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Still not getting the bikepacking thing

Old 01-31-20, 11:20 PM
  #151  
Doug64
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Originally Posted by john m flores
I can't wait until summer when we're all too busy riding to be judging how other people choose to ride...
Heck we got in 3 rides this week. The temps were in the high 50s and low 60s. That should not happen the last week of January in Oregon. Come to think about it I really did not think about how other people were riding

Last edited by Doug64; 01-31-20 at 11:43 PM.
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Old 02-01-20, 12:46 AM
  #152  
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Who said what? You'll have to reread the thread yourself. I really don't want to continue an unproductive line of semantic argument.

But, never had a fastex buckle break? Consider yourself lucky. It's why MEC and REI have webpages and bulk bins for them:

https://www.rei.com/c/buckles?ir=cat...ners%7Cbuckles
and this:
https://www.mec.ca/en/products/packs...g_text=buckles



Originally Posted by Doug64
Heck we got in 3 rides this week. The temps were in the high 50s and low 60s. That should not happen the last week of January in Oregon. Come to think about it I really did not think about how other people were riding
I had considered an over nighter this weekend to try a fire technique called a Finnish log torch but we are currently experiencing what the weather man called an "atmospheric river"
Total ground saturation and localized flooding. I don't want to heat my tent but I want to see how the fire burns.



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Old 02-01-20, 04:38 AM
  #153  
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Seems to me that part of this 'bikepacking' terminology is inventive marketing by equipment manufacturers and vendors.
T. H. Holding was an English tailor turned tent maker at the end of the 19th century who wrote a book called Cycle and Camp about a cycle tour he did with three others in the West of Ireland using tents they carried.
"Thus the cost of the camp is saved, and, say fifty shillings besides towards next year's mount out of one week's holiday to each man. All this will be proved much later on, much, I hope, to the promotion of Touring-by-Cycle-Camp."

T. H. Holding 'Touring-by-Cycle-Camp' despite his frame bag

Holding jnr. carrying the tent and poles
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Old 02-01-20, 07:12 AM
  #154  
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Originally Posted by Happy Feet
Who said what? You'll have to reread the thread yourself. I really don't want to continue an unproductive line of semantic argument.

But, never had a fastex buckle break? Consider yourself lucky. It's why MEC and REI have webpages and bulk bins for them:

https://www.rei.com/c/buckles?ir=cat...ners%7Cbuckles
and this:
https://www.mec.ca/en/products/packs...g_text=buckles





I had considered an over nighter this weekend to try a fire technique called a Finnish log torch but we are currently experiencing what the weather man called an "atmospheric river"
Total ground saturation and localized flooding. I don't want to heat my tent but I want to see how the fire burns.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeHGDr81XwM
The log heating is interesting, though I like the idea of using a Dakota Fire Hole for cooking, then moving my tarp over the finished fire area to capture heat from the warmed earth.
Post flood of course....
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Old 02-01-20, 02:21 PM
  #155  
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Originally Posted by MarcusT
I can guess there is probably nothing written in stone regarding the difference between bikepacking and bike touring.
The biggest difference I see, is that bikepacking does not use racks or panniers. Everything is stuffed into saddle, frame, handlebar bags, and maybe a backpack.
I ask this because there are numerous Youtube videos where they title them 'bikepacking', but they're using racks and panniers.
Is it just to get more hits?
No big deal, just trying to figure it out, especially when one member here wanted to eliminate the 'Touring' forum and replace it with a 'Bikepacking' forum.
I suppose bikepacking describes light off road touring in that a small pannier load was distributed into the triangle and under the seat for better
handling. I don’t see the inclusion of racks counter to that. Basically the idea is to have the load securely attached to the bike in a way that doesn’t adversely affect handling. Most of my touring in my 20’s was ultralight on a roadbike with a rear rack top loaded with about 7 lbs of sleeping bag, pad, poncho, and small bag strapped to bars.
I wonder if people in the videos you are looking at are using the term to mean “packing the bike”.
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Old 02-01-20, 02:22 PM
  #156  
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Then there’s “bike/boat packing”

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Old 02-01-20, 03:38 PM
  #157  
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happy foots, interesting about that youtube video of that fire technique and pipe for heating. I recently saw it also on youtube, which does seem to show how things show up on youtube and lots of people see them. Maybe you didnt see this recently, and it was just chance, but funny to me that there was this rather curious method (lots of serious log splitting going on though, not easy) and then here it is on bf.....
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Old 02-01-20, 09:45 PM
  #158  
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Originally Posted by djb
happy foots, interesting about that youtube video of that fire technique and pipe for heating. I recently saw it also on youtube, which does seem to show how things show up on youtube and lots of people see them. Maybe you didnt see this recently, and it was just chance, but funny to me that there was this rather curious method (lots of serious log splitting going on though, not easy) and then here it is on bf.....
I have no idea how the algorithms work but it is funny how rather random things suddenly come into common consciousness. Someone on here recently mentioned foresty forest and sure enough up he popped in my YT feed.

Not a tour perse but I did manage to get out during a break in the monsoon weather.

