Well , for my birthday I received a truly wonderful Paul Milnes custom made cyclocross bike with the intention of getting a general purpose bike. So I took it out this weekend for its first bikepacking trip, and WOW! I can honestly say that it was perfect for virtually everything. The frame is huge, so when I get a frame bag it will take a load of stuff. Its really light weight and handles off and on road brilliantly! :-D
It makes me wonder why hardtail MTB's with solid forks are so popular??
Anyone else use a CX bike for bike packing?
Atb
Ben

Here's a picture I hope

Ben98 wrote:It makes me wonder why hardtail MTB's with solid forks are so popular??

I think you will find an MTB will handle far rougher terrain without risk of puncturing or damaging wheel rims especially when loaded and wider bars make for easier handling.

I have a Ti tourer that I often fit larger, CX tyres too and take off road.
I have an El Mariachi that can either be run rigid or with suspension forks.
I have a 97 fatbike.

All are/can be used for bikepacking and each has their strengths and weaknesses in terms of comfort, load carrying and off-road ability.

Most folk riding CX style bikes rarely use the drop part of the bars, in which case it could be argued that's just excess metal that's being carried ;-) I found that fitting Salsa Woodchippers to mine gave me a much more comfortable and stable position - especially on steep rocky descents. Drop bars of any sort also reduce the size of bag/load that can be carried up front, so that may be a factor.

Ben98 wrote:It makes me wonder why hardtail MTB's with solid forks are so popular??

Ray Young wrote:I think you will find an MTB will handle far rougher terrain without risk of puncturing or damaging wheel rims especially when loaded and wider bars make for easier handling.

I'm with Ray on this one.

A decent CX bike will handle some semi-rugged off-road touring but not 'real' mountain biking - it's just not built for it (geometry or strength).

If that's all you want to use it for then a CX bike is perfect but if I used one it wouldn't last it's maiden voyage!

Ian has the best reason for bike packing on a 'crosser. His kite is gorgeous. :D

Thanks for the cue Johnny


Collars & Cuffs by ianbarrington, on Flickr

At El' an Back in January:


Pont Elan by ianbarrington, on Flickr

I would say that CX is very horses for courses. While my El' an Back set up probably weighed less overall than my WRT set up, even allowing for winter bag, stove etc, it was not easier to ride across lumpy Welsh countryside. Roads were quicker, obviously, but when it came to picking your way some even vaguely rocky descent, 2"+ tyres would have been my preference. I also found that 32mm tyres don't half cut into the mud when you're full up with bikepacking gear

For a route comprising mostly of fireroad, it would be fine, but I imagine that the WRT will offer a lot more than that

Mabey the fact that I ride with virtually all of my kit on my back means that my bike is less affected by off road, but as far as I could tell, it handled off road as well as my mates specialised hard rock, we even overtook 3 mtb'ers at one point :-D
I do agree about the wheels being less robust, but ridden right I should avoid buckles and punctures (have done so far)
Obviously each to there own and all that
I do quite like the look of a fat bike for playtime though
Bring on the WRT!

Atb
Ben