A friend and I are going to do a bit of bikepacking this summer when we are allowed to travel around. We’re going to do a 2 day trip out from home staying the night in a b&b or yha somewhere on the route. Because we don’t need to take tent/sleeping bag/warm clothing/etc we won’t need to take too much stuff. My first thought was to just use my normal bike setup with spares and drink on the bike, then my camelbak backpack with clothes, food etc in but without the liquid bladder. Is that a good option, or should I be looking at getting a large saddle bag and frame bag? If I did that I wouldn’t have anything on my back which is my preferred way of riding, although I spent many years riding with a backpack for every ride. What would you guys do?

My preference is to avoid anything on my back, particularly in warm weather. A heavyweight drybag simply strapped to your bars will probably be enough your clothes,a half-frame bag for your food and stuff, bottle cages for drinks and regular seatpack for tool, tubes etc.

Go for a day ride with your overnight kit on your back, then you’ll know whether it’s a good plan. A Camelbak full of clothes/snacks will weigh less than one with 2L of water, though, I’d expect.

You’re overthinking it!

You just need clothes for the evening so pick those, then figure out what sized bag will take that lot and just strap it to the handlebars or seat rails. Something like a Stem Cell to shove trail food in and you are sorted.

Dry bag on bars and a hip pack. But as said above- you don’t need to take much if you’re staying in B&B. This style used to be called “credit card touring”

I credit card tour with mates for around a week each year. Clothes you can wear for the evening plus space for whatever else you’d take on a long ride is all you need.

Something like this would be more than big enough:

https://alpkit.com/products/airlok-xtra-dual-20-litre

Many on my trips get away with less. It’s almost become a competition to see how little we can get away with but still look ‘normal’ in the hotel.

If its just a night then a normal day’s kit plus a pair of shorts and a t shirt for the evening. No point carting about more stuff than you need.

You choose your compromises. Clean shorts for the next day? Different shoes for the evening? Make the choices them put it all in a pile. We did this a few years back. My mate managed with a with 3 litre frame bag and old school bar bag. I think I had 10 litres on a rack and a small bar bag (2 litres)

I wasn’t thinking.of taking much. T shirt, shorts, boxers, shower gel and toothbrush/paste and only flip flops for the evening. Maybe a jumper for a cooler evening.

Interesting to see others are recommending handlebar bags, do they not affect handling? Is there any benefit to them over frame or saddle bags?

Depending on the weather and where you’re going the overnight clothes can be pretty minimal. I usually take a LS merino top, down jacket and some thermal leggings. Warm enough to sit outside in summer, acceptable enough to sit inside a pub for dinner.

They’ll squeeze into a tiny 3-4 litre drybag. And if the weather turns chilly on day 2 they double up as riding clothes.

Like any other ride, you don’t need to pack perfectly for every eventuality. Just take what you actually will use.

Interesting to see others are recommending handlebar bags, do they not affect handling?

Not really, if all you’ve got in it is the stuff you’ve listed. I guess people are recommending them because it is dirt cheap to buy a small drybag and a few straps compared with frame and saddle packs which are generally £££.

I wasn’t thinking.of taking much. T shirt, shorts, boxers, shower gel and toothbrush/paste and only flip flops for the evening. Maybe a jumper for a cooler evening.

You can probably halve that list. Wear cycling shoes you can walk/relax in. The b&b will probably provide soap, wear your baggy riding shorts in the evening. Down jackets pack much smaller and weigh a fraction of a jumper.

“Maybe” is the enemy of lightweight packing.

Interesting to see others are recommending handlebar bags, do they not affect handling? Is there any benefit to them over frame or saddle bags?

I think they make the least impact on handling even when heavy as you’re effectively holding the weight in your hands. It just takes a bit more effort to lift sometimes.

But if your entire packing weighs more than a kilo then Id suggest you’ve packed too much for what you intend.

This was son and I’s bikes for 3 days around Argyll – a dry bag each and I carried a small rucksack of our waterproofs and toolkit.

We ended up carrying our food as well as we self catered and I knew shops were in short supply.