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Old 02-02-20, 12:33 AM
  #159  
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We were on a bike tour. During this 3000 mile tour we did over 500 miles of unsurfaced roads and trails, camped, stayed in hotels, and even took a train at one point.


This thread reminds me of a quote that I saw:

"Narcissism of small differences-- The need to distinguish oneself by minute shadings, and to insist with outsized militancy on the importance of those shadings" --Sigmond Freud

I know that I am guilty of that. I am a telemark skier, and even though I often ski the same terrain as "regular" downhill skiers, I am an admitted snob about using different gear. There really is not much difference in our gear, except telemark ski bindings do not hold the heel down; it is sometimes called "free-heel skiing". Telmsark equipment is much better in the backcountry than standard downhill skiing gear, hence the snobbery

Last edited by Doug64; 02-07-20 at 09:50 PM.
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Old 02-02-20, 08:58 AM
  #160  
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Originally Posted by BigAura
It's more than dirt. Based on Bikepacking.com remoteness seems a factor. Bikepacking routes

TO NOTE: NO bikepacking routes in the Northeastern US
Ahhh, man. Chilax. 2 wheels. Pedal, repeat. I ride from my house North of Boston all the time. Woods everywhere, remote? Only sometimes. VT is Superb, as well as NH and ME. The XTV runs a figure 8 the whole length of the stateof VT. Did the green mt gravel ride in VT last July, 220 miles in 5 days. Awesome. Class 4 rds in VT, class 6 rds in NH are all over, plus sno machine routes, rail trails etc. Just because there are few published routes? Haaa. Get a topo map and ride with GPS, explore. There are no rules, except enjoy the ride.
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Old 02-02-20, 10:23 AM
  #161  
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Originally Posted by Leebo
Ahhh, man. Chilax. 2 wheels. Pedal, repeat. I ride from my house North of Boston all the time. Woods everywhere, remote? Only sometimes. VT is Superb, as well as NH and ME. The XTV runs a figure 8 the whole length of the stateof VT. Did the green mt gravel ride in VT last July, 220 miles in 5 days. Awesome. Class 4 rds in VT, class 6 rds in NH are all over, plus sno machine routes, rail trails etc. Just because there are few published routes? Haaa. Get a topo map and ride with GPS, explore. There are no rules, except enjoy the ride.
I think you missed my point which is: Bikepacking --> you are limited to trails. Others would add rackless framepacks are required. I agree with your point that trails don't need to be published.

Bicycle Touring is ALL inclusive meaning any where you can ride your bike: paved+unpaved, remote+city, panniers+framepacks. So you can bicycle tour anywhere on Earth, even without a GPS

BTW: In my 20's I backpacked extensivisly in the Adirondacks, VT, & ME so I know there are remote areas in the northeast

Last edited by BigAura; 02-02-20 at 10:28 AM.
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Old 02-02-20, 01:27 PM
  #162  
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Originally Posted by BigAura
I think you missed my point which is: Bikepacking --> you are limited to trails. Others would add rackless framepacks are required. I agree with your point that trails don't need to be published.

Bicycle Touring is ALL inclusive meaning any where you can ride your bike: paved+unpaved, remote+city, panniers+framepacks. So you can bicycle tour anywhere on Earth, even without a GPS

BTW: In my 20's I backpacked extensivisly in the Adirondacks, VT, & ME so I know there are remote areas in the northeast
Limited to trails? Um, no. My 3 inch tires take me everywhere. I think some are hung up on definitions, it matters not. Just ride what you brung. Cheers. See you on the pave, grass, woodchips, gravel, dirt, bike paths, singletrack, dried stream beds, old rr tracks, and atv trails.
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Old 02-02-20, 03:11 PM
  #163  
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Originally Posted by Leebo
Limited to trails? Um, no. My 3 inch tires take me everywhere. I think some are hung up on definitions, it matters not. Just ride what you brung. Cheers. See you on the pave, grass, woodchips, gravel, dirt, bike paths, singletrack, dried stream beds, old rr tracks, and atv trails.
Sorry, I thought this thread was about clarifying definitions that are unclear. My attempt started on my post No.111

My touring rig at Salmon Glacier on my --> bicycle tour <-- from Seattle WA to Dead Horse, AK.

Last edited by BigAura; 02-02-20 at 03:19 PM.
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Old 02-02-20, 04:19 PM
  #164  
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Originally Posted by BigAura
Sorry, I thought this thread was about clarifying definitions that are unclear.
Yes it was/is, although I'm not so sure it wasn't more of a rhetorical device to put that activity down.

I find it a little depressing sometimes that simply discussing topics and exchanging ideas civilly seems to so hard to do these days. It's as though discussion without adopting an absolutist position or sarcasm causes great stress and needs to be shut down. They're just conversations. I enjoy participating in threads because it allows me to learn more about subjects; but if I have it all figured out already my mind is shut to any new concept I haven't already considered.

The "art" of conversation is being able to present a point intelligently and to back it up with easy to understand evidence or examples. Part of that is being able to say "I don't know" once in a while. I've interjected several times in this thread when it seems someone, who doesn't do the thing being discussed, tries to narrowly define that activity. My supposition is generally that, if one wants to understand what an activity is - go to the source and read what they think. Hence referrals to what is currently the primary internet collective for bike packing, bikepacking.com.

