Has bike packing (off the beaten track ) gone full circle?

[Lazarus]

Here in the uk you’d have to wilfully avoid resupply to justify carrying multiple days food

This vegan strongly disagrees with that but its better than it was . Pubs usually have a meal local shops and garages are still pretty much useless ( biscuits generally )

[RIP]

Let's be honest with ourselves. A fit, lithe athlete doing heroic feats on the latest, expensive, unobtanium framed bike are a damn sight sexier

Nah.

I can attest to the fact that a considerable number of barmaids dotted around the country would disagree with that statement .

To pursue an associated drinks-based analogy, I would say that the lithe athletes are the shiny sparkling tasteless lager that gives two minutes satisfaction then disappears rapidly over the horizon to be instantly forgotten, to which a certain type of suitor might indeed be attracted; whereas us smelly bikepackers are probably a crafted chocolate vanilla stout with its myriad depths of character and hidden subtleties that often take you by surprise and whose multi-layered complexities continue to provide amusement, entertainment and satisfaction for many hours after the initial introduction. I know which I would prefer .

[riderdown]

Pubs usually have a meal local shops and garages are still pretty much useless ( biscuits generally )

I would have thought you would be navigating from Gregg's vegan sausage roll to Gregg's vegan sausage roll....

[Verena]

Well interesting, I was on the ferry this morning with a few other cyclists.

An older couple on steel bikes with panniers, talking to them a bit, total kudos, they're made of strong stuff, have done touring everywhere including France end to end for decades. Now why would anyone snigger at "touring" really?

Other chap, with a bikepacking sort of setup, who I rode with for a while. Admitted that as a member of his cycling club and tri club, he would never ever go touring. But, thanks goodness, now that there's bikepacking, he can go do that sort of thing and not feel embarrassed. Not a judgement as such (I think ), but either still on the ferry, or as soon as we were off the ferry, he'd gone online and booked his campsite for the night. Now to me ( sorry, we've done this as nauseatum I'm sure), that's pretty much touring isn't it? I associate bikepacking with not knowing where you'll wind up for the night, and roughing it a bit sleep wise??
(I'll got get my coat...)

[Valerio]

Well interesting, I was on the ferry this morning with a few other cyclists.

An older couple on steel bikes with panniers, talking to them a bit, total kudos, they're made of strong stuff, have done touring everywhere including France end to end for decades. Now why would anyone snigger at "touring" really?

Other chap, with a bikepacking sort of setup, who I rode with for a while. Admitted that as a member of his cycling club and tri club, he would never ever go touring. But, thanks goodness, now that there's bikepacking, he can go do that sort of thing and not feel embarrassed. Not a judgement as such (I think ), but either still on the ferry, or as soon as we were off the ferry, he'd gone online and booked his campsite for the night. Now to me ( sorry, we've done this as nauseatum I'm sure), that's pretty much touring isn't it? I associate bikepacking with not knowing where you'll wind up for the night, and roughing it a bit sleep wise??
(I'll got get my coat...)

So...the couple traveling with steel bikes and pannier is made of strong stuff, but the guy with a bikepacking setup is a snowflake for booking a campsite?

Anyway, thats not what bikepacking is.
This is a good definition:
https://bikepacking.com/bikepacking-101/
(And it has a few touring vs bikepacking paragraphs)

Anyway, id typically associate bikepacking with bikepacking (velcro/strapped to the frame) kind of bags and typically off-road riding while carrying the bare minimum kit.
Touring with panniers and racks and, typically, more leisurely pace.
Ultimately, who cares? I don't see the point bothering with how other people have fun riding their bikes

[jameso]

I reckon touring and bikepacking overlap more than they leave as differences at the ends. Unless they're are fairly rigidly defined that is, but I don't think anyone is interested in that.

"Roamer, wanderer, nomad, vagabond, call me what you will"

[Bearbonesnorm]

Here's a thought ..... the question and potential answer in the OP suggests that panniers / racks and what 'we' might understand to be touring came first. However, racks and panniers are a relatively late addition to the world of cycle travel. Prior to their arrival, many people used bags strapped directly to their bikes. A certain lightweight mindset also seemed to exist among the early cycle travellers / campers.

That leads me to wonder whether cycle travel has indeed come full circle but it did so a number of years ago with the arrival of 'new' soft luggage. If we consider it as a clock face, then that was at 12 o'clock, whereas the big hand is now sat somewhere around 5.

Just because none of us remember it, doesn't mean it didn't happen.

[sean_iow]

So...the couple traveling with steel bikes and pannier is made of strong stuff, but the guy with a bikepacking setup is a snowflake for booking a campsite?

I think you might be missing the humor (and irony) in Vs post.

The guy said he'd never go 'Touring' but thankfully now he can go bikepacking

That's like me saying I'd never eat 'cooked bread' but luckily now we have toast instead.

[RIP]

Aye I don't think anyone here really "cares" about all this - we're just sitting in the BB Pub having a nice little natter, occasionally needling each other and taking the piss. All good clean fun with a couple of pints. We've had this exact same discussion 94 times since I've been in the BB Pub .

Anyway, just to add to the mix, I notice the OP mentioned nothing about what goes on in one's head. It was "has bikepacking gear come full circle". So I wonder if the mindset has gone round in a circle too, whatever that may mean. Anyone want any crisps or peanuts by the way?

I'd say a major part of what makes "bikepacking gear" is its weight. Weight saving minimalism is bikepacking for me, and my LS21 bag simply strapped direct to my bars, and my LS21 seatpack are both far lighter and more compact than any rack or frame based equivalent. Which means I get to go to more and dafter places .

