[Closed] Cotic bfe for bikepacking?

You can bikepack on anything.  You just have to be comfortable on it and happy to ride it for the distances you are considering.

Totally with you there ...ride what you have, but given I'm going out to buy a new one I want to make sure it's not a completely unsuitable purchase

Would you not be better with the soul?

‘Too heavy for bikepacking’ ?

like thats gonna matter when you’ve strapped 8kg of kit onto it.

id be more interested in having a frame that could take a decent sized frame bag, and had enough seatpost showing to let me strap a drybag behind it and clear the tyre. 26” wheels help here.

steel? Yep, or any other material.

most important imo is a good stable bike, the last thing you want is something twitchy, fully loaded, at the end of a long day.

For an all rounder I’d go for the Soul. Worked fine for me. If you sticking with 26” wheels you should be able to find a 2nd hand one

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Can't offer much help with bikepacking.  Not sure what you mean by a long fork but at the upper end of the BFe range the front end has the habit of wandering about and lifting up on climbs. That might be relevant to the previous post. I have tamed mine (for general duties) by dropping it to 140mm.

I found they're better with around 120-140mm as well, any longer and the seat angle's a bit too slack (I've had 26 BFe, Soul and an old shape BFe 650B on 26"). I think the new BFe 26 has a slightly nicer seat angle though. If it's any help, and to broaden the search, I've got a mk1 Switchback on 26" wheels and it's great. It gets used for all sorts of stuff as it's my only bike and it works better with longer forks than the BFes I've owned 🙂

Whilst you can (theoretically) bikepack with any bike a long fork is going to be sub-optimal.

i’d think a (second hand) Soul would be a better match personally.

Whilst you can (theoretically) bikepack with any bike a long fork is going to be sub-optimal.

Why?

Bikepacking allows you to ride the same trails but with your bed and meal along for the ride.

I see so many 'bikepacking' bikes on here that are rigid and look good for long miles on relatively benign terrain, but it your usual terrain is or you want to ride the big Lakeland passes or Peak rock fests at SPEED. Why would a long travel hardtail or full suspension be 'sub-optimal'.

Why?

have you tried riding stuff at full speed fully loaded? The luggage changes how your bike handles and I doubt you’d get it tied down tight enough to stop it flapping about and rubbing the shit out of your paintwork (speaking from my own experience of cairngorm grit...).

how many LTHT you see luggaged up for a day out? It would obviously be better without, hence the sub-optimal statement. It’s only my experience/opinion, feel free to ignore it.

Thanks all. The fork I have is a 150 but talas so can drop to 130 for distance rather than playing so hopefully that will stop the front end wandering. I want something pretty capable as our trails are pretty brutal with lots of rocks so super lightweight rigid is definitely out, though could be good for distance. Like everyone I guess I'm looking for one bike that can do everything but also can't justify not using the parts I already have which narrows the field a bit.

The Talas 130/150 I had on my BFe was ok but I always felt it was compromised at each end. You could consider converting it to a fixed 140mm float.

What size BFe are you looking at?

I want something pretty capable as our trails are pretty brutal with lots of rocks so super lightweight rigid is definitely out, though could be good for distance.

Isn't the 26" soul the same geo as the Bfe? Just not made like a tank - if you break the soul you were probably going well

Hi bullroar, I think it will be a small. The medium is the same as my FS but want something a bit more chuckable....I miss this of my old 26er! I know shoot me now for saying I prefer 26 : )

thanks for all the recommendations of a Soul. I guess I'm just a bit dubious about buying a second hand frame especially as unlikely to be able to view it first.

My BFe is a 26 small, known as the fun bus 🙂

Small frame BFe owner here - makes me grin everytime I ride it.

12.5kg

SLX build

150mm pikes

Reverb

Stans Ex wheels

BFe26 geom has changed a lot since the Soul was still in production in its 26" wheel guise… and the next batch of BFe26 have been tweaked yet again…

have you tried riding stuff at full speed fully loaded?

Yes, lots of times. Beast, Jacobs, Nan Bield etc. Watendlath is a prime example if I couldn't ride that on the proper line at full speed with the bikepacking gear then there's not much point. That's the beauty of modern kit. Cuben tarp, 450g down bag, pub serves better food than you can cook saying that I love my Backcountry boilerworks kettle. Par down the kit and enjoy the riding as normal.

I rode the Trans Pennine Trail a couple of years ago on my Bfe using a Slant fork in the 130mm setting and it was fine loaded with panniers, was very comfortable to ride and had no handling issues.

I wasn't bikepacking, cheated by stopping in b&bs, but it was a great bike for the trip.

Back to the OP then.

If your idea of bikepacking is riding your normal trails, eating at a pub and sleeping in the nearby woods then almost anything will do. If, on the other hand, it's longer, possibly multi-day, trips being self sufficient then you'll appreciate something light, stable, easy rolling and comfortable. There's little point spending lots of money on ultralight overnight kit if you've started off with a heavy bike. The goal is to get the whole package down to a weight that works but still lets you ride close to the way you want. As always, you need to find your own compromise.

Edit: I should say that I indulge in both the variations I've mentioned- and the spectrum between.

Hi scotroutes, yes same as you, both ends and everything in between plus a bit of commuting, bike park, local trails etc.  If they still made the Soul I would go for that and there doesn't seem to be many for sale second hand in a small. I think every bike is a compromise in some way but fingers crossed this should be a happy medium.

really enjoy your blog by the way!

You'll be fine bikepacking on a bfe - I'm with Rik on this one. I've done the ll200, braunton150, ht550 etc on various bikes - if you can't ride like you'd normally ride, you're doing it wrong. Was the Colorado trail won on a 150mm travel FS a few years ago? Pete from adventure pedallers was going faster than me at the ht550 last year on a sonder transmitter with a Yari on the front...

If you decide to try it I've got a 26 inch Green medium Bfe for sale cheap! A soul would probably be better for what you're after but more £££.

I've been thinking about bike packing on my new Bfe but its got such a low standover I don't think I'd be able to carry anything in the frame.

Great bikes anyway!

You should only really need a frame bag for longer (multi day) trips

For what it's worth i rode 72 miles off-road (but relatively gentle terrain) the other day on my new BFe, it was super-comfy just running Maxxis 2.3/2.25" tyres at ~30PSI and a carbon seatpost. I wasn't even slightly sore or battered/bruised the next day and could happily have gone for another similar ride.

I'm not a distance rider normally by any means (20 miles tops on most rides), the longest I've done in a day before is 43 miles on my 5010 and i was a write-off after that (i think i'm a bit fitter now though).

As said though space in the front triangle will be the only kicker, but if you have a backpack with bladder that would leave you room for a frame bag still.