Last edited by Happy Feet; 02-02-20 at 06:30 PM.
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Old 02-02-20, 06:51 PM
  #165  
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Bikepacking is the synthesis of mountain biking and minimalist camping. It evokes the freedom of multi-day backcountry hiking, but with the range and thrill of riding a mountain bike. It’s about exploring places less traveled, both near and far, via singletrack trails, gravel, and abandoned dirt roads, carrying only essential gear.
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Old 02-02-20, 07:33 PM
  #166  
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Originally Posted by Happy Feet
I find it a little depressing sometimes that simply discussing topics and exchanging ideas civilly seems to so hard to do these days. It's as though discussion without adopting an absolutist position or sarcasm causes great stress and needs to be shut down. They're just conversations. I enjoy participating in threads because it allows me to learn more about subjects; but if I have it all figured out already my mind is shut to any new concept I haven't already considered.
This forum is an enthusiast's site about-and-for Bicycle Touring. As with all enthusiast groups, people have very strong opinions. For long-time practioners these opinions become more ingrained by successful experiences. It will take a lot of evidence for these ingrained-opinions to be upset. But I think most enthusiasts will eventualaly align when positive evidence becomes substantial.

Originally Posted by Happy Feet
Yes it was/is, although I'm not so sure it wasn't more of a rhetorical device to put that activity down.
...
I wouldn't ask golfers to define tennis for me as one might expect their bias to be woven into the interpretation. Here, there is sometimes a subtle undertone that bike packing is a trendy catch phrase being used by hipsters to make something more out what they are doing.
I'm not sure if your referencing my statement that Bikepacking is a subset of Touring as a put down. I would never go on bikepacking.com and say that, but I stand by that because there has always been a subset of Touring Cyclists that do what bikepackers do, including me.

Originally Posted by Happy Feet
To me that only re enforces why younger bikers like Max the Cyclist avoid touring sites like this (to our detriment) as they are tired of grumpy old boomers putting them down. Regardless, they appear to be out there, doing stuff and pushing the boundaries in a way that some of us only used to do. Fortunately, they'll let us join them, with panniers or without, on all sorts of bikes but they don't seem to be too hung up on letting us tell them what why or how it is that they are doing.
As for Max-the-cyclist I'm not sure you know or remember when he first started posting on this site. He came with an attitute that everyone was doing it wrong and he had seen light and that light was ultralight. As time progressed and his super-minimalist style began to receed, especially after an ill fated touring experience with some adverse weather. He did do a good job in testing some alternative gear, but unforfunately his initial-impression might have tarred him.

/meta
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Old 02-02-20, 11:31 PM
  #167  
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Originally Posted by alan s
Bikepacking is the synthesis of mountain biking and minimalist camping. It evokes the freedom of multi-day backcountry hiking, but with the range and thrill of riding a mountain bike. It’s about exploring places less traveled, both near and far, via singletrack trails, gravel, and abandoned dirt roads, carrying only essential gear.
++good


excellent. you've defined the activity, rather than the gear.

with this, it IS possible to go bike-a-packin' with a 1980's hi-ten steel
hybrid with 2" tires, 3*5 freewheel gearing, and rear rack with a pair
of 8L front panniers......carrying minimal gear.
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Old 02-02-20, 11:39 PM
  #168  
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Originally Posted by BigAura
I'm not sure if your referencing my statement that Bikepacking is a subset of Touring as a put down. I would never go on bikepacking.com and say that, but I stand by that because there has always been a subset of Touring Cyclists that do what bikepackers do, including me.
I wasn't referencing that at all. Quite the opposite, I've found your pov to be quite balanced and I think bikepacking is a sub set of touring. That was spot on.
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Old 02-03-20, 12:24 AM
  #169  
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Originally Posted by saddlesores
++good


excellent. you've defined the activity, rather than the gear.

with this, it IS possible to go bike-a-packin' with a 1980's hi-ten steel
hybrid with 2" tires, 3*5 freewheel gearing, and rear rack with a pair
of 8L front panniers......carrying minimal gear.
Stole that directly from bikepacking.com.
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Old 02-03-20, 12:29 AM
  #170  
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Originally Posted by alan s
Stole that directly from bikepacking.com.
what???? those posers!!!!!

well, in that case i take back my approval!

goldang trendy hipsters!
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Old 02-03-20, 06:17 AM
  #171  
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Now that this buzzword has been nailed down, what is “epic”?
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Old 02-03-20, 09:33 AM
  #172  
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I'm still not getting a grip on touring "slicks"...
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Old 02-03-20, 09:56 AM
  #173  
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Originally Posted by L134
Now that this buzzword has been nailed down, what is “epic”?
“Epic” is anything you do IRL.
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Old 02-03-20, 11:10 AM
  #174  
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Originally Posted by saddlesores
... trendy hipsters!

SOURCE

MY Culture War stance: I'm a boomer-fred
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Old 02-03-20, 11:42 AM
  #175  
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After 7 pages of this can we edit the heading subject line to add [SOLVED] ?


🙂
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