Looks like bikepacking has gone mainstream

Brothersmith · Post by **Brothersmith** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:02 am

Blackburn have just introduced a range of bike packing luggage. Looks OK, not sure about the front roll bag though, bit of cross between Wildcat and Revalate bags. They are also doing their take on anything cage which look robust if a little heavy. Singletrack describe it as a good starter kit yet price doesn't seem much cheaper than Alpkit or Wildcat.

Is this the beginning of the end? Once everyone is over fat bikes will it be 29er adventure bikes next

http://singletrackworld.com/2014/10/bla ... long-haul/

Bearbonesnorm · Post by **Bearbonesnorm** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:28 am

I think it's quite a brave move by Blackburn. Interest in bikepacking certainly seems to be growing but it's still a very small market and the existing luggage manufactures have pretty much got everything covered both here and in the US. I don't see a rise in popularity been a bad thing at all ... the whole bikepacking experience is great, I don't want to keep that to myself, I want to share it and let other people enjoy it too. It'll never get 'too busy' out there because generally multiday rides are hard work and not a 'quick fix' ... that alone is enough to put off 80% of mountain bikers.

rando nomad · Post by **rando nomad** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:29 am

The fact that they have a hatchet means they are looking for the hipster market

Bearbonesnorm · Post by **Bearbonesnorm** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:34 am

The fact that they have a hatchet means they are looking for the hipster market

So true ... titanium tent pegs, cuben tarp, down bag and a bloody 3lb axe. Like they used to say on Sesame Steet ... "One of these things is not like the other three".

Ray Young · Post by **Ray Young** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 12:07 pm

s8tannorm wrote:
a bloody 3lb axe

Totally off topic here but that brought to mind once being woken in the middle of the night in a bothy by a noise I couldn't identify. Didn't bother me at the time but as I was drifting back off to sleep a thought occurred to me, "The Bothy Murders", great subject for a whodunnit . You know, lone bothy users found murdered in their sleep around various parts of the country over a period of time. Maybe one for Mr Rankin. Sleep well fellow bothy users

.

mountainbaker · Post by **mountainbaker** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 12:40 pm

s8tannorm wrote: It'll never get 'too busy' out there because generally multiday rides are hard work and not a 'quick fix' ... that alone is enough to put off 80% of mountain bikers.

come on. 95% at least.

Dan_K · Post by **Dan_K** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 12:59 pm

Ray Young wrote:
s8tannorm wrote:
a bloody 3lb axe
Totally off topic here but that brought to mind once being woken in the middle of the night in a bothy by a noise I couldn't identify. Didn't bother me at the time but as I was drifting back off to sleep a thought occurred to me, "The Bothy Murders", great subject for a whodunnit . You know, lone bothy users found murdered in their sleep around various parts of the country over a period of time. Maybe one for Mr Rankin. Sleep well fellow bothy users .

Someone on here already ruined my image of bothies when they said that they half expect to see a swinging body hanging from the rafters when they enter a bothy. I get a sense of dread now when I open a bothy door....

Brothersmith · Post by **Brothersmith** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 1:15 pm

mountainbaker wrote:
s8tannorm wrote: It'll never get 'too busy' out there because generally multiday rides are hard work and not a 'quick fix' ... that alone is enough to put off 80% of mountain bikers.
come on. 95% at least.

Unless of course you make it an organised event with route markers, a designated campsite, say its for charity and charge people £100 to enter - you would have to rebrand it to appeal to the masses; how about MuDE (muddy) - Multi Day Enduro

mountainbaker · Post by **mountainbaker** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 3:41 pm

Make it a festival of enduroness. Loads of dayglo shorts, monster and redbull flowing freely, and lots of people getting 'fair chuffed' about riding 10km. Maybe you can get a badge just for showing up, and another if you take part in the apple bobbing contest. Possibly an endurance test of how long you can stand about spitting hyperbole about how your bike rails berms and hucks to flat like a braaappper. Then you can drive home to you suburban dullness in your Mitsubishi Warrior with lo-pro tyres on.

Basically a massive wad of ironic twattery.

Bearbonesnorm · Post by **Bearbonesnorm** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 3:47 pm

Make it a festival of enduroness. Loads of dayglo shorts, monster and redbull flowing freely, and lots of people getting 'fair chuffed' about riding 10km. Maybe you can get a badge just for showing up, and another if you take part in the apple bobbing contest. Possibly an endurance test of how long you can stand about spitting hyperbole about how your bike rails berms and hucks to flat like a braaappper. Then you can drive home to you suburban dullness in your Mitsubishi Warrior with lo-pro tyres on.

Basically a massive wad of ironic twattery.

I'm sensing something here, not sure what but certainly something

mountainbaker · Post by **mountainbaker** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 3:53 pm

Anger? sorry, bad day at work.

mountainbaker · Post by **mountainbaker** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 4:02 pm

Here's a nice gif of a big bear riding a small bike to make up for my grump...

mountainbaker · Post by **mountainbaker** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 4:03 pm

And here's another, of someone rescuing a sheep from a fence.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 5:30 pm

I personally think that the Blackburn stuff look crap. And im sure there are manufactures out there now jumping on the band wagon. As with most things people tend to follow a trend then the not so serious fall off after awhile because something new arrives in town. As for the bikepacking products on the market ill definitely be sticking with the tried n tested companies that make great quality products ie the likes of revelate and wildcat after all most new products now are going to be of a similar design but its about the quality of build for me.

