[Closed] What bikepacking bike?

Jones Plus

I just use my Bird Zero... sure there might be more suitable bikes out there but it’s more important to just get out first and figure out what you want/need.

I think something 29 and 650b+ capable, hardtail mtb will be most versatile. Can be built as lightweight as a CX with skinny 700c tyres on, and then anywhere burlier from that as the terrain dictates

Salsa Cutthroat if drops are your preference.

Surly ogre

A rigid plus bike would probably be the best option. I've got a Genesis Longitude which is pretty much perfect for what you describe. Nice comfy riding position, very stable even with full luggage, lots of mounting points for racks, bottles, cargo cages, etc. Sensible stock gearing and "old" 100mm/135mm qr droputs for running a cheap Shimano dynamo setup, horizontal droput at the rear for singlespeed or hub gear. Will run 650b+ or 29er wheels. The only thing I don't like is there's no seatstay bridge so running mudguards for on road isn't straightforward. Also you can't put a suspension fork on in case that's something you want.

STW did a review recently which described it like a Ford Mondeo or digestive biscuit, not the most exciting but it does exactly what you expect. It's true in a way, but it's actually a pretty fun bike to ride.

Can’t see why you wouldn’t use a fat bike to be honest. Once you load it up, bike weight doesn’t matter. Rolling resistance at low speed is no worse than any other bike (and better over rough ground) so why not enjoy the comfort and grip of a fat tyre?

Surly Krampus is a great for this. Geometry is spot on. Not too old school XC not too new school trail, a sweetspot in the middle. Ride fire roads all day everyday in comfort yet can have a fun blast on the singletrack as well. The 29+ soaks up all the little bumps, holds speed really well and at the same time monstertrucks over everything in it's path.

29+ rigid if the route is mostly smooth.

Lightweight fatbike if it's rougher ground.  4.8 Fast rolling tyres, JJ or BFL.  Lauf fork.

Less fatiguing over a long distance than skinny tyres IME.

Stooge I,ve tried a few it this one has been by far the best

http://stoogecycles.co.uk

[url= https://farm1.staticflickr.com/794/27015213548_292c51677f_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm1.staticflickr.com/794/27015213548_292c51677f_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/Haf2MW ]29365931_10156350085466474_5730635379694895104_n[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr

Rigid 29+ big wheels are very forgiving / bombproof handling which is ideal when you are tired as you don't want something that needs 100% attention all the time. I have a custom 29+ based on Krampus geometry / non-sus fork which is my summer bikepacking rig. Did a SDW night-traverse a few years ago with mates riding regular MTBs - dropping them on all the downhills as I could simply 'let-go' on the downhills. I have a fatbike too - for multiday trips it's great due to very stable handling and the grip-factor means you can safely negotiate stuff that would make you think twice on other bikes - I'll quite happily roll-down rock steps and mountain paths or ride along narrow cliff paths. Lots of good bikes available used too - you don't need to spend a fortune as simplicity = reliability.

The new Surly Bridge Club?

Surly Krampus.

I always used to recommend Surly but it's a bit harder now the prices have jumped up by 40%...

I'd recommend rigid. You have to bumble down rough descents, but it's so much better to pedal long distances. It just feels positive. I have a Salsa El Mariachi which I think is the best in the world ever although they don't make them anymore. But I chose it because it has steep angles, which makes it great for road and covering ground on trails. It has limits on steep tech but how much of that are you going to do bike packing?

I wouldn't go fat, personally, as I think on smooth terrain or road you'd suffer and it would add up. For me, adventure rides include plenty of tarmac in the form of lanes and mountain roads. I think for me the option of a plus front wheel is an attractive one. I could also use susosuspen; the bike is brilliant with a sus fork on but it lost some of its positive stable pedalling platform.

But it depends what kind of terrain you want to bike pack on. If you are covering long distances then a bike like mine would work well. But if you want to get right out onto the moors on non-existent boggy bridleways a fat bike.might be better.

Whatever you get, if you go rigid put a thudbuster on it. It will give you around 20% more range everyday through your body not being so beat up.

Pinnacle Ramin 3+ , cracking spec and value, Plus seems to suit carrying bikepacking gear ..... highly recommended

Liking fully rigid 650b+ My Singular Swift in Medium might be up for sale if I can’t find the rent this month!

