Not being as fast is ok down the passes, cleaning them on a rigid is as much of a buzz.
I'd like a bike I can leave set up ready to go so on nice evenings I can ride from home and kip out for the night without loads of prep.
I'm also wondering hardtail or fully rigid, and flat, wood chipper style or jones bars.
Anyone got opinions on these ?

Cheers

If you go down the drop route just be aware that many bikes designed for them might feel a little strange if you retro-fit non-drop bars.

Jones bars, I don't get on with them but most people do, drops, I like them but many people don't ... I wouldn't part with cash for either until I'd given them a thorough test.

A singular Swift? It's a very adaptable frame that you can build with 29 or B+, flat, drop or Jones bars. It's also got an EBB if you get empted by single-speeding.

All these things are also true of the Stooge. They are both great (but different).