Anybody bikepacking on a Horsethief?

[cjdunn]

I'm looking to buy a new more all around trail bike than my current Giant Anthem 29er. I'm pretty sold on the 2014 Salsa Horsethief but I'm wondering how it would fare as a bike packing rig?  I asked Kurt R. about it and he said it was fine but he's a little on the superhuman side of life.

I have a Karate Monkey for the more road oriented stuff but I'm not too sure I want to ride it on trails like the AZT or CT.  I rode the KM rigid last summer for a 2 day Kaibab 150 trip and found it fine for the first day that was mostly on roads but the second day of 50 miles on the AZT beat me up a bit.  I rode it again with a suspension fork for 100 miles of AZT south of Flagstaff and still felt beat up.  Maybe I'm just a wimp.  No matter, I will probably be getting a Horsethief anyway but I'm just wondering if anybody has been using one for bikepacking and how it has worked out.  I hope to use it on the CT(R?) and AZT sometime soon.   Thanks.

[cgar380]

I use a Rocky Mountain Instinct 970 (130mm 29er Large) and it works just fine. Get a custom frame bag made though. It helps get some more weight off your back since you can really only run a smaller seatbag in the rear.
I run a med Oveja Negra seatbag, custom Oveja handlebar bag same size as the OR 10L airpurge compression bag, and a custom Oveja frame bag on the bike and carry a Vaude hyper air 14 + 3 L pack.