The Singular Swift is a lovely looking bike, I'd potentially be interested if you have to sell it (although I hope everything is ok and you don't need to).

Whatever you get, if you go rigid put a thudbuster on it.

Ugh.  Would not fancy that at all.

I use my salsa beargrease with 29+ wheelset. Fully rigid, anything cage mounts on fork. And it’s a fat bike when I want it to be.

Of course, what you really need is the Surly ICT frame and forks that I'm selling. Nice bit of steel, all the cage mounts you could want and you can set it up plus or fat as the mood takes you. I agree about the price of new Surly frames going a bit crazy, but that's all the more reason to buy a good second hand one.

Well you can't blame a guy for trying 🙂

If you're doing big miles, also look at position - swept bars like Jones, Surly Moloko or O-O Marys keep your weight well-centred and shift weight onto the saddle / feet. Feels odd at first, but for munching miles it's a very effective position - also helps when rolling down steeps, but big soft tyres still have ample grip. Tyres like Maxxis Chronicles roll very quick on hardpack / tarmac.

Have you tried one over a long distance offroad Molgrips?

I know this goes against the laws of n+1, but I remember reading on a bikepacking website that the best the best bike for your first bikepacking trip is probably the bike you already own. That way you get to work out A, if you actually like bikepacking and B, what you would ideally want out of a bike for bikepacking that you current bike doesn't provide.

Unless of course you only own a downhill bike or something!...

I use my Solaris with carbon forks so fully rigid. As @rickonwheels says it was my only MTB at the time so that's what I went with. Put on the highest volume tyres you can, whether that's 29" or 650b+ . My wife has a Stooge which can also take either wheel size as can most 29ers in fact.

Following on from @Dovebiker's comments about swept bars - these allow multiple hand positions in the same way that drop bars do for road/CX/gravel bikes so you don't get pains from being in one position all the time.

To begin with just get out on whatever bike you have (DH style bike excepted) and you can begin to figure out what works and doesn't work for you. If your wallet can't run to a Surly then have a look at the Alpkit Sonder range, quite a few use the Frontier.

Have you tried one over a long distance offroad Molgrips?

Nope.  I would, if I had one, and I'd have one if I had money and space.  But whenever I ask people if they are draggy on road, they say 'oh it's not as bad as you think'.  But to me that says 'it's still bad, just not as bad as you think'.

As I said, it's the road sections that'd bother me.  I think that if you want to spend all day on the bike your riding position and contact points are the most important thing.  But also, for fat vs skinny, I'd imagine it depends on how fit you are and how fast you're planning on going.  I'm not sure that many ITT PBs are set on fatbikes, but I'm ready to be told otherwise.

I've used my 27.5+ bike once for a trip

https://www.flickr.com/photos/25426710@N04/40309667435/in/photostream

And it was ok, but quite heavy. I tend towards using my Raleigh as trips tend to include road as well as off road.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/25426710@N04/39134041580/

Re: fat and plus bikes. Generally the higher proportion of road there is on any given route then the less I'd consider larger tyres. A couple of years ago some did the YD300 on fat bikes, from the article I think they underestimated the route and/or overestimated their fitness. (Incidentally @molgrips the guy with the rigid Shand mentioned in the piece was IB)

The only person I know to have done one of the major ITTs on a fat bike is Phil Clarke  http://philsbikepacking.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/highland-trail-2015.html   I don't think he is keen to repeat the experience. He was about a day and a half faster last year (the start is different now though) on a Jones with a 29+ front tyre.

My Solaris was in chubby mode this weekend in Argyll, the main problem was the wind rather than drag from the tyres.

I don't think the problem with fat tyres is so much the terrain as the speed. Below around 10mph they don't seem (in my experience) to be any slower than a skinny tyre (and can be faster if the surface is rough). But much above that speed and they really seem to drag. So, great for a fully off-road ride or where you are carrying so much kit that you never get much above 10mph anyway. But not great if there are long sections where you want to be cruising along at 15-20mph.

That more or less backs up what I'd been thinking.

He was about a day and a half faster last year (the start is different now though) on a Jones with a 29+ front tyre.

HT550 is stony or rocky single track for.much of it, isn't it? That would seem ideal plus territory.

HT550 is stony or rocky single track for.much of it, isn’t it? That would seem ideal plus territory.

