What bike do you recommend for bike packing (mountain biking + touring)

[Aurora]

Yes -- Vaya has eyelets for front and back.  Fargo has lots and lots of options -- you could carry back panniers and a frame bag and then water bottles in the front (which is the set-up I would ideally like).  But, on the vaya, if I go with the frame bag, I would have to rig something up for the water bottles.  

Though I am not so into the idea of buying another bike (for 2K), I think that I would rather be safe than sorry to have the Fargo to ride the dirt roads in SA that I am dreaming of!  

[harryonaspot]

The newest version of the Fargo has an eyelet on the dropout for a special rack made just for it. On the front steel fork are mid mount bolt holes. I don't believe it can handle traditional fenders on either end. The 2 older versions have no such restrictions. I have around 7000 miles on my Fargo. I can highly recommend it.

[harryonaspot]

I talked to Salsa today. You can put fenders on the steel Firestarter fork. You can put them on the bike. by buying a $60 dropout. But I bet something could be figured out for less than $60. No fender or rack mounts on carbon fork. just mounts for anything cages or water bottles.

[offroute]

Insulated clamps can can serve as rack mounting points on seat stays or wherever. Not the most elegant solution, but a cheap and easy way to customize. Forget the $12 pairs from rack mfrs, go buy the same thing at a hardware or home improvement store for two bucks.

[jhl99]

Here is another thread on a similar topic:

http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=10432.0

I'm old school and have been running 26" wheels, V brakes on a rigid or hardtail with racks and panniers for a long time.   Not the fashionable setup, but it does the job. Most of my riding is paved and dirt roads with some technical, east coast single track thrown in.

Here are my opinions:

I would go with a rigid fork for reliability reasons.  I would go with mountain bike tires/wheels/wheel clearance for the same reason. Also, you want your racks/lowriders to to have rock solid attachment to the frame/forks.  Same goes with pannier to rack/lowrider attachment.  Front low riders are nice because the load is so low, but bags can hangup on stuff on single track... a front rack moves bags up a bit.  A bike that has sliding or pivoting read drop outs for single speed conversion has some real benefits if your rear derailure blows up far from a bike shop.  (Emergency single speed conversion without a chain tensioner is hit or miss, mostly miss).  If your bike has a replacable derailure hanger, be sure to buy a spare and carry it with you.  2 or 3 sets of bottle cages mounts is fine, you can always put extra bottles/bladders in your bags. 

Bike fit is the most critical aspect of a bike purchase.  If you have bike that already fits, reverse engineer the critical dimensions and use those dimensions when shopping for a new bike.  Frames are proportioned for drop bars or flat bars, switching between bar types is not a good idea, so make sure you decide on what type of bars you want first.

[stephjo]

I use a 29er Inbred, maybe not the lightest out there but I really can't fault it.

[The DC]

I want 1 bike that can do it all... bc I will do it all in one ride:-)  

Especially at your height,it's HARD to beat a Surly Troll IMO (have one myself,and I'm a big 29er fan,the Troll being my first non-29er since 2008 or so). I just got back home a couple of hours ago myself,from a 136 mile S24O with mixed terrain

You can haul 5 bottle cages (even with some front racks-unfortunately not the one I have,LOL),26" wheels are available put-near anywhere,it rides fine on and off road,will fit skinny road rubber or fat (3" I think) knobbies,is SS or gear ready (including IGH),and accepts disc or V brakes,it's amazingly versatile

[Smo]

Revisiting this thread . . I love how I completely ignored your height in my 29er zeal in my earlier post.  I would actually recommend 650b, but this is a super personal thing.  For me, the comfort gained by smoothing out the bumps with larger wheels would be worth the hassle of sourcing parts while traveling.  Your mileage may vary; plenty of people think 26ers are great.  I personally would be fine never riding one again.

Sourcing tires is probably the biggest worry.  Get a good wheelset and you shouldn't really have to worry about other parts of the wheel very much.  But you would have a hell of a time finding replacement tires for anything but a 26" in much of the world.  You'd have to ship them in as you go and make sure to change them before they get too beat up.

[MattL]

I 5'6" and have short legs. I love my Fargo (size S). Fits better than any other bike I've had. Awesome for offroad touring and ultraracing. I have 165 cranks, which I think helps the fit. Happy to answer questions about build, fit, etc.

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