Bikepacking Bike Design-Need Your Opinons

[cyclist.designer]

Hello,

I am an industrial designer who is looking to enhance the world of bikepacking by designing a bike made specific for it. This bike will have built-in shelter, tools and other necessities right into its frame. One reason I see this is fit for the market is that this would allow users to have minimum prep time, to allow them to easily make a overnight trips and give them the peace of mind they need when exposed to natures harsh elements. This built-in system would eliminate the need for most, if not all saddle bags. 

I am an avid cyclist and adventure seeker myself. The bikepacking world is somewhat new to me as I've only been on a few overnight trips. Your opinon on this concept would be well recieved. If you can think of anything else that would be helpful to have in a bike made for bikepacking or any other concerns please chime in!

[nick]

interesting idea...

[D45yth]

I think one the hardest tasks would be deciding what kind of price point it would be aimed at.  You've only got to look at the setups on here to see the variation...from bikes costing a few hundred dollars to thousands and that's not even getting started on kit.  
Forgetting the budget for kit for a minute, how would you decide what to include?  Some folk take the bare minimum, others like a few creature comforts, there isn't such a thing as a perfect setup to cater to everyone.  Kit lists are weather dependant or seasonal too, with cold weather gear being especially bulky.  You say you think you could do away with a saddle bags.  I can't weigh up where you could create the same space they provide, elsewhere.  You've also got the problem of spreading and balancing the weight too.
Other issues would be that most folk would probably own some pieces of kit already, if not all, I don't think they'd be wanting to buy a full setup including the bike as well...whatever your pricepoint would be, it's not going to be cheap.  Is it going to be aimed at complete beginners, starting from scratch?  Another thing is that most, if not all bikes used are just that, normal bikes, with bags or panniers added to carry extra gear.  Most of the time those bikes won't even be used for bikepacking, they might only be used a handful of times throughout the year for that.  To have a stand-a-lone bike just for it would be quite a luxury and a waste of money for most.  
Sorry if I seem pessimistic, it's just it seems like a hard task you've set yourself.

Goodluck anyway!

[Done]

I think that D45yth makes some very good points. To add to them, it would be awkward to bikepack on a bike that you don't regularly ride. It's hard enough to adjust to the way my regular bike rides when I load it up, but at least it's still the same bike with the same geometry, cockpit, etc. Jumping on some sort of dedicated bikepacking bike that I don't ride much would throw me for a loop.

That said, visionaries often overcome the status quo. Just because naysayers like me don't get it, doesn't mean that you can't make a quantum leap beyond what seems obvious. So go big, and be original!

Here's one bit of advice that I can offer: make sure that the design has flexible capacity. As D45yth has already stated, different seasons require different gear. On top of that, consider carrying capacity for food. Especially on a long trip, lots of food (bulk and weight) is required, and the bike will need to gracefully "shrink" as stuff is consumed.

Keeping weight low is important. The current seatbag and handlebar bag systems are pretty good, but they do raise the center of gravity a fair bit.

Interesting idea. I hope that you share the results of your work in this thread!

[cyclist.designer]

Thank you guys for the comments and advice, they help my research alot. D45yth, you've raised great questions and I've already pondered through how I will solve the seasonal issues, personal conformities & flexibility and of course the physics of the weight.

Keep in my mind I am in conceptual stages here, so there are a lot kinks that need worked out and touched upon yet. I would say setups such as this bike would be made for beginners of the sport and/or people who can afford to have another bike made just for the sport. As a beginner myself, it would be alot more convientent to have a bike I could buy that I know will hold everything I need right within it.

TobyGadd, you raised an interesting point about the current handle bar system. How do you guys feel about your current setup and what would you change about it?

This is my thesis project for the fall 2012 semester so I for sure share process and final results. Everyones expertise and adivce on this is greatly appreciated!

[bmike-vt]

as a former ID student and design instructor, the best thing i can tell you to do is design what you know.
get out and ride. get out and camp. set up, tear down, load up, break stuff, prototype.
you probably don't have enough time for that in a semester or over the length of a project - but if this is something that fits in your life - maybe it is a longer term project.

and whatever you do, i'd think about making it an open system, that can be modified / adapted by its intended use - fatbiking the coast in alaska or has very different requirements than racing the colorado or arizona trail, or touring the great divide. cold weather / hot weather / access to water / food / etc.... suspension or not... etc. etc.

the basic idea and implementation of a bike is a tough thing to improve upon.

[Colorado Cool Breeze]

Lots of good advice already.
What I would like to see on the market is a good daily rider with tons of options that can be easily installed for any given trip.
hth