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Why isn't touring just called bikepacking?

Old 08-28-20, 06:05 AM
  #26  
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Originally Posted by Miele Man
Or why isn't bikepacking the art of packing a bike for transit in a vehicle?

Cheers
Of this entire thread, this comment might make the most sense.

Disassembling my S&S bike to fit in an airline size case is pretty easy to do but it is quite time consuming, the time for it has to be budgeted at the end of a trip before coming home. And if you have to budget time for it, the process deserves a name.

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Old 08-28-20, 06:24 AM
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The earliest written use of the term 'bikepacking' I've found is in the May 1973 issue of National Geographic. Their meaning seemed to be 'self-contained bicycle touring', differentiated from the inn-to-inn cycletouring* done by the contemporary IBTS.

In the late 1970s my Sierra Club friends who came to cycling from backpacking all used the term bikepacking for bike touring.

Some say you strap your dunnage tight across the width of the handlebar and in a narrow bundle behind the rider and it's 'bikepacking'.

1884


1900


I've heard others say it's not about the bags - 'bikepacking' is off-pavement bike touring with minimal equipment adopted from modern ultralight backpacking.



*My bicycling literature from the 1930s thru the 1970s uses the term 'cycletouring' for all styles, self-contained wilderness touring to 5star-hotel-to-5star-hotel. That word is obsolete now and you seldom see it.

Last edited by tcs; 08-28-20 at 11:47 AM.
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Old 08-28-20, 07:02 AM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by PedalingWalrus
Why not basketpacking?
It's a thing, folks.

https://bikepacking.com/?s=basket

74 year old Nils Gustaf Hākansson (a.k.a. Stålfarfar) cycletouring from Sweden to the Holy Land in 1959:

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Old 08-28-20, 07:12 AM
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I always figured a good way to think of it is: bike touring is to hiking as bike packing is to backpacking.

In the sense that both go from A to B, there's probably not a lot of difference. But in the sense of terrain gone after, IMO "bikepacking" tends to be toward the heavier-duty, more all-terrain end of the spectrum, as opposed to the road-centric general travel end of the spectrum.

That said, I've seen a great number of people with traditional "touring" road bikes that have heavy and varied loads, as well as many with typical "bikepacking" bikes that go lighter and simply enjoy going off-pavement occasionally instead of "packing" everything but the kitchen sink.

JMO.
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Old 08-28-20, 08:55 AM
  #30  
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Pretty close Clyde.

When these discussions come up people tend to get stuck in the "gear to describe the activity" mode of debate. But a quick look at either bicycle touring or bike packing sites shows a variety of configurations using equipment from both.

I would say the definition lies more along the lines of what the titles describe.
Touring is a broad term that descibes a journey made to see an area, usually multi day, at a somewhat relaxed pace (not racing). Could be self supported, could be credit card, could be guided.

Bike packing is like pedestrian back packing. Often (but not always) in a rugged locale. Usually self supported. Usually with a minimum of practical gear. That is why, although on pavement, the Trans Am was initially called a bike packing race.

One could call bike packing touring, but not all touring is bike packing.

Str is a member here who shows a good recent example of touring in Spain using bike packing gear.
I would say this is an example of bike packing using a mixture or touring panniers, racks and frame bags.



I wouldn't get too hung up on terms or the motivations of the groups using them. There are free thinkers, doers and curmugeons
in all camps. Heck, look at these guys.



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Old 08-28-20, 10:21 AM
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Or maybe it's anthropological. A question that is hundreds of thousands of years old: Who is in my tribe? Who knows the myths and legends I know? Who knaps flint and weaves baskets the way I do? Who do I reciprocally share with, and who do I make war on?


Anyway, from the Sheldon Brown Bicycle Glossary:"Touring" is a slippery word, and means different things to different people. This can cause miscommunication, so the word should be used with caution.To non-cyclists, or casual cyclists, "touring" may mean riding 8 miles on a rented cruiser at a beach resort, or a fund-raising "thon" ride, or any type of riding where the principal objective is leisurely enjoyment of scenery and fresh air. In the sense more generally accepted in cycling circles, however, a "tour" is a multi-day ride, which is not a competition or a timed event.


"Bikepacking" is not defined in the SBBG.
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Old 08-28-20, 11:42 AM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by chrishooper78
See above.
late bloomer? Zzzz a sub section of touring , going places , is riding a bicycle, not a motorcycle or a Touring car..

Bike backing is originally back country on a bike instead of backpacking with boots on your feet.
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Old 08-28-20, 02:18 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by fietsbob
late bloomer? Zzzz a sub section of touring , going places , is riding a bicycle, not a motorcycle or a Touring car..

Bike backing is originally back country on a bike instead of backpacking with boots on your feet.
THIS!

I can't believe I read all of the posts, I blame Covid.

