Cycling Apparel Brands - uni project research

[RIP]

Aye there's more than a grain of truth in that ^.

(shouts of "elitist" )

[Bearlegged]

[Currently sat here in a checked shirt.]

[woodsmith]

I wouldn't judge anybody for wearing a checked shirt( they're great at hiding the dirt) but if you're dangling a mug.... That's a whole different matter.

[RIP]

[Currently sat here in a checked shirt.]

What brand, Chris?

[sat here in my BBB t-shirt. Ohhhh NO. We're a brand ].

[Alpinum]

Bikepacking is an oddball ridden subgroup of an oddball ridden subgroup, repeat ad infinitum. It's populated by a broad spread of individuals who seem to be drawn to it by vastly differing motives, the only common denominator being the desire not to conform to any stereotypes.

... as with any other sport. Well nearly...
Take mountaineering, trail running, kayaking, paragliding, skiing etc.
Absolutely nothing special with bikepacking.
Dude.

[AndreR]

[Currently sat here in a checked shirt.]

Love a check shirt me and have more than is sensible (some of them Alpkit ) but I don't think I've ever got "sendy" while wearing one, un-buttoned and flapping in the wind!

[Alpinum]

Admit it...

Oh aye, having droned on about my ignoring brands, I'll have to admit like everyone else. To an extent.

Try not to flee from it by adding "to an extent".

Unless

quantum-mechanics

you're thinking/living in multiverses. Then... well, yeah... things may be a bit different. And maybe not.

[Alpinum]

"bikepackers" and "BB bikepackers"

Perhaps more "media and marketing style bikepackers" and "those that did it before 2007 style bikepackers"?

The "I brought a gravel bike, now I need bikepacking bags" kind of folks
vs.
the "back then, when I had to suck on a damp cloth for water, I took some fabric from a WW1 tent, stitched it up to shape a frame bag and off I went"?

The more I read here, the more proof is on display, that many of us indeed see themselves as something special.

So, as Trump said before the mess at the US capitol:

"You're special. I love you"

[pistonbroke]

advising one of our number to engage in sex and travel after a mere 3 days

I don't remember that bit in the marketing spiel for your trip . If I'd spotted it I'd've been there like a shot

There's me thinking that my outburst had entered BB folklore. I was merely advising a certain cross dressing fireman of this parish that if he wanted to eat at an Italian restaurant when we were located in a grubby Aragon village on a drizzly Monday night, he'd be better served in Tuscany.

[jameso]

"I was into them way before their new album, they were better then, think they're starting to sell out.."

I think bikepackers are the very antithesis of clubbable and may account for the recent suspicion of gravel biking as it seems to embrace roadie like group riding and the ensuing willy waving.

What is an ITT or the mass start ITTs then, the touring equivalent of a road racing W-W? ITTs came before gravel? *points at John Stamstad* "he started it!". He was a mountain biker I think. I don't think many parts of cycling are immune to ego, or not many of us either. Maybe trad touring is, and the bikepackers made it a W-W thing via ITTs. Gravel just widened the scope of Bikepacking.

Anyway. A bikepacking brand seems like a challenge if you're marketing down to customers but easy (relatively) if you're building up because you understand it. Swift Industries, Crust, Curve etc. Struggle to think of clothing brands in that area though and maybe there is something in the 'identity is via borrowed scraps of other identities' with this part of cycling that makes a bikepacking clothing line less likely.

The consumer behaviour aspect of the work interests me as I'm not at all structured in how I think about all this.

[Bearlegged]

I don't think many parts of cycling are immune to ego, or not many of us either.

True. Folk will always find a way, even in...

trad touring...

e.g. LEJOG, Cape Wrath Fellowship...

[stevew]

the bikepackers made it a W-W thing via ITTs.

But the ITT came before bikepacking? When JayP turned up to the 2007 GDR with bikepacking bags from Carousel Design Works, eveyone else with racks and backpacks had never seen such an obvious solution. Bikepacking wasn't even in the lexicon until the the US grand departs had been going a good few years.

bikepacking.png (36.76 KiB) Viewed 1859 times

[Charliecres]

Stuff this, I’m off on my bike to sleep under the stars

[jameso]

^ Enjoy...

The ITT came before bikepacking if bikepacking means soft luggage vs racks - so in that case the racked-up tourers started it!

Started what again, I'm now asking myself? : )

[ScotRoutes]

1978

[Alpinum]

1978

It's Robin fault!

[tobasco]

I did a forum wordsearch on here to see how much folks talk about brands.
BB brand talk.jpg

I would say there is a lot of love for Alpkit here?

Why?

Do you not need to dig into the data a bit more than a word search? 5000 of the 5900 count probably came from 3 or 4 people

[woodsmith]

May 1973 National Geographic
https://www.adventurecycling.org/defaul ... _Siple.pdf

[ScotRoutes]

Ooh. Good find.

[jameso]

It is isn't it? I'd heard the term closely followed backpacking but hadn't seen it in print earlier than the book you posted. I have a touring book with a 'rules for the bikepacker' chapter which covers lightweight back roads touring, from 1982 though.

I get the general point that it's become a renewed term since the recent boom, so history of the use is just out of interest for me.

[ton]

re the checked shirt thing, i have been wearing short sleeved check shirts for years for riding. got about 10 from decathlon for £4 each. thin cotton nylon blend. dries in no time. ace for touring.

also i am a grandad 4x over, so surely i am allowed to wear some nice warm flannel check stuff................

[AndreR]

re the checked shirt thing, i have been wearing short sleeved check shirts for years for riding. got about 10 from decathlon for £4 each. thin cotton nylon blend. dries in no time. ace for touring.

also i am a grandad 4x over, so surely i am allowed to wear some nice warm flannel check stuff................

Don't you hate it when something you've been doing for years and are really comfortable with suddenly becomes trendy and suddenly you're not as comfortable with it anymore. Or is that just me?

[PaulB2]

Things always go in cycles...

[ton]

Don't you hate it when something you've been doing for years and are really comfortable with suddenly becomes trendy and suddenly you're not as comfortable with it anymore. Or is that just me?

man, when you look like me you tend to not bother or care much anymore.
i was built for comfort..............

[Bearbonesnorm]

When I was researching some stuff for my book, the NG article was the earliest reference I could find to 'bikepacking'. Aside from the Adshead book there's another called 'Backcountry Bikepacking' by William Sanders published in '82. The Adshead book does define bikepacking as something different to 'touring' and advocates self sufficiency, wild camping and travelling lightly. The Sanders book perhaps goes further and has sections on topics such as using tarps.

Although, there's no mention of 'bikepacking', books such as 'Adventure Cycling' by Ronald English published in the 50's were certainly pushing the message of travelling lightly loaded and only taking those things you need.

The more I read here, the more proof is on display, that many of us indeed see themselves as something special.

Do you think? I genuinely don't think anyone here views themselves as special ... although, I sometimes wonder if others outside of this place do.