UKC

are there any bikepacking clubs in or around sheffield

In reply to Michael Morrell:

I don't know if there are any bikepacking clubs per se, but join the bike and bivvy Facebook group and the Coggers - Sheffield mountain bike Facebook group and you'll probably find other keen people.

In reply to TobyA:

Mike - try the local mountain bike clubs - mine has a contingent who go out and sleep under hedges

In reply to TobyA:

Could someone explain how 'bikepacking' is different to cycle camping? or is it just a trendy term for an old activity ?

In reply to Doug:

Bikepacking involves carrying your equipment in various artisanal dry bags, made by men with trendy beards, which hang off your handlebars saddle and inside the main frame rather than in conventional bike luggage like panniers.

In reply to Jon Greengrass:

... and generally doesn't involve a tent !

In reply to Jon Greengrass:

Exactly - main point is how the stuff is carried on the bike (specially made bags that keep the profile and weight as low as poss, as opposed to heavier and bulkier traditional bike luggage).

The sleeping under hedges bit is extra / separate!

In reply to andyfallsoff:
so if I have lightweight panniers I'm bikepacking but if I use my old, sturdy, Carradice bags I'm cycle touring?
Clear as mud

In reply to iani:

amazing how light you can go- this guy's setup weighs in at 12-13kg fully loaded including tent- lighter than my unladen steel tourer. 900g for tent, sleeping bag and mat!
youtube.com/watch?v=56bkaEyScX0&

In reply to Doug:

i think it's mainly about weight. camping gear has got a lot lighter..

In reply to Doug:

Ha. Maybe it isn't as clear a distinction as it seemed!

In reply to Doug:

Yes there's a big overlap but I think one of the other main advantages of modern bikepacking kit other than the weight is that your bike handles very similarly (just a bit heavier) . The added weight is much more central and the bike still feels very maneuverable - especially significant for handling off road singletrack.
Cheers
Mark

In reply to Doug:


"Bikepacking" = "ditch your front and rear panniers in favour of strapping on a bar bag and the biggest saddle bag you can find".

I'm compromising with a bar bag and dry bag on top of a rack - saddle packs seem a daft idea to me, as weight high up and capable of swinging from side to side.

In reply to LastBoyScout:

saddle packs are more aero and there isn't much weight anyway..
maybe it's some sort of compensation for general decline in fitness

In reply to LastBoyScout:

Decent ones don't swing about too much. I guess the argument is also a rack is unnecessary weight and gets in the way when you are proper mountain biking of road.

In reply to Doug:


Presumably, like other such things, a marketing term to make the gullible think they are doing a new activity for which they need to spend money on special kit.

In reply to Doug:
bikepacking seminar: youtube.com/watch?v=gv2H3xioDk0&
i'd have asked him what's with the beards?

In reply to Doug:


Exactly my thoughts. It's just cycle touring for when people don't want to face up tothe stigma that comes with calling yourself a cycle tourist.

In reply to malk:


The saddle pack may be more aero, but it's a bit of a moot point when you're also sticking a bar bag on

In reply to Doug:

Pretty much.

If you use panniers you're touring which is for crusty old farts who drink real ale.

If you use frame/bar/seat fitted bags you're bikepacking which is for young hipsters who drink craft IPA.

In reply to DaveHK:

all is becoming almost clear
but what am I doing if I have a handlebar bag plus my largest saddlebag ? (especially if old but drinking red wine rather than beer as its France)

In reply to Doug:

Don't tell me that after all these years, you haven't discovered good French beer?
Admittedly you have to search for not Belgian, but Jenlain is well worth a try

In reply to Carless:
depends where in France, it can be good, especially in the NE, and there are some good local breweries but in some areas the best option is often Leffe

In reply to Doug:



Could be retropacking.

In reply to Michael Morrell:
I accidentally found myself bikepacking a few months back. I was supervising a DofE group and didn't want to walk the route. Although I did not have any IPA, checked shirt or tweed hat I did carry my overnight stuff in a dry bag on my retro Kona and sport a beard.

Had to give myself a right talking to so I did.

In reply to Doug:
I guess cycle touring has traditionally been road (or gravel road) based? Bikepacking started more with rougher mountain biking where racks might get trashed. But really there isn't much difference. I do like IPA but don't have a beard and am really not young anymore. I've never had bike racks though so bikepacking gear was the cheap way into cycle camping for me. And of course I want to be a hipster.

In reply to TobyA:
Guess most cycle touring is on roads & tracks
Although there's also a mostly forgotten history of 'rough stuff' cycling from the days before mountain bikes were invented (mid 80s). I guess the roughest trip I did on a roadbike with panniers was a two day trip cycling out to Glen Tanar from Aberdeen, night in a bothy then, after pushing/carrying the bikes to the top of Mount Keen we cycled down the other side (Glen Markie ?, not sure without checking) & down to the coast & then back to Aberdeen. One of the party (of three) did have a mountain bike (although suspension hadn't been invented) but didn't seem at any real advantage (my bike had pretty sturdy hand built wheels ). Had several similar trips in the eastern Cairngorms at that time.

In reply to Michael Morrell:

Bike packing is derived from back packing. So imagine you are going back packing but letting the bike carry the load. So you need to be on similar terrain to that which you would back pack on. So riding down a road is not bike packing even if you do have a sheep strapped over the top tube,

In reply to Doug:

There was a book in my school library over which I had a period of obsession. It was about cycle touring and featured things I'd never seen before such as triple chainsets and panniers on the forks. This would have been about 1976/77. Its title was, "Bikepacking."

In reply to iani:


I have a hedge, and I live near route 7
( I will go out and see if any of them are under my hedge

In reply to Jim C:

So if one needed to round up hipsters, for any undefined reason, you should go out at night looking under hedges along bridle ways and estate tracks? If there were more hedges in Shoreditch and Campden would the hipsters gravitate to them at night like moths to a light?