Road bike bikepackers (roadie bikes off-road)

[Michael_S]

Just picked up another road-ish bike.  Rawland Stag with 43mm Hetres.  Really liking the ride!

those Hetres are awesome tires..fast on the road and great on smooth dirt and singletrack. Here is a pic of my set up for an s24o riding some singletrack near San Clemente

[cackalak]

Yeah, your bike may have planted the seed.  I've got mine set up with a Nitto rack and Acorn bag.  I'll have to look into a saddle bag like you've got on there.  Tires are expensive, but do offer a superb ride and actually pretty light.  What psi do you run?  I just took it down to ~32psi and it seems about right.  Got to be careful about pinch flatting on rougher roads, though.

And a mistake in my last post--they're 42mm tires.

[Michael_S]

the rear bag is a medium Acorn bag... kinda small for camping rides. I've got Bolder Bikepacking building a small size rear bag that is 2 times the size of the Acorn.  The bikepacking rear bags are better at compressing the load IMO.  Add a half frame bag and the front rando bag and its great for fun mixed terrain rides.

Here is my new fat tired roadie style bike.   A little lighter frame than the 650B bike but fine for light overnights. In this pic it's shod with WTB 2" Nine Lines

[Michael_S]

Yeah, your bike may have planted the seed.  I've got mine set up with a Nitto rack and Acorn bag.  I'll have to look into a saddle bag like you've got on there.  Tires are expensive, but do offer a superb ride and actually pretty light.  What psi do you run?  I just took it down to ~32psi and it seems about right.  Got to be careful about pinch flatting on rougher roads, though.

And a mistake in my last post--they're 42mm tires.

  I run about 35/40 on my Hetres. I weigh about 195lbs.   Great tires, durable too.

[cackalak]

I thought about getting a Revelate tangle bag and a saddle bag.  I do like the classic looks of the Acorn, though. 

The green bike looks great.  I've got a Cross Check set up with 43's and it's a fun ride.  I'd like to try something like those WTB's eventually.

[dh024]

Just this year I discovered how much fun it is to explore forest service roads in the foothills and mountains west of Calgary. So much more interesting than riding the same old roads near town. My skinny-tire road bike has hardly seen pavement this year, and my gravel-grinder is chewing up the miles. Got a couple weeks booked to do some longer trips this month, too. It's like I found a whole new hobby!   

[worntreads]

Leaving Again by Worn Treads, on Flickr

35c, not much tread. Hoping to hit up some gravel/dirt roads in the Adirondacks, was hoping for Alleghany (might actually happen).
I've jammed my Cross Check on a lot of dirt, usually with my friend Manny, who is crazy and goes down gnarly trails. Here's another shot from a camp trip with 40c Mondials (more tread)

A Dubiously Easy Manny Mission by Worn Treads, on Flickr

I want to check out all these new Gravel Grinder tours and also the new Compass 40mm tire when I'm done touring.

[bekologist]

You can ride a lot of terrain on 28s. BUT, you can ride even more on 54s. I seemed to settle in on 35c as the sweet spot over the last decade. Recently, i've been experimenting with a "bigger" road bike running 47-50c slicks and up to a 54c knobbie, and been pretty happy with the off road results.

Yeah, 28s are quick on packed stuff and pave, but loose a lot of ability on unimproved roads with no base and sand. A real wallow fest.

At the bottom is a better picture of my latest bikepacking 'road bike'.

[brokenandcoastal]

I have my All City Macho Man set up with WTB Nanos 40c and it slays Fire Roads and intermediate Single Track. Light and responsive when packed down for a weekend trip.