Bike options for bike packing?

Planning on getting into bike packing and want to ask about bike options. Having watched ‘The Tour Divide’ movie, in which most people were riding hardtail 29er’s, with the odd single speed thrown in. I was wondering whether a hardtail 29er is the way to go?

I currently ride a Zesty 314, but didn’t see many riding full sussers in the race. I suspect this was because of the terrain, as it did look like it is mainly fire trails and roads.

There’s a lot more to bikepacking than the TD. Are you after a bike for riding the race or do you want a bike for general bikepacking trips? May not necessarily be the same thing. In my case I have a custom frame, yes Ti 29er hardtail, but with various features to help with bikepacking whilst still essentially being a comfortable (ish) but fast race machine. Bikepacking without the racing can be done on anything, especially now that local companies such as Wildcat Gear are making custom bags to fit any bike frame. Check out the Bear Bones forum for tons of UK bikepacking chat.

I will have a look at the web site you mention. Thanks

flanagal … you can get to the forum, blog, etc from here – Bear Bones Bikepacking[/url]

don’t really need a new bike. just go for a trip; see if you like it.

freeload racks can be good if you have a full suss bike.

first time i bivvied i just put everything in a rucksack and went out…

i use a rigid SS 29er. sometimes it gets gears if it’s big hills.

You can do quite a bit with your Zesty. Tear your eyes away from the fine looking hunk in this photo and have a look at the bike and what is packed onto it.

It’s amazing what you can pack with a little ‘thought’ 😉

Nice lunchbox

You’ve gotta keep your sausage butties safe somehow 😀

If I was starting from scratch I’d build a rigid 29er. I wasn’t so just adapted my 26er Inbred a bit.

Welsh Ride Thing start line

Just straps some drybags to the zesty for now and see if you like it and get an idea of what you want.

Of course, there’s always the fat option…

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P1040207[/url] by druidh_dubh[/url], on Flickr

I would say the biggest thing would be to decide on what kind of bags you want for carrying the gear. I sold a perfectly good full-sus frame to buy a hardtail for bikepacking…turned out there was a 3 month wait for the frame-bag I wanted! I ended up buying a saddle-bag and bar-bag which would have fitted on the frame I sold. 😳 Saying that I now have a small, non-custom frame bag and 2 water bottles fitted inside the frame.

I could comfortably carry everything I would need for three days with this setup…except water. I could soon buy a filter of some sort if I’m going to be away from civilisation though.

Bar-bar: Tent, sleeping mat and sleeping bag.
Frame bag: Mealtime food and a few snacks.
Saddle-bag: Spare/off the bike clothing, stove and a square of bubblewrap for sitting on and for padding the bag out.
Backpack: 3l water, muesli bars, jacket, AA Charger for GPS, phone, small camera, toolkit and a tube (running tubeless though).
1.5l of water on the frame for cooking with. I think a travel tap would suit me instead as I never need more than 500ml at a time.

Here’s a link to lots of different bike setups over on MTBR.

I’d saying buying a bike for bike-packing isn’t necessary and kind of misses the point a bit. Just do it and then work out if your bike works or not.

Frame and fork bags are the only thing you’d struggle with on your full suss.

I just built this, with second hand bits off the classifieds:

Cheers Fellas. Some nice setups there!

As stated, it makes sense to just get out there and try it first, before shelling out loads of cash.

I bought a nice lightweight Vaude 25 + 5 backpack yesterday from Evans and just need to source the other items.

Are there any good 3-5 day off road bike packing routes in the UK that are worth doing, and if so where is the best place to find them?

Thanks

I don’t have a whole heap of experience just yet, but the Cairngorms is a good place to start.

This should give you some ideas:

Have you checked out the mammoth bikepacking thread?

The bikepacking forums I use are:

MTBR – Bikepacking and bike expedition[/url]
Bear Bones Bikepacking
Bike and Bivi
Bikepacking.net[/url]

All have loads of info. For routes, Bear Bones and Bike and Bivi will be best as they’re UK based.
If you’re looking for a 3-5 day route, look into the Woodcock off-road coast to coast. It isn’t one you want to do when first getting into bikepacking though. Start off with one nighters until you’re comfortable with your kit.

There’s a mammoth bike packing thread? Nobody tells me anything….

Found this?
Mammoth bike packing thread

You dont ‘need’ a hardtail. A FS is fine as long as your rear wheel wont hit your saddle-bag. 29er is nice tho, just cos. 😆

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Looking down on Gladhouse Reservoir[/url] by dickyelsdon[/url], on Flickr