Some cool pixs of the OLD school cyclists though.
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Old 08-28-20, 03:25 PM
  #34  
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I met this young couple at the campground in Reykjavík. They had decided to quit backpacking, bought a couple cheap folding bikes and decided to go bike <insert whatever word you choose>. They were simply strapping their backpacks onto the rear rack of the bike. I had just finished my trip a few hours earlier, I gave them a few straps I no longer needed.



I had expressed my doubts about what they were doing, they said that they had done the same thing months earlier in India, bought a couple cheap bikes and shortly before they left India, they sold their bikes for slightly less than they had paid for them and moved on.
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Old 08-28-20, 04:25 PM
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Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN
They were simply strapping their backpacks onto the rear rack of the bike.
This fellow, cycle touring in North Cornwall near Bude, just wore his backpack.

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Old 08-28-20, 05:02 PM
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Originally Posted by tcs
This fellow, cycle touring in North Cornwall near Bude, just wore his backpack.
A couple times a year I see someone wearing a backpack on a bike, but the pack is usually small enough that I assume the rider was only on an overnight. Usually when I see that it is on a gravel bike trail between my community and a state park about 27 miles from my condo on that trail.
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Old 08-28-20, 05:03 PM
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Now that's the very definition of bike packing ! You gotta love the hanging pots.
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Old 08-29-20, 07:42 AM
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Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN
A couple times a year I see someone wearing a backpack on a bike, but the pack is usually small enough that I assume the rider was only on an overnight. Usually when I see that it is on a gravel bike trail between my community and a state park about 27 miles from my condo on that trail.
It is easy to make incorrect assumptions based on appearances. People often say they thought I was on a day ride, an over-nighter, or moteling it when I am on a self supported tour and some folks who pack heavier for overnight trips get the opposite. I had that even more often when backpacking. People always seemed to assume I was on a day hike when I was packed for 4 days.
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Old 08-29-20, 11:20 AM
  #39  
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Wwst? :d
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Old 08-29-20, 03:26 PM
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Originally Posted by indyfabz
Wwst?
Ha! I had to look that one up in the Urban Dictionary. Google told me it was a radio station in Knoxville!
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Old 08-29-20, 03:44 PM
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Originally Posted by BobG
Ha! I had to look that one up in the Urban Dictionary. Google told me it was a radio station in Knoxville!
What would Squeezebox think.

Long story, if you don’t know it.
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Old 08-29-20, 04:43 PM
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I saw a couple of guys with "yuge" backpacks and mountain bikes at a trailhead a couple of days ago. It looked uncomfortable. The geezers say "load your bike, not your back", but whatever.

Get on your bike and go explore. Carry your gear in whatever way is suitable for you. Call it whatever you want. Have fun.
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Old 08-29-20, 06:11 PM
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Originally Posted by fishboat
aahh..yep.

The largest/easiest population of consumers to sell bike stuff to is the group that already has bike stuff. The problem is, if they already have the bike stuff you're trying to sell..well..then they won't buy more bike stuff. The key is to carve out(create, invent, redefine, market into existence even if it doesn't exist) a block of new bike stuff that the consumers don't have..and being good consumers, they'll then line up to buy new bike stuff to add to their pile of old bike stuff.

rinse..

repeat..
Hence the modern 650b.
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Old 08-30-20, 10:41 AM
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Originally Posted by stevel610
Hence the modern 650b.
And the brand new 559er that’s going to be introduced in 2023. The ad copy states “Quicker response, lower gearing, lighter weight. Revolutionary!”
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Old 08-30-20, 11:00 AM
  #45  
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Originally Posted by stevel610
Hence the modern 650b.
I asked a bike shop employee a couple years ago why they were suddenly pushing what they called 27.5 inch bikes. He said it is a new size, faster and better handling than 26 and 29 inch.

I told him it is not a new size, and that I had troubles trying to buy replacement 650b tires in the late 1980s. I think he wanted to tell me that I was an idiot but employees are not supposed to say that to customers.
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Old 08-30-20, 11:27 AM
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what is bike touring?

riding 100% on tarmac eating motorised traffic with 70L panniers and 28mm tires?

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Old 08-30-20, 01:28 PM
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I mean, really ..Why doesn't every one use the German names instead.. sheesh
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Old 08-30-20, 04:40 PM
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This should sum it up for some people who don't know the difference.
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Old 08-30-20, 04:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN
I told him it is not a new size, and that I had troubles trying to buy replacement 650b tires in the late 1980s.
The modern promoters of 584/650B, Heine, Pacenti and Petersen, all owned tire molds in that then-rare size. Genie's out of the bottle now, though.
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Old 08-30-20, 05:26 PM
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I wonder what they called what they were doing at the time?

Ian Hibell on the way back from Machu Picchu in the 1970s:



On the way from Kathmandu to Everest base camp, 1984:

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