Bike packing ideas

Dannyboy95

Im going to be doing some bike packing next year and i want some lightweight ideas, so can you guys show me how you go bike packing ie your bike how you carry your sleeping bag tent ect what you cook off. Ive seen some real elite bike packers that go ultra ULTRA light and can fit everything into a 25lt back pack so how about you guys. Show me your bike packing set up

angry_bird

Singletrack world has a big long thread of this stuff http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic ... acing-gear.

Personally I have a 25-30l rucksack that does nicely and isn't that uncomfortable, I'd been planning on getting a bar harness and seatpack this summer and pairing them with a wingnut enduro but just didn't have the money in the end, will maybe do it next spring. Wish I could get a frame bag but they're not transferable between bikes. Anyway, basic kit this year is listed below, probably forgotten a few things, I'll try to grab a few pics later if I get chance.

Small 3 season down sleeping bag
Bivvy bag- just a cheap one from Alpkit to stop the sleeping bag getting destroyed mostly.
Small tarp, handful of pegs and some thin ropey stringy stuff.
Trangia 27- quite large and bulky, definitely overkill for a single person stove but I know it's reliable and can fit a lot of food in it. I've got a mini single person one as well but I can't fit enough in it for my liking.
Any spare clothes pack around things nicely, plenty of room for food too.
Water gets carried in a camelback bladder with extra on the frame or in the mesh side pockets of the bag if I'm not using the orange.
iPod, little head torch, wash kit, other useful stuff like that etc.
Tube, snacks, multitool etc. fit nicely in a gas tank bag thing on the top tube.

Only thing I struggle to fit in is my sleeping mat, little inflatable thing which gets strapped to the bars and seems to stay put.

Dannyboy95

Thanks for the input. Yeah I was aware that singletrack had a thread in fact I've got it book marked on my computer but although it having 70 odd pages of detailed bike packing set ups there isn't a lot of pictures having said that the thread seems to have died of so I was hoping that we could get some fresh input and some fresh ideas.

It will be interesting to see if anyone else puts anything else up on here.

angry_bird

This is most of the kit I used a couple of weeks ago, normally would have a map and compass if necessary, and a trowel, again if necessary, depends on where I go.

Sleeping bag, bivvy bag, tarp, trangia, bowl and spork buried there somewhere, headtorch, gerber, little travel towel. Clothing wise a couple of base layers, thermals, spare pair of socks and a pair of boxers as they take sod all space, hat, buff, softshell and waterproof, cycling cap for under the helmet if necessary. Sometimes take a towel, depends,



...and packed next to my mule for a size comparisson… the bag is 27l, the top of the bag is compressed a fair way, there's maybe another 5-7l of space I think that I can use- food goes in there then there's still a bit of spare space. The bag has a rain cover although it normally gets lined with a dry bag anyway which is also compressable which helps packing, albeit only a little.



weighs in around 7.0kg as it is, including far too much fuel, pump, tube, but without water and food, normally totals around 11kg which sounds quite a bit, it weighs more than some bikes :shock: it feels fairly light at first to wear but after a while you start to notice it, much nicer if water can go onto the frame. If I went with a lighter stove, ditched the tarp, forgot the kindle, ipod and thermal mug I'm sure I'd drop 1kg+ comfortably but it's weight I don't mind carrying for the nicer life in the evening/morning.

Dannyboy95

Excellent! Thanks very much for taking the time to show me gives me something to think about, be great now if we can get some more people sharing there bike packing set up.

croptonboy

Alpkit have recently launched a new range of bikepacking kit:
https://www.alpkit.com/develop/bike-pac ... velopments

http://www.alpkit.com/shop/cart.php?tar ... ory_id=324

angry_bird

Alpkit seem to do some nice kit, got a couple of bits from them myself and they're decent quality for the price. Can't wait for them to do a full production run, be interesting to see what the final price is too.