I've just used two regular old nylon compression straps with very good result.

My brake lines are long enough that I can put my sleeping pad (or, in one case, tent!) underneath them / through them.  That might prevent it a bit from sliding around.

I've strapped thermarest and big agnes sleeping pads, and also a Henry Shires tent:



Actually, in that pic I have both the tent and the big agnes pad on there!  I setup my bike in "road" mode (as much weight on the bike as possible) in that pic.  When on trail I had more stuff in the pack.

It's hard to detail what's better / worse between TF and TOPO!.  In my view, all the mapping products out there (mine included) have their advantages and disadvantages.

One of the main things I do with TF is design/trace/merge/cut new and often long routes, so it tends to have more features along that vein.  But, everyone has their own preferences when it comes to how a product works.  The good thing about TF is you can try the demo for free and see what it can/can't do.

The Venture is probably good enough to record tracks, and also to upload drawn / pieced together tracks to.  Make sure you've got the most up to date firmware -- in the latest you'll get a 10,000 point tracklog rather than 3000.

The tree canopy issue might be a killer, though -- if you have the dough you could look into one of the new units like a Vista HCX (H = high sensitivity receiver).  That'd do everything you want.

I just added some instructions on how to add content to the main site.  They are on the main menu of the site, but here's a direct link:

http://www.bikepacking.net/how-to-contribute-to-bikepackingnet

It does require setting up an account that is separate from the forum account.  I looked at some options to have the forums integrated with the content management system, but didn't like anything I could find.  Hopefully it's not too much of an issue (I imagine some users will only participate in the forum anyway).

For those that already signed up for a wordpress account, you were defaulted to subscriber status, but I have upgraded everyone to contributor status.

That means you can add new gear products, trip reports and personal setups.

Anything you care to add would be most appreciated.  There's too much stuff from me already.   

If anything about the process is unclear or doesn't work, leave a comment on the instructions page, or post here.

Thanks.

Thanks for all the effort Scott - I've linked the site + hopefully can contribute some Canadian routes in the future, though I tend to lean more in the GDR/fireroad/'cross bike type riding direction than stuff like the AZT.

Best,
mc lowercase

Welcome, Matt, and thanks for the link.  I appreciate the help in spreading the word about the site.

Already bikepacking.net is the number two link when you search for "bikepacking" in google.  Pretty amazing how fast google works. However I think it is more a testament to a lack of bikepacking content/sites than that we really have that much traffic. 

GDR/fireroads stuff is great.  Would love to have some Canadian routes!

I've had a Princeton Tec EOS strapped to my helmet for the last 3+ years.  It's cheap, light, takes 3 AAA's and has saved my bacon on many a day ride or unexpected nighttime commute.

I also use it on tours.  The low mode is great for camp, and lasts 100+ hours.  On high you get a couple hours tops, but the 1watt LED is enough to ride at slow speeds, even singletrack.  If I'm going to plan on a fair bit of night riding I'll usually supplement with a bar light. Mine is no longer made, but anything with a good flood pattern and taking AA or AAA would work.

The EOS is more of a spot pattern, BTW, with surprisingly decent 'throw' for what it is.

I'm glad to see a topic on shoes.  I need some new hike-a-bike-ish shoes, and have been eying the Pearl Izumi shoes as well.

I really want to find some super light weight/low cut gaitors to keep the junk out of my shoes.

I'd like to experiment with gaiters as well.  I've many times found myself out on a trip wishing I had something along those lines, but for whatever reason I've never owned or tried any.

Here's one thought:

http://simblissity.net/levagaiter.htm

These are made by Brett Tucker, the creator of the Grand Enchantment Trail.  Brett has be very supportive of our efforts to explore his "hiking" route, and his one man shop produces some nice products.  I haven't tried the levagaiters, but they look pretty good.

Scott, care to elaborate on your drivetrain setup?  Or maybe oint me to where you've discussed it before? I'm loving some low gears.

Sure.  This might be a good one for gear review on the main site, too.

I use a standard shimano 4-bolt crank.  Actiontec and Boone both make 20 tooth chainrings that just barely fit and work quite well.  That takes care of the front end.

On the rear, Actiontec just this year started producing single 36 tooth cogs.  You use it with any regular cogset (I've used both Shimano and SRAM) but take out one of the smaller cogs.  You have to experiment a little bit with which combo of cog taken out and spacers put in works, but I have it working on two bikes at the moment.

I've always been a big fan of lower gears, especially on a 29er, and especially when bikepacking.  Throw in the extra gear, throw in a few days fatigue and it can easily mean the difference between walking and riding.

The software experience is where I'm really lacking.  I have a lower end gps, plenty of trails, lots of maps, I even us ArcMap 9.2 a lot, but no gps tracking experience nor uploading tracks to a trail capable mapping program.  I probably just need to get some software and start figuring it out. 

Lower end GPS is likely fine.  Doesn't need to do much but have a bit of storage to record the track.

I use my own software (TopoFusion), and would encourage you to give it a try.  It's designed for this kinda thang.    Let me know what GPS you have and I can give you a few quick tips, if you want.

mtbr liked this one so might as well have it here too!

Definitely.  This is one of my favorite writeups.

Thanks for posting.

I'm working on a route but frankly I don't want to put anything out there until it's ready. Half assed is no good.

Ooh!  A teaser on a new route is even better than a new route.  Any clues?  . . .

Definitely.  No intention of keeping it US-centric.