Richpips · Post by **Richpips** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 9:00 pm

For the money it looks pretty poor.

Alpkit and Wildcat have nothing to fear.

ScotRoutes · Post by **ScotRoutes** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 9:29 pm

I'm liking that cargo cage though - looks like it might have been tested a bit more than the Salsa one.

I also like the webbing on front and rear packs for clipping on a light of some sort.

Alpinum · Post by **Alpinum** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 9:30 pm

Richpips wrote:For the money it looks pretty poor.

Alpkit and Wildcat have nothing to fear.

Alpkit could so easily improve their Koala...

Wildcat is where it's at, and those who are passionate about bikepacking will turn to such gear sooner or later.
There's a difference you only appreciate if you ride a lot with over night gear. That's where you bin a worn out Koala (or Blackburn) and get the real deal.

Blackburn might sell a large volume, but I believe regulars will stick with Wildcat, Relevate.

Brothersmith · Post by **Brothersmith** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 10:20 pm

Richpips wrote:For the money it looks pretty poor.

Alpkit and Wildcat have nothing to fear.

I fear that Wildcat and Revelate kit is only really known to those in know. Alpkit is a bit more mainstream but you still have to look them up. I can see LBS stocking the Blackburn stuff and selling it to the everyday Joe who buys it on a bit of whim as they have always fancied having a go at that bikepacking lark. More power to them if it encourages more people to step outside, just think it may be taking £ from the cottage industries.

ScotRoutes · Post by **ScotRoutes** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 10:39 pm

When I was working in a bike shop a couple of years ago we deliberated about stocking bikepacking gear. Problem was that there were no UK distributors and we were too small to get involved in that angle. It'll be much easier for small shops to stock the Blackburn stuff as they'll already have accounts with Zyro.

Dave Barter · Post by **Dave Barter** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 10:50 pm

Go Outdoors is full of cycle tat and has stores everywhere. Yet people still buy decent kit online from the right suppliers.

The seatpost strap on my Wildcat Tiger convinced me as I reckon it must take a lot of force over time attempting to negate the swing. Not convinced by those Blackburn straps, but then I'm in IT.

johnnystorm · Post by **johnnystorm** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:29 pm

Wasn't someone moaning recently that all the riders he ever saw out and about were day ride jessies on full sussers.

composite · Post by **composite** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:53 pm

Bikepacking as we know it is at least one step beyond the roughing level that the average person is willing to accept for it to ever become mainstream.

I was chatting with Chew about this notion the last time one of these "bikepacking is going to end as we know it threads". A few weeks previous we had just done the tour de yorkshire bivi trip and even with the thousands of people on bikes who were out and about that weekend and the amount of people that would be from out of the area and who wouldn't want to be paying for inflated B&B's etc. and we didn't even see one other group that I would call bikepackers. There were maybe 2 groups that I saw that were pannier and tent type tourers. Bikepacking is not going mainstream any time soon.

EDIT: Almost forgot to say as well, that having soft luggage does not a bikepacker make. My mate in work has the Viscacha and a Tangle bag that he uses for commuting. Sleeping under a tarp is a long way out of his comfort zone.

Brothersmith · Post by **Brothersmith** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:19 pm

johnnystorm wrote:Wasn't someone moaning recently that all the riders he ever saw out and about were day ride jessies on full sussers.

I like a good moan, it's one of my few joys in life

Cheeky Monkey · Post by **Cheeky Monkey** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 2:47 pm

mountainbaker wrote:Make it a festival of enduroness. Loads of dayglo shorts, monster and redbull flowing freely, and lots of people getting 'fair chuffed' about riding 10km. Maybe you can get a badge just for showing up, and another if you take part in the apple bobbing contest. Possibly an endurance test of how long you can stand about spitting hyperbole about how your bike rails berms and hucks to flat like a braaappper. Then you can drive home to you suburban dullness in your Mitsubishi Warrior with lo-pro tyres on.

Basically a massive wad of ironic twattery.

I read this last night and then I read the thread about the proto-USB hub dynamo thingy. It's all just folks getting a bit caught up and enthusiastic in their latest "hobby". Why the negative vibes dude

For all the scorn that could be poured on "Enduro" imagine how laughable the idea of riding 200km nearly non-stop in October, where there's loads of road, pushing down descents and hours of death-marsh/march terrain would seem to another "cyclist".

mountainbaker · Post by **mountainbaker** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 3:24 pm

Like I posted after my rather grumpy post, I had a bit of a crappy day, I do get tired of the seemingly never-ending stream of videos about enduro, which involve stoke, shovels and high-fives. But then I can't stand most sports that are over-hyped by the media. Same goes for road cycling, football, F1, whatever, they are all just crap. What I like about bikepacking and the bearbones events is that it's honest, not overhyped, low-key, and the people are all really lovely that take part (apart from me it seems). There's no trophy, just bragging rights, and people who have the right to brag are all really humble. You don't get that in those other sports or disciplines within cycling. Something Dave Barter touched on kinda hit the nail on the head for me. We are out taking part, writing a story (actually doing something, not talking about doing it), everyone else is sitting at home reading the script.

Anyway, enduro >>>>>>>>>>>

Looks like bikepacking has gone mainstream

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