Bikepacking advice please

oxoman

Morning folks.

Have decided that as I'm getting older and have more time on my plate I'm going to do some bikepacking. Santa has got me a decent bikepacking tent, sleeping bag and bar bag, I already have stove and various other bits as I car camp at various events. I'm looking for advice on decent sleeping mat as young oxo's DofE vango one is quite bulky. I'm also after rear bag advice, I have a caradice sqr slim which is 16 litres that I use for comutting and wonder if I could get away with that. It's a bit heavy but solid and waterproof. Not sure about fork mounted stuff either, aka bottles etc. I've been looking online, youtube etc and plenty of advice but a lot of them are given stuff to big up so not convinced. Any advice appreciated. First couple of trips will be soft initiations into it as looking at dirt dash or similar.

wakemalcolm

I bit the bullet this summer and tried it for the first time in 37 years.

I went with my existing SQR bag (weight and rattling weren't considerations for me) plus a handlebar bag (3l) and a roll jammed beneath that contained my 40 year old tent. Also went with el cheapo 3l fork bags off eBay. Got a mattress from alpkit which rolled from completely flat and took up next to no space.

Main takeaways were:

The cheap stuff worked fine. Speaking to the only person I've met who actually paid for their Tailfin kit and isn't a tailfinfluencer, I heard that their stuff isn't especially robust but their customer service is excellent.

People really go out of their way to speak to you when you're touring on your own.

Unless you've got a restrictive diet or a wild route, carrying more than a day's worth of food is folly.

You don't really need more than 30l of luggage capacity.

I really need the toilet more during the night than I did 37 years ago.

oxoman

Cheers Malcolm. Luckily I've been camping for a long time but not carrying my gear on the bike so have a fair bit of stuff. Just odd bits required like a lighter sleeping mat. Going to have a play with what kit I've got and try fitting in the bags I've got.

pangolin

What's your appetite like for thin-ish mats? Alpkit have some decent options. Numo, Cloudbase and Whisper pack very small but don't insulate much so just for warm weather really https://alpkit.com/collections/sleeping-mats

oxoman

I looked at the alpkit ones and will be able to see one in the flesh soon as doing a store ride in Jan. Also got a gift card for them from Santa. I do like the thermorest ones but not cheap. Summer I'm ok but did dirty reiver last april and froze my butt off with my existing double air mattress. Vowed to get something better. Double sleeping bag and wooly sockets didn't help much either. Might have to look at getting 2 mats as an option 1 for colder temps and 1 for warmer days

pangolin

I have a couple of £20 codes for them expiring in April, you're welcome to have one if you want, I won't use both. You have to spend at least £40 to use one, just fyi.

wakemalcolm

Yes, I've got the Numo mattress. Can't quite understand how something that traps 8.5cm of air can have such a low R rating but I have to concede, I didn't have the warmest time even though it was the (Scottish) summer.

oxoman

https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/comment/21109642#Comment_21109642

Cheers Pangolin, but I've already got a money off code plus a gift card to use and I don't intend spending to much, I hope. But thanks for the offer. Keep seeing discout voucher sites offering up to 60% off but can't see that being kosher myself.

laurentian

I've done a bit (a bit!) of bike packing - most recently the Hebridean way last May which involved taking camping equipment.

In terms of carrying the load in general, I would advise spreading the load (i.e. front and back panniers) as, speaking from experience, the bike can be pretty unwieldy if loaded on the back only.

As far as a sleeping "mat" is concerned, I borrowed something similar to this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Berghaus-Peak-Compact-Self-Inflating-Green/dp/B08964H3M9/ref=asc_df_B08964H3M9?mcid=fee6b506c8de37fa8404bf7c376f79a7&hvocijid=10533633099347897904-B08964H3M9-&hvexpln=74&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=696285193871&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10533633099347897904&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046155&hvtargid=pla-2281435176698&psc=1&gad_source=1

The one I had was not "self inflating" but packed up very small with negligible weight. It was surprisingly comfortable.