Just need folks willing to contribute some route beta...

Welcome.

I'm happy to help with new route development.

I'm a big fan of GPS data, so I'd recommend doing day rides to recon the route (or, heck, overnighters if you're up for it) with a GPS.  Once you've got some pieces together in the software it's easier to start looking at connections and ideas will form...

Let me know if you need some help with the software aspects of it...

Thanks for the further thoughts re: reviews.  I would certainly be open to creating links to backpackinglight.com categories.  It's quite the resource.

While this site is still getting on its feet I'll try to focus more on unique-to-bike categories, then we can decide to go from there.

You bring up a good point with bike/component discussions.  It's only a matter of time before someone asks "what's the best for bike for bikepacking?" 

I initially had a "bike" subforum, and perhaps it should be brought back.  There's obviously a lot of overlap with other sites, but there is some argument to made that bike/component choices are different for touring.  I guess I think it's a worthy topic for discussing here.  For now, in the Q/A forum, but perhaps later in a forum of its own.

Thanks again.

Ah ha!  Here's what we've been waiting for on MTBR, good job!  I wonder (rhetorically, because it doesn't really matter) which came first, the beginning of the development of this site or the requests piling up and being ignored on mtbr?

My idea for the site actually came while doing research for my latest trip on the CDT.

I was digging through Backpacker mag's site, trying to find GPS data for the trail.  (side note: they GPS'd the trail a year ago in a much publicized project, but have yet to publish anything but the first few miles).  I asked myself, why isn't there a bikepacking site?

The MTBR thread definitely put the spurs to me, though.  I still think there's a place for a bikepacking forum on MTBR, but the admins there don't seem to be too interested, and I can imagine a few possible reasons.

I didn't start actually developing the site until after the CDT trip, too many other things going on, and then I was gone for ~2 weeks for that.

And I'm really looking forward to seeing some East Coast routes being put up on your route matrix...maybe a southern Appalachians loop someday. 

Absolutely!  I really want to encourage others to put together and publish new routes.  Right now the routes are heavily western US biased, but I hope that changes over time.

Good thoughts, Amy.

I agree with you on the overlap.  My initial thought on the gear reviews (which will be better organized into categories in the near future, when there are more available) was that these reviews would only be from bikepackers, making the content significantly different than anything offered elsewhere.

However, I see your point with the categories you list.  I'm not sure if there's going to be enough of a difference for those things, from a bikepacker's perspective, to justify the duplicate content.

Some categories exclusive to bikes:

Seat bags
Handlebar bags
Frame bags
Racks
Trailers
Backpacks (very different usage bike vs. foot)
GPS (possibly different enough for use on bike vs. in the hand)
Lighting (for night riding/racing)

I'll give it some more thought.  Anyone else care to chime in?

Hi Amy,

Thanks for the suggestion.  That's a great idea.  Probably best to wait a few days for the site to grow out of the 'newborn' category first.  Looks like there are a few people over there that would be interested in popping over here.

The next big event in the ultra world is TransUtah.

A brand spanking new race is always a little bit exciting, since so much is unknown.  No one knows how to plan for it, and how to race it.  There aren't previous racer reports to dig through and glean knowledge.

In the future the race will run from St. George to Moab, but this year only the first 300 miles are up for grabs.  Just leaves more mystery for next year...

Check out the Trans Utah site here:

Trans Utah homepage.

bikepacking.net launched!

Please help us get this site kick started by registering on the forum and posting -- about anything bikepacking related!

We'll be adding and refining content on the main site quite a bit in the coming days. 

A major aim we have with the site is to make it a community effort.  Besides the forum, let us know if you'd like to become a contributor to the Gear Reviews, Bikepacking route pages, and Personal Setups.  We'll make you a contributor account so you can login and create pages indexed from the main site.  Note that anyone can review products and post comments on any of the pages on the site, no login required.

Please bear with us a little bit as we experiment with the look and feel of the site.  The layout might change a bit, but the core functionality is there.

For reference, here is the current version of it:

Name	Color	Distance	Climbing	Rideability*	Singletrack	Start	End
Arizona Trail		800 miles	100,000'	5-7	60%	Mexico border	Utah border
Colorado Trail		530 miles	60,000'	6-8	60%	Denver	Durango
Continental Divide Trail		3000+ miles	250,000'	4?	50%	Mexico border	Canada border
El Camino del Diablo		130 miles	7,000'	6-9	<1%	Ajo, AZ	Yuma, AZ
Grand Loop		360 miles	48,000'	6	8%	Grand Junction, CO	Grand Junction, CO
Grand Enchantment Trail		580 miles	80,000'	4-6	50%	Phoenix, AZ	Albuquerque, NM
Great Divide Route		2500 miles	140,000'	10	<1%	Banff	Mexico border
Kokopelli's Trail		144 miles	20,000'	8	5%	Moab, UT	Fruita, CO
Oregon 3 Rivers		400 miles	40,000'	9	70%	Eugene, OR	Eugene, OR
Trans Utah		600 miles	60,000'	7	40%	St. George	Moab

* - Rideability ranges from 1 to 10. 1 = leave the bike home. 10 = where's the challenge?

If you haven't seen it yet, go here:

http://www.bikepacking.net/bikepacking-routes/

It's what I call the "Route Matrix."

I imagine that the ratings and numbers therein may cause some debate.  They are rough estimates at this point, and I would like to refine them with input from others.

So, please let me know your thoughts.