Yes... but I had already factored that in when I spoke of lighter (as opposed to less) gear. Even adding the weight of four panniers plus several kilos of comfort to my UL bikepacking kit I still arrive at 15 kilos max for a summer or autumn road trip. It's only when I envision harsher conditions and remoter regions that I might require much more.

@vikb

Yes, fantasies ;-) If you follow my last link, you can easily see what happens. That Oxford bike costs the equivalent of 2800 euros and is a very deliberate and reasoned understatement. So, encouraged by many vendors, people find something that seems similar and even superficially superior for about half the price - and never discover they have all the weight, but relatively little of the strength, durability and globetrotting convenience the Oxford boasts. And why don't they discover that? Because their itineraries never put their vehicles to the test and never will. So they are content to fancy they have a bike for Peru or the Gobi desert... as they pedal around in Denmark.

In actual fact, they could save another 500 and buy a lighter, faster bike plus racks for 1000 euros or less. Then they might spend the savings on a ME Helium summer bag, a NeoAir, a 50g butane stove and a titanium mug. And they would be on the way to touring heaven... comparatively. Of course, those that actually fork out the 2800 for the 'real thing' would save a whole lot more - more than enough to buy a complete kit of top-quality UL trekking gear.

The funny thing is that the fairly affluent type of person to buy the Oxford unnecessarily is often the type of person who would never ditch a job and career to put the bike to its intended use.

P.S. @sfuller

Most expedition bikes that enjoy the approval of experienced world tourers don't look half as much fun as a Fargo... more like old-fashioned and overbuilt commuting bikes. Now I'm very willing to concede there are excellent reasons for their particular (heavy) preferences... and while I don't think many of us have those reasons, I see a lot of bikes built on that paradigm when summer-touring in Europe. Incidentally however, many (if not most) mimick the ideal rather than actually fulfilling it.

I suspect many people desire what they have been led to perceive as the 'ultimate' travelling vehicle - in a generic sense that doesn't actually exist. The vast majority of them would probably be better off on lighter bikes with lighter loads and faster (on asphalt) tyres. Others - like most on this board - might appreciate even lighter loads on a mountain bike capable of handling technical trails. And of course, there's a case to be made for all sorts of options in between, notably for sturdy MTBs with rigid forks and racks. But unless you are actually planning a trip from Paris to Mongolia, I see little reason for a bike like this http://www.oxfordbikeworks.co.uk/expedition/ - great as it no doubt would prove for its stated use cases.

Yeah, I think it's the experience - and the investments - of bikepacking that can enhance road touring mentality. And applying the respective philosophy properly, there's plenty of bikepacking equipment you could safely drop on most road tours. In the mountains, I pack a 110g Mountain Equipment UL bivy bag (never needed, just to play safe) and yucky peronin emergency food (generally reluctantly consumed on the trip's last day). I'm also prepared for freak temperature drops and carry more tools/spares than I might need on a road trip to Alsace or Amsterdam. All in all, the savings can make up for (say) a more city-proof lock or even some extra clothing. And in measure, a little(!) extra weight can't hurt on the road trips I foresee. I don't think they will often take me to mountainous regions - because that kind of terrain really begs for trail fun on a real MTB.

For my main summer trail tour, I rode from Annecy (near Geneva) to Marseille - pic attached. Occasionally resorting to paved roads, I was once again amazed at the amount of luggage road tourers tend to carry. Back home, I've been building a lightish bike for shopping, training and road trips... and have discovered that I actually need to stretch my imagination to fill four panniers, even if I rather generously add luxury items to the UL kit I use for MTB-bikepacking. It makes me wonder whether the heavy, ultra-strong and expensive bicycles many road travellers favour make financial sense. I think they would probably spend less overall by buying lighter gear. Additionally, they might end up with a simpler, faster and more recreational bike for other purposes.

After all, very few people genuinely require an expedition-grade cycle... because it's a small minority that actually go on real expeditions. In my book, neither a multi-day Alpine trail tour nor a road trip from the UK to Portugal qualify. The former is obviously more fun on a real mountain bike, while the latter might be pleasurable on a light and rigid hybrid equipped with racks (allowing for slightly more kit than I would take on a bikepacking adventure). Expedition bikes and their kin strike me as overkill for such purposes, leading to even more overkill when it comes to loading them up.


 

A quick note to say that I posted the 200th article this morning. In all, there are links to about 650 external resources now. There are still a few topical gaps which I hope to fill by the spring, but I'm pretty confident about that. As always, suggestions are more than welcome.