Northbound it's a lot of estate/landrover tracks, the only bit of singletrack is Benalder cottage to Culra bothy. Bealach Horn is hard work on whatever bike. The bumpy road out to Drumbeg would be hell on a fat bike - 25% up and down, it's hard work on a 29er.

Both Phil Clarke and Ian Barrington noted that the Ledmore Traverse was pretty decent with a plus sized front tyre. On a standard 29er that bit feels like someone has fitted square wheels to your bike when you weren't looking!

The postman's path alongside Loch Maree would be hard on a fat bike as the path* is about 6" wide in places.

Like all well thought out routes, no one bike is "right" for everything, you are just aiming for the least worst option.

*path: hold your hand with fingers straight and point it upwards at 45deg and so that you are looking across the hand, i.e. index finger edge on. The "path" is the easing at the base of your fingers, it's just a lessening of the angle. Here's a shot Ian Barrington took

And that's a good bit! From  https://ianbarrington.com/2016/06/09/a-highland-tale-part-3/

Something rigid and Plus may be a good option, the Ramen 3+ mentioned above being great value, as are Alpkit’s Frontier etc.

Personally I managed to bodge 650b+ into my Salsa 2011 El Mariach(ubb)i and I love it, albeit need to take care with clearance (Rocket Ron 2.8” fits, G-One 2.8” doesn’t...- both on Alpkit Rumpus 50mm rims). The 2016 El Mar frame doesn’t cope with a 2.8”.

For that reason I’m now building up a 2017 Fargo frame as it’s intended to take 650b+, 29er and 29+ options. So far, mid build, it looks great!

I go bikepacking (off road touring really) on my Pugsley.  I am not trying to go as fast as people on ITTs and stuff but I do like to cover the ground.  As everyone points out there are trade offs with any bike but in my opinion using a Pug works just fine.

it is slower than other bikes in some places, faster in others, but is never really a problem and certainly never awful. I have ridden miles on the road - Oban to Arran was comfortable and no problem at all when we had to make up time and get back to Ardrossan at the end of a  trip... But you do have to pump up the tyres pretty hard.

I know it's not that slow as I have ridden with others on different size tyres with no speed incompatibility issues.

I am not, however, advocating that everyone uses a fat bike for touring.  Just sayin that it works and suits me.  Everyone is different. I have a Toll (Rohloffed) and a 456 too- but prefer the Pug.  Why?  Possibly because it it very comfortable - both because of the tyres and the geometry as well as the skinny forgiving frame tubes. Certainly it makes you happy to choose any terrain from roads to bogs and beach. I have used it for thousands of touring miles in Wales and Scotland so have given it a fair test I think.

i do hanker after something like and ECR or a Jones+..  In fact I really want a Jones.... But every time I set off on a trip I enjoy the Pug- so most of the hankering is arm chair stuff.

If I was reccomending a bike I'd say go for Pug 2.0 if you want one (and have the cash as they have gone up since I bought my Blue Pug!) otherwise  I like the look of the Longitude, Ogre, KM, etc etc. indeed there are loads to choose from. Most important is to have a bike you like and give it a go.

I go bike packing, sometimes on my cx bike, sometimes on my surly karate monkey, sometimes on my wife’s ebike.

Ebike is quickest.

very little to choose between the other 2 though, cx bike is quicker on the tarmac stuff, km is quicker on everything else.

my km is set up with 29x 2.35 schwalbe big apples, these are superb tyres, but 16/17mph is a sort of upper limit for speed, it just doesn’t want to go any faster, whereas the cx bike, even carrying the same load, will comfortably sail past 20mph with impunity.

im ruling out wind resistance here, as i only reach these speeds when the wind is pushing me along somewhat.

id agree with posters above saying use what you have, until you figure out what could do it better. The only thing i will add is, the more often you do it, the easier it becomes, then you can decide which way to go with regard to bike/kit.

its not about the bike, it’s about the ride.

As others have said, I think its more about the ride/journey IMO.  I use my Longitude for off road stuff and my CX for most of the other stuff.

Although I do ride my mtb on road, it all depends on how much road there is.

Personally I managed to bodge 650b+ into my Salsa 2011 El Mariach(ubb)i

Got any pics?  I'd like 29+ front and rear, but that's not gonna happen, so maybe a b+ rear would be interesting.

Although, in theory I could have a custom made alternator dropout for 29+.. hmm.