Off road bikes are confusing

[Dave42w]

I'm totally new to Bikepacking and I find the range of bikes people use and choose bewildering. Road, utility and cargo bikes are much more straightforward

Supposing an experienced on road cyclist wanted over a period of years to tackle the routes listed on selfsupporteduk.net

Even before considering a brand or model there are confusing choices?

What size wheels/tyres: 26, 650b, 29, 29+, fat?

Any suspension?

These are much bigger variables than with road bikes where the difference between a 23mm tyre and a 25mm is considered huge ;-)

So what works best and I'm assuming UK rides not the extreme stuff like the Iditarod where the choice is simpler (fat bike or fat bike).

[Matt]

Any decent mountain bike will be fine, the variation in what people ride is proof that it doesn't actually matter.

[mountainbaker]

I think the best thing is to get out and ride some of the terrain you want to tackle, on whatever mountain bike you have now, see what does or doesn't work, and try other kit/parts accordingly. It's not cheap, but it's fun. You could read thousands of blogs/forum rants about wheel sizes, types of bike luggage, saddle sores, carbon rims, etc etc, and you'd still have no more experience out there on the trail.

[JohnClimber]

The way the market is going and which will suit bike packing and be more future proof is 650b tyres or larger.
I love Fat biking but I wouldn't concider a fat bike as my only bike especially if you are looking at such long distance rides. 650 - 29 - 29er+ will be the best place to look to start with.
Go for a hardtail with or out without front susspension as a classic triangle frame is better for bike frame bags and no susspension on the back for you can fit a seat pack.
If you are a roadie you wouldn't be used to a large rucksac. So keep the bike simple and all your kit hanging off it so you have nothong on your back.
Roughly where do you live? Maybe you could hook up with someone on here for a look at their set up.

[Blackhound]

I think MrMatt has it about right. You could go down the shed full of bikes so you always have the right one or just buy one and 'make do'. I would suggest look at what 90% of your mtb riding would be like and buy a bike for that. As said, any bike will do anything, one bike being more suitable than another in specific conditions.

Buying now I would suggest a 650b/29er wheeled bike for long trips and probably with suspension forks depending on routes preferred. Just keep an eye on the size of the triangle if intending to use a frame bag as some triangles are quite small i.e. Orbea Alma.

Your attitude is probably more important than the bike brand, frame material or wheel size.

[Richpips]

Your attitude is probably more important than the bike brand, frame material or wheel size.

This. ^^^^^

[jameso]

100% agreed with attitude over product specifics. But I'm a product type so I do think it's a valid part of it :) I'd say the mtb equivalent of your 25c all round road bike that can take guards is a 29er with 100mm forks and the option to use rigids. If it can take a 2.3 tyre at the back then you have an ideal all-round xc, distance or bikepacking sort of mtb. I don't see any advantage to 650b for this sort of use unless youre a shorter rider, but also fair to say you could use a cx bike if you wanted, to put it in context. I did my first road tours on a 26" hardtail with slicks on, good memories of those trips.

[Dave42w]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm doing both the Winter Event and the Welsh Ride Thing (the later as part of a longer tour from Leicester via Bristol and Cardiff and returning via St Beunos in North Wales) on my Shand Stoater. So far as I can see the only limitations of this for Bikepacking are

a) it is my practical daily use bike as well as tourer. That means time spent stripping off mudguards, racks, stand and swapping tyres before off-roading and then putting it all back afterwards (ok for occasional multi-day rides, not so good for an afternoon out).

b) so far the largest off road tyre I've found to fit is a WTB Nano Comp Cyclo Cross Tyre which is 40mm. I'm concerned that this is rather minimal for a lot of UK bikepacking routes in anything but dry weather.

So I was wondering whether to add a MTB in the future if I find I love the idea after these two events. I don't have patience, time or money to try all the various sizes and nor do I have lots of opportunities to build up vaguely exciting mountain bike skills.

There is a lot of hype for all 3 larger wheel sizes 650b, 29 and 29+ I'm hoping for some views from those who have ridden all of them and can advise whether it is simply biggest is best.

It does appear there is something of a consensus that a hardtail with suspension fork is a good way to go so I'll focus on those.

[Ray Young]

As has been said you can bikepack on just about anything. Buy a bike you desire rather than a one you think you should have, you will ride it far more.

Just out of interest I have set up a poll on general banter that may be of help to you Dave.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I would say that unless you have a real desire to own one, I'd shy away from + wheel sizes. Either 650b or 29er as the bigger wheels do tend to roll better and it's the way things are going. Depending on budget, I'd also consider a good pair of rigid forks rather than cheap suspension forks.

[Matt]

Last year on the Welsh Ride our group had

A 26" Scandal (with no granny ring)
A 650b Rigid Boardman Hybrid
A 26" Full Suss bike

None of the above are the 'in vogue' backpacking bikes, but they are the bikes we had.

At no point did we question the bikes or not have fun.

(problem is if you turn up with all the gear you then need to be quick or you just look like bit of a broom handle, turn up on any old stuff and you can just enjoy it)

[ScotRoutes]

No one has mentioned 650b+ yet? I thought everyone knew that was your actual once-and-for-all wheelsize standard?