Oh, and I personally haven't just gone full circle, I continually go round and round in circles all the time, which is also bikepacking for me . So there's the mindset angle too - as loose and unstructured as my gear .

[Verena]

Hi, well said, who cares, I don't care either how people enjoy their bikes and their holidays, and the distinction/ definition of one or the other...

I was just musing as we all are, and was doing so in fact with said chap, how so many of the changes in kit go round in circles, are often not just about practicalities or technical advancement, but a fair bit of fashion and marketing, and how we can ourselves fall prey to worrying about "image".

Anyway, take no notice of me - I'd booked a hotel two weeks ago, have in my seat pack no camping gear but a pair of jeans, some knickers and a frock for the family do on Saturday, and I even dibbed out early yesterday and took a train... (not a bikepacking trip clearly... too complicated and boring to explain, but essentially a plan that had to be changed several times over...and a bit of a recce for future trips. Trying out the 4 day interrail pass thing btw which I saw Emily Chappelle recommended recently)

[RIP]

Anyway, take no notice of me - have in my seat pack no camping gear but a pair of jeans, some knickers and a frock

Sounds perfect, I must try it sometime!

[Verena]

Honey roasted for me please, cheers Reg

[Dave Barter]

Anyway, take no notice of me - have in my seat pack no camping gear but a pair of jeans, some knickers and a frock

Sounds perfect, I must try it sometime!

I'm afraid I don't believe that you haven't already.

[Verena]

Anyway, take no notice of me - have in my seat pack no camping gear but a pair of jeans, some knickers and a frock

Sounds perfect, I must try it sometime!

I'm afraid I don't believe that you haven't already.

[sean_iow]

Maybe I should put a saddle pack on my commuter with a frock and some frilly knickers in it, and I'll add a bra for good measure.

If (when) a supermarket lorry sends me off to the great ITT in the sky the presence of these will ensure I make the national news, which will help highlight the dangers of our roads.

It will also be a great last joke to play on my friends who will spend the whole of my wake asking each other if they knew I wore a dress at work

[ripio]

Early bikepackers?

fraser-1899.jpg (42.14 KiB) Viewed 3111 times

[Bearbonesnorm]

Maybe I should put a saddle pack on my commuter with a frock and some frilly knickers in it, and I'll add a bra for good measure.

If (when) a supermarket lorry sends me off to the great ITT in the sky the presence of these will ensure I make the national news, which will help highlight the dangers of our roads.

It will also be a great last joke to play on my friends who will spend the whole of my wake asking each other if they knew I wore a dress at work

That reminds me - I know a lad who was involved in a near fatal bike crash many years ago, when they cut his jeans off in hospital what did they find beneath? That's right, his girlfriends knickers

[Verena]

Early bikepackers?

fraser-1899.jpg

Love it, so very elegant. Wish I'd kept/ nabbed my parents' Gazelle bikes...

[Verena]

Maybe I should put a saddle pack on my commuter with a frock and some frilly knickers in it, and I'll add a bra for good measure.

If (when) a supermarket lorry sends me off to the great ITT in the sky the presence of these will ensure I make the national news, which will help highlight the dangers of our roads.

It will also be a great last joke to play on my friends who will spend the whole of my wake asking each other if they knew I wore a dress at work

That reminds me - I know a lad who was involved in a near fatal bike crash many years ago, when they cut his jeans off in hospital what did they find beneath? That's right, his girlfriends knickers

I think that could be a whole thread in its own right ...

"Things you'd put in your bike bags, to be found on the occasion of your demise as a result of a bike crash..."

[Dave Barter]

Early bikepackers?

fraser-1899.jpg

So much to see here.

1) the hats, no straps so they were heading off at a leisurely pace
2) the pose of the guy in the middle, I suspect frilly knickers and maybe a corset I can't even work out how he is standing up?
3) racks AND framebags
4) no beards
5) could argue Jeff Jones ripped off their bars...

[RIP]

I'm afraid I don't believe that you haven't already

I do so like a mystery...

[faustus]

Those racks are early tailfins

[RIP]

Early bikepackers?

fraser-1899.jpg

So much to see here

Certainly is. What a great find Ripio.

2) the pose of the guy in the middle, I suspect frilly knickers and maybe a corset I can't even work out how he is standing up?

I think he's curtseying. Quite an effeminate right hand. Good to see a nice inclusive group for the times!

From the benches outside the building I guess it's a hotel, "so obviously not bikepackers" (sorry V!).

4) no beards

Definitely not bikepackers.

[Tractionman]

What a great find Ripio.

Here's the book it comes from, for download free:

https://ia801308.us.archive.org/25/item ... 252707.pdf

Round the World on a Wheel of 1899!

cheers,

Keith

[Tractionman]

I love the intro:

'We took this trip round the world on bicycles
because we are more or less conceited, like to be
talked about, and see our names in the newspapers.
We didn't go into training. We took things easy. We
jogged through Europe, had sundry experiences in
Asia, and survived the criticisms of our country from
the Americans. For two years we bicycled in strange
lands, and came home a great disappointment to our
friends. We were not haggard or worn, or tottering
in our gait. We had never been scalped, or had hooks
through our spines ; never been tortured, or had our
eyes gouged ; never been rescued after living for a
fortnight on our shoes. And we had never killed a
man. It was evident we were not real travellers.
Still, away somewhere at the back of our heads, we
are rather proud of what we have done. We have
accomplished the longest bicycle ride ever attempted,
Just 19,237 miles over continuous new ground.'