Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

good watch, thanks, the wresteling bit probably more funny that it was meant to be.

Jack's at it...
http://thebikeshow.net/adventures-in-bikepacking/

@mishmash11 So jealous mate! Really wanted to do this whilst I lived in WA but never got round to it. I WILL return one day to do it. Any tips or guidance? Or alternatively a write-up of your trip? I would hopefully have the luxury of time so would be taking it easy.

Gonna cycle from Swindon to London tomorrow. Looks like it's the easier direction with barely any incline over the 100miles (to return would be all uphill, maybe I wimp out and take the train back).

Going to test out the 2010 'dale synapse carbon with the giant KTM seatpack and a small backpack. Must see if it handles well enough to use as an ultralight road-only bikepacker.

Anyone any experience of this kit?
https://www.apidura.com/shop/?jumpto=99

I'm interested in it but also worried my legs will rub it constantly even not full loaded, 6cm of width seems like too much in my tests on the rollers

Bloody hell it was cold. Thumbs up again for the KTM pack, with extra straps to secure it tighter to reduce swing

Not actual experience but I checked out @fussballclub's I think Straight Outta Hackney and their bags seem way too wide for me. As soon as you have to move your knees outwards it's game over. That's why I went with the much smaller Deuter frame bag and top tube bag for PBP.

I'm done

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Which tent packs dat small?

^ Starlight Gazer ™

There's a fair bit to type! I'll try summarise a few things in bullet points though...let me know if you have any specific questions. Before my trip I did a lot of research and did a lot of planned redundancy food and accom options in case I was ahead/behind.

1. Soft tail not really necessary, although it did let me achieve serious XC speed, especially with CTD lockouts, which made uphills easy and downhills a lot faster than a loaded hard tail. Downside is a slightly heavier bike and you have to carry less (smaller frame bag).
   
2. Fat bike also not necessary, 2.1-2.3 tyres are fine.
   
3. The huts are very well equipped, I would take just a mosquito net for using inside the huts, as well as a light tarp style tent/outer just in case the huts are taken up (you can check on the website if the huts will be occupied by school groups).
   
4. Rain water is generally available in spring/autumn, don't make my mistake and not filter it. I'm assuming I got my stomach troubles (cramps) from it.
   
5. Always stock up on food when you have the chance, country shops hours are very limited, and they have limited stock. (i.e no gels, only fresh food/bread/muesli bars)
   
6. The southern section legs are short enough to make town to town (no huts) - take advantage of the hostels here/the foundation partners accommodation, they are very bike-tourer friendly. These are really good for a shower/refreshing before you go north to huts (if going south to north). I can highly recommend the Northcliffe tobacco hut B&B (Watermark Kilns) with breakfast, the comfy bed and hot shower was well worth it.
   
7. I did south to north, mainly as I assumed if something would go wrong it would be easier for me to bail if I was closer to Perth.
   
8. I used an 810 for mapping. Open source maps have the munda biddi trail available. I also bought a copy of the maps as some turnoffs/T-intersections aren't well described in the open source.
   
9. Take increased water capacity in case there are any water tanks that are empty or have been destroyed by bushfires. I had to smash out a 150km stretch in 36C heat with only one early water stop. I had ~4L available but I would have been more comfortable with between 5 and 6 for the longer between town sections.
   
10. Clean and lube that chain. The red dust drys it out like crazy.
    
11. No camp fires - fuel cookers only.
    
12. I used air shocks, but I was very strict with keeping them clean. Mine were brand new/newly serviced, with new seals. At the end of each day I cleaned the stanchions and removed the dirt from the seals by adding a line of wet lube around the stanchion seal and pumping it to push the trapped dirt out. Tyre and shock pressure checks were daily, I had to significantly increase my shock pressures to accommodate the extra weight of gear, and change the rebound and trail firmness settings. Each morning I would tip my bike upside down to bathe the foam rings in the forks in bath oil while I packed.
    
13. Take a light steel cable and small lock - more as a deterrent as theft has occurred in the northern most huts which are closer to the city and less isolated.
    
14. I charged my phone/Garmin/GoPro/Battery Pack in B&Bs and pubs, although next time I am gonna either buy a larger battery pack or a dynamo hub with e-werk.
    
15. Take good lights. It gets surprisingly dark in the bush, even with a full moon.
    
16. Lots of wildlife on the trail. Especially King Brown Snakes in the north. Take very special care with these, they have a low toxicity bite, but their venom output per bite is very significant. Know your snake first aid.
    
17. Most importantly: I took (hired) a PLB. While Spot trackers are good, I've read that a PLB lets emergency rescuers locate you a lot faster than a GPS Spot Tracker - something about signal and homing frequencies or something, I can find the link if you're more interested. I just checked in with family in each town that had reception. Next time I'll take both, they are both very small and low power.
    
    

Let me know if you want to know anything else!

Edit: also Death Adders, Tiger Snakes, Dugites and Common/Eastern Brown Snakes. The last one causes the most snakebite deaths in Australia than any other snake.

Legend. Thanks very much for this. Makes me want to ride this even more now!

No worries - I found my trip planner too, I've sent it to you via PM. It has all the costs I estimated/incurred for bringing my bike up to scratch + food/accom, as well as distances between huts/points of interests, notes etc. Download it and keep it stored somewhere for when you come back.

Anyone else reading this and thinking of doing it give me a yell and I'll flick you a copy too.

Anyway a few pictures of my kit after I came back. I was also using a TT bag to store muesli bars/nut bars and gopro.

Sleeping system, toiletries, charger, flipflops. Next time I'm gonna get a different pillow, swap the hoochie for a lightweight tent. May also potentially move some of this stuff to my saddle bag.

Saddle bag was clothes and towel.

Frame bag was first aid, spares and food. In future I'm gonna move the spares and faid to my saddle bag, food to back back and have the whole thing for water. Maps and compass in map pocket.

Backpack contained water and small bits in the many tiny pockets. Also held bulk food (baguettes, avos, etc).

No shoes?

I used sidi eagle 5fit's, also went to kmart here and bought a 10 pack of cheap sports socks, I just threw out a pair every two days instead of carrying the dead smelly weight to wash at the end.

beloved set-up

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After someone posted a link some pages back, I ordered a bag off bikepack.pl which arrived today.

Has taken about 7 weeks from order to delivery. However given the price and the quality of the product I am pretty happy with that. I only ordered the small saddle pack but it is actually a good size when opened up, and more than big enough for the general use I bought it for (400-600k rides).

For circa £30 including delivery it was crazy cheap. Will definitely be ordering a big one (once they have cleared their backlog) for a bit of touring in France this summer.

As you can see @mustardbeak, on my setup I'm running bikepack.pl, that's a damn good gear.

Good deal on Apidura handlbar bag:

(Mispelled title, but the one I bought seems completely original)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/172108640962

What is the situation with the Salsa Anything Cages or Gorilla Cages since their last mention over a year ago. Is there something better on the market. My issue is still I have the old Cross Check fork which only has a single mount point.

I want something to mount my sleeping bag and tent to the front forks. What are my options?

Bit of an odd one this... http://events.pannier.cc/darkpeakweekender/

That is ridiculous - 700m of climbing whilst only traveling 75 miles.

700 miles of climbing in 75 miles. Shit is steeep up north!

Schedule looks tight, no specific time allocated to faffing/repacking etc.