4 Bikepacking Trends in 2018 to Watch
#1 Panniers
Panniers. There, I said it. While some purists will decry riding a bike with a rack and panniers as not really bikepacking, the truth is many people want to enjoy the experience of bikepacking but are limited by the carrying capacity of a rackless system. This could be due to several reasons such as being a shorter rider and not having any usable space in the frame or not enough seat post to run a seat bag. Or, it could be money. Smaller bags means more specific and expensive ultralight and packable gear to fit in the small bags. Another reason (and we certainly fall into this), is that some want to travel by bike and not have such a Spartan experience. I love to carry cameras and fly rods and panniers definitely make that easier.
Many manufacturers such as Porcelain Rocket, Ortlieb, Outershell Adventure and Revelate already offer bikepacking specific panniers. Related to this is a bike touring hybrid, incorporating influences from randonneuring, paved bicycle touring, bikepacking and basketpacking.
#2 Paywall
To create a good route, I mean a GOOD route (not just something you’ve ridden once and put up on Strava or RidewithGPS to share with friends) takes time, multiple scouting trips, and resources. While free route sharing is by all means awesome and we have definitely benefited from it, it does beg the question of whether the creator of a route should be compensated and if so, how much?
Right now, many routes are constantly being developed and freely shared, but I expect in the near future “signature routes” and respected route creators will offer some added value to a downloader for a fee (secret taco stop, best place to camp, en route discounts?) if not only to be fairly compensated for the time and resources spent in vetting a route. The market however will determine the value of what seems like a “free” and public resources packaged into a GPX file will be.
#3 Less BRO-packing
It is undeniable that bikepacking has a devil be damned coolness about it that traditional bike touring lacks. Whether it is images of people doing shirtless skids or riding helmetless (gasp!), the popularity of bikepacking into the mainstream was in part driven by how bad ass it looked. This is both good and bad. It quickly introduced many people into the activity without also educating them about common sense practices like leave no trace, respecting private property and generally being a mindful traveler when venturing into rural places. In a time when trail access is always under conflict and the bicycle is seen as polarizing and divisive icon, to continue to grow the market and be treated as welcomed visitors some reframing of bikepacking has to take place. It has to move beyond the image of feral manchild on bike to something more soulful and considerate. While there no doubt many bikepackers that are indeed good stewards, their voice has to be amplified.
#4 The Rise of Micro (Bikepacking) Adventures
Many get inspired to go bikepacking or bike touring by reading EPIC (all CAPS!) ride reports and photos of exotic undertakings in far off places. The fact is, only a small percentage of the inspired go on to do their own trips. For many, the stoke factor may be high but the vacation days are low. To turn dreamers into do-ers there has to be a rise of short actionable adventures. This is not a new concept and is similar to Grant Peterssn’s S24O. We have interviewed many bike shops and always ask about what the barriers are to bike travel. The answer we’ve heard over and over again is people BUY the gear, but don’t go on trips. This is either because of the lack of local routes or the lack of people to go with. A trend we see are more localized bikepacking group rides similar to Swift Campout, led either by bike brands, bike shops or local advocacy groups.
Another related trend is the rise of semi-supported bikepacking events like the Ramble Ride. These sorts of events fit into the lives of most people. It allows people to attempt a challenging bikepacking route with the buffer of some support, as well as the opportunity to do it in a social atmosphere.
What did we miss? What do you think? What bikepacking trends do you see in the coming years?
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Interesting predictions Russ. I may well be on your page when it comes to planning and publishing high quality, thorough routes. It will be interesting to see where that goes.
As someone who enjoys both EPIC (your caps!) and 20 mile overnighters with my 4 year old, I’ve never quite seen the issue in promoting both overseas bike travel (I don’t think anything beats it for cultural empathy and understanding, which the world seems to be lacking right now) and local explorations that help glean a deeper understanding of where we live. To me, the two should exist together in harmony, whether out in the field or from the comforts of our armchairs; neither should be demonised in any way (-;
I have to admit to not really picking up on the ‘bro’ scene – perhaps it’s more of a US Instagram phenomenon? I’ve always met so many couples bikepacking/bike touring on my various travels through South America, the States and Europe. It’s certainly true that there’s less solo women travelling than solo men, though I’m not sure that it’s the bro bikepacking culture to blame…
As for the word bikepacking (and the pannier-free, or pannier-light setups that it’s associated with), I see it as a term that helps point me in the direction of what kind of bike/setup might be best suited to a particular ride. For instance, I regularly run a mashup of lightweight bikepacking gear/saddlebags/panniers, but I certainly appreciate the value of slimming down for the likes of the Colorado Trail. Despite its somewhat spartan dress, I actually see bikepacking as liberating rather than limiting, especially in the scope of terrain it opens up (I admit to being relatively prone to protracted hike-a-bikes, as long as they lead me somewhere that might otherwise be hard to reach, or reveal a beautiful trail). From my point of view, if bikepacking is a word that has caught the imagination of a new group of riders and encouraged people to get out and ride/camp, then that great news to me – I’m not going to get too hung up on the exact definition.
Ultimately, we should all be good stewards at home and fine diplomats abroad, however we choose to define our particular tribe of bike touring (-:
Love your stuff – but on #1 I must admit my frustration with BikePacking is the desire to bring huge antique equipment – bike packers should start reading and studying ultra lite backpacking sites and get their required gear down to a small seat and small bar bag. Through hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail get down under 15 pounds before food and water yet never suffer. I am setting up for Tour Divide next year and should be at 20 lb of gear before food and water.
I believe that for a lot people out there, bikepacking is related to riding trails and singletracks, and, sorry, I can’t imagine riding a trail with panniers. If someone ain’t able to afford a bikepacking bike and rig, or wants to ride with plenty of stuff – that’s ok, but I don’t see this becoming a bikepacking trend simply because this isn’t a “true” bikepacking approach.
1. Imagine that. People using whatever they have on hand to go on a bike trip down single track, a trail, or a gravel road.. Why not. I’ve done it . . . with panniers AND a bear resistant food barrel. Just last month. Had to put a foot down, once.
2. People will pay for maps. People will pay to be guided. Not sure how many people will pay for web content. How’s it working out for you?
3. Not sure about this one. Probably too old to notice.
4. This I wouldn’t be too surprised to see. Kind of like a guided/ partially guided trip where somebody else has done the planning and gathering of like minded people and you just show up to bike & camp.
2. People DO pay for online content. Netflix. Amazon Prime. Music. Adventure Cycling sells digital maps and those are starting to outpace their printed maps. We’ve sold tons of our online Brompton touring ebook.
I regularly ride Bikepacking routes with panniers , however, they create two problems. Firstly, they are a bit too wide for narrow singletrail. Secondly, they tend to break the plastic mounting brackets all too often. I would love to get rid of them but haven’t found a good enough solution for all my gear as I am a long term bicycle traveler. Cheers and take care. Brad
Spot on. When I developed Happy Monkey Trail I made a dozen day trips to make sure everything linked up. Spoke with ranchers, landowners, park officials, BLM, and horseback riders about the trail route. I would love to do the Oregon Outback but I am not about to do that before doing several smaller trips first. I made my trail 110 miles with Madras, Oregon as an easy bail out if needed, but still having lots of wild lands. Cheers.