No problem at all. Informative, in fact. It's a good reminder that one can't expect people to get the full picture on first sight. I flip through sites myself the exact same way.

I have an AA charger which takes four batteries. With lithium batteries, it's slightly lighter and much cheaper than a rechargeable battery pack. But you don't even get one whole refill on an iPhone 5. I'm back to battery packs.

Put it this way: About €12 for the AA charger. If you pack the lithium batteries from the outset, it's at least €6 per ride. If you buy batteries at a filling station en route, you probably won't get lithium - so expect a 45% (or so) refill. It doesn't take all that long to half-recharge an iPhone the normal way. Buy a coffee, and the guy at the filling station will probably let you use a plug.

Very few advantages to those AA chargers. Buy a battery pack, get two or three refills. For longer trips, get used to asking people whether you can use their electricity. Restaurants etc. always say yes.

There are over 150 articles already - with an average of just under three outlinks each, making some 450 external resources. That's after about 2.5 months. Naturally, it's not enough yet. But the content base is growing fast, I think. By the time most people's (northern hemisphere) season starts, there should be quite a lot more.

The idea is that you can get a daily reading fix - or navigate the site topically. Most of the options for the latter are in the sidebar. There are "sections" to access the latest articles on gear, routes etc. quickly... and there are drop-down menus that let you fine-tune the selection. Up in the top menu bar under Features, you can also select a few special topics like "Travel tips" or "How to get started".

By and by, I hope, the site will provide a good starting point for almost any bikepacking topic you wish to research.

... added a section for overnighters (see the sidebar). Since they're the backbone of bikepacking (imo), this was a bit overdue.

I have added new 'specials' on Travel Tips and Trail Skills. You can find them in the top menu under Features. Again, they will grow...

Does anyone happen to know of a good, worldwide adventure race calendar I might link to?

Don't forget that many of those guys don't normally bikepack. Overpacking for what is usually their one multi-day trip of the year is partly due to lack of touring experience and partly the result of not owning any lightweight gear (starting with clothes). I have the bulk of my luggage on my back, including camping gear. The German sites often cite a 7 kilo backpack limit. I carry about four, counting food. The Deuter backpack is heavy in itself, btw.

I've just updated the site to include a section for adventure races. Not much there yet (though more than I expected myself) - but no doubt this category will grow fairly swiftly. I'm more of a recreational rider myself, but race itineraries and good routes go hand in hand. And racing gear is interesting to anyone with a UL slant.

Additionally, as suggested by Ben a while back, there is now a page on navigation options: http://trails-tours.com/using-site/

Thanks for liking it and telling me, Norb. Much appreciated.

There's a newsletter option there now, btw. http://trails-tours.com/newsletter

It's actually more than the categories - the drop-down lists let you browse by country, route or type of gear. People seem to notice those even less than the categories. And not all of that will fit across the top... but yes, it probably needs to become more prominent, somehow. Some kind of notice on navigation, as you suggest? I need to think about it. I can issue notification bars from time to time - but they might uglify the site.

Neat video!!! Thanks!

EDIT: A lot of people do click to see the individual posts. I have now changed the layout there a bit to feature the topical browsing functions.

A milestone of sorts: over 100 articles (103).

I could do with some specific feedback, if anyone has time.

Statistics show a lot of visitors simply flipping back through the pages, but far fewer using the tools in the sidebar to browse the site by topic (countries, routes etc.). Are these options still not visible enough? Or are most people just content to read chronologically?

Thanks,

Martin

I put the page up and included a word of warning (on telling all the world's burglars that you are away).

So, you can post links to your own trip reports on http://trails-tours.com, now - blog posts, live tweets, threads here... whatever. You can find the respective page in the top menu under Features -> Your trips and tips

At this moment, no one has posted a link yet. So you can be the first. 

I have also added some advanced search functionality to the site. It shows up automatically when (possibly) needed. There are about 80 articles up there now and I'm hoping the 'webzine' will eventually double as a good research resource for bikepackers.

Beautiful!!!

I'm thinking of adding a page where people can post links to any live trip reporting they may be doing (blogs, Twitter etc).

Problem is I'm not sure everyone realises what a live trip report means. Like: "My house is empty and unguarded this week."

Opinions, anyone?

Hard work sometimes. But fun. I enjoy some of the fiddly bits.

I've done a few things to speed it up over the weekend - especially for folks in the US (the site is hosted in Europe). Should be a lot faster worldwide now, according to various tools I have tested it with.