I used some old tri bars to strap a bag to my handlebars, he prefers a rack.

10l should be enough. Light weight, cloths for evening and tooth brush (soap should be available at b&b). Water proof and food for the day to take up rest of pack. If you are going to eat out during the day you cloud get by with about 8l.

Yeah, the reason for recommending strapping a dry bag to the bars is as Martin says, cost. Also pretty easy just to loosen the straps and walk into B&B with the dry bag as your “luggage”. Upto a kilo or so they don’t affect handling, I’ve probably gone to 2kg and been fine.

Waterproof in jersey pocket.

If you weren’t going out for the night, or the place had its own bar, you might not even need shoes of any sort for the evening just a pair of clean socks. Decathlon do cheap foldable shoes akin to those barefeet running shoes, lighter and more packable than flip-flops. I take one of those toothbrush sets you get given on long haul flights (remember those?), why take a 50g tube of toothpaste when you can take 5g? Skip the boxers and go commando! I’ve used baggy swimming shorts – no-one’s noticed.

If you weren’t going out for the night, or the place had its own bar, you might not even need shoes of any sort for the evening

Finding a multi-purpose shoe is a key weight saver. I have some spd trainer type things that have done multi day tours and been in respectable French restaurants and danced till 3am in discos. Only issue is if they get wet.

I’ve just booked three night’s accommodation for the King Alfred’s Way in June. I will put my spare clothes in a 13l Alpkit drybag, strapped to the bars. Camelbak for water and a pair of light shoes for the evenings, and a small saddlepack for tools.

Alpkit gnaro 3l bar bag works well for this kind of thing for me. I can fit thin trousers, a Merino t-shirt, an insulated jacket, underwear, socks and a pair of Vivo barefoot shoes in there. Other than that, washing gear can go in the backpack or a small frame bag and everything else is what you need for a big day ride.

Wash the cycling shorts/liners as soon as you get to the accomodation, wring them out well and they should be dry for the morning.

Merino t-shirt and insulated jacket (I use a Patagonia nano-puff, but whatever works for you) are good on the bike too.

I use an alpkit drybag on the bars, it’s a 13L, but barely noticeable when riding.
All the weight is right on the steering axis.

I’ve just bought a saddle bag and handlebar bag from planet X for £40. Total size of 18l so plenty to fiddle around with and see how much I want to carry. Decided to stay away from frame bags do that I can have 2 big bottles and still have access to them.

18L is massive! If you fill it up while credit card touring, you’re carrying too much!

The Planet X bar bag did have some stability issues, I think – might be worth investing in a couple of extra straps to cinch it in really tight on the bars. Also gives you somewhere to tuck in a jacket rather than having to undo everything when you are taking a layer off.

In the same vein, a top tube bag of some description is a good thing as you can have phone/snacks in there to hand, not buried in your drybag.

Decathlon do cheap foldable shoes akin to those barefeet running shoes

Hey, Whitestone – do you have a link to those? I’ve had a rummage, and they do some foldable aquashoes. Are those the things?

@bentudder – them’s the ones.

Is it even bike packing if you stay in a BnB? 🙂

18L is massive! If you fill it up while credit card touring, you’re carrying too much!

Yes, I thought 18l would be overkill but I struggle to envisage how much I can fit in a bag without actually doing it so I’m going to see what I can get in each bag and then workout which bits are essential and which are niceties.

@bentudder – them’s the ones

That’s just a link to bentudder’s profile?

Ah, thanks!
These are they: Shoes

And I didn’t realise it, but linking to my user name means I get an email – thank you, Whitestone and TheBrick!

Yes, I thought 18l would be overkill but I struggle to envisage how much I can fit in a bag without actually doing it so I’m going to see what I can get in each bag and then workout which bits are essential and which are niceties

There’s a risk that a big bag won’t work very well when only partially filled.

Ah, thanks!
These are they: Shoes

Get the peach ones. I dare you.

Is it even bike packing if you stay in a BnB? 🙂

I usually take it to mean off-road touring.

Get the peach ones. I dare you.

But they’ll clash with my puce Anneka Rice romper suit. 🙁