Hello all,
I've been racing xc for a while now but I'm finding myself drawn towards bike packing but I've no idea where I should start. Any help will be appreciated, including bike frame consideration, currently on a Santa Cruz Tallboy and where to start gear wise.

Thanks in advance

No need for any fancy kit/bike. Its more of a 'Run What You've Brung' activity

All you need is:
Something to sleep in - Keep you warm
Something to sleep on - Keep you warm and comfortable
Something to sleep under - Keep the weather off you
Something to carry it all in

Plenty of stuff comes up on the Classifieds (or post up if you're looking for something) to get you started cheaply

The only place i'd spend up front is a good quality sleeping bag

Just get out there and find out what works for you.

Thanks for that, will spend the winter assembling some kit. Are there any tips to begin route planning, pit falls etc??

Are there any tips to begin route planning, pit falls etc??

I think that depends where you're riding. Popular destinations are usually easier as there's more signs, the trails are often well defined and there's plenty of info out there. Once you start to venture into less well known areas things can become trickier ... Bear Bones land is a prime example. There's usually a steep learning curve involving ignoring bridleways on the map unless they're backed up with black dashes and realising that maps don't always resemble what's on the ground.

Also, pay real attention to contour lines, they'll tell you an awful lot. Work on an off road average of 10km/h and you won't go far wrong.

HenryCrun wrote:Are there any tips to begin route planning, pit falls etc??

A few bits from the Blog:
http://bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.co ... erves.html
http://bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.co ... -tips.html

The biggest piece of advice if you're starting out is just make your first trip a small one. Somewhere where you have ridden before or close to home is always good, and means you can easily recover if something goes wrong.