[Richpips]

No one has mentioned 650b+ yet? I thought everyone knew that was your actual once-and-for-all wheelsize standard?

What's not to like?

[Dave42w]

None of the above are the 'in vogue' backpacking bikes, but they are the bikes we had.

At no point did we question the bikes or not have fun.

I'm not disagreeing with that. However, if you don't yet have a bike it is a different question

[Richpips]

However, if you don't yet have a bike it is a different question

If you don't want to spend loads, there are plenty of cheap second hand 26" hardtails about at the moment.

[Matt]

Thought you had one of these?

Bike Camping Stoater by shandcycles, on Flickr

Looks fine to me

[whitestone]

A CX bike might be OK for a while but a few I know who use them say that as soon as you get on anything rocky you'd be better on an MTB.

Yes, there's a huge range of MTBs and of course the manufacturers would love us all to have a bike in each of the increasingly specific categories they come up with but in truth one bike (with occasional modifications) will be capable of most things. It may not be brilliant at those activities but you'd get by. I've a 29er HT and it's great for what I want to do (long rides on moderately technical terrain) and is fine on more technical stuff as well but I don't think I'd want to try a downhill course on it - there are better tools for that job.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the specifics though, most modern bikes are more than capable but some seem to fit individuals better than others: I tried a few bikes (on demo/hire) before buying the one I've got, a different manufacturer's 29er HT was good but not a patch on what I eventually bought even though looking at all the geometry and sizing they were all but identical. At this point it gets too personal to give any rational explanation, the one I got is right for me. Not a lot of help I know but perhaps it shows what you are up against

[Mart]

For me its about getting out there on what you have, if it gives you smiles per miles thats all that matters
As you get more into it you develop a sense of what works and doesnt work and your thinking progresses ahead of the gear you have v the gear you want to make things more comfy/lighter/faster etc etc Then it becomes expensive

[Dan_K]

I've got an xc 29er too (Scott Scale 960). It's perfect for the cross country non technical stuff I ride. I've used it abroad and at Bike Park Wales and it coped fine (I don't ride Downhill!)
I'd say that any bike is capable, you just need to be sensible with route choice and knowing your own capabilities and when to get off and walk.

[ScotRoutes]

The easy availability of "bikepacking" luggage has made bike choice a lot easier as there is now no need to consider rack mounts. I reckon (and the poll so far backs this up) that a suspension-corrected 29er hardtail is going to be the best all-rounder. Choose suspension or rigid forks as the mood takes you.

[gairym]

I use my 29er hardtail for almost all bikepacking trips these days and it's pretty much perfect (Cotic 'Solaris').

I've ridden it on the road, in Wales and live in the Alps (where it has ridden everything my full-sus has managed and then some).

Hard to imagine one bike I'd rather have as my only bikepacking bike.

[whitestone]

My HT's a Solaris too, so that's good to know gairym. I'm off to the Alps next July (Chamonix) with it as well so I'll see how it (err me) cope

[Bearbonesnorm]

You only had to look at the array of bikes at the Winter bivvy to realise that, 2 triangles welded together with a wheel at each end is the way to go

[gairym]

My HT's a Solaris too, so that's good to know gairym. I'm off to the Alps next July (Chamonix) with it as well so I'll see how it (err me) cope

Sweet, if you fancy a ride give me a shout as that's where I live!

Might also be able to help with routes too if you want.

During July and August certain trails are off limits to cyclists due to the volume of walkers.

[SRS]

Dave,

Up until a few months ago I hadn't owned a mountain bike since my early teens - all my cycling had been on the road. I was looking to mix things up a bit and was inspired to try going off-road by a few blogs:

Dave Barter's: http://phased.co.uk/
Ian's: http://ianbarrington.com/
Aidan Harding's: http://www.aidanharding.com/

There's a wealth of info and some really useful insights on each of them - I recommend reading through the old posts. Aidan's kit lists for various events are comprehensive and certainly worth checking out.

That said, here are a few of my observations having now put in some off-road riding.

1. I went with a rigid steel 29er - and when I first built it up and rode it, it felt like a monster truck. It takes some getting used to.

2. Even 580mm flat bars feel very very wide when you're used to riding 42 - 44cm drops. It may take some time to find bars that suit you.

3. If you are riding a rigid fork on rocky terrain, a high volume tyre at low pressure provides passive suspension. That doesn't mean that it becomes a quilted carpet ride, but it definitely helps a lot.

4. Tubeless with sealant is simply fantastic.

5. Tyres that suit some riders may not suit you. I went with Ardent TR EXO because it's well liked by many and seemed to cover a lot of different riding conditions. However, it's not working for me - a lot of my off-road riding has been very muddy and the heart-stopping moment count per ride is a little too high! I am sure some will say that my handling skills are not good enough - and they would almost certainly be right. But, nonetheless, I'll be switching to something better suited to muddy conditions. So, be prepared to experiment a bit with tyres.

6. Cable disc brakes take some fettling to get right, but their performance is quite incredible compared to rim brakes. But, if you have a Stoater, you'll already know that.

Good luck.

Simon.