Bekologist

Just a freshening up of the ultralite thread. All told, my experiences with rackless touring remain the same. it's an exercise in bare minimalism, with limited space, and nothing I'm going to recommend people get into, this is a path people will have to come to on their own.

If you've been into outdoor living and outdoor minimalism, thruhiking, fast and light backpacking, you may be more comfortable with this style of packing, but i think it takes a learning curve to get comfortable with the asceticism of this style of bike touring.

Aside from carrying very little weight and keeping the bag systems simple, limiting yourself to a rackless UL rig - wether its a carradice and front bag, or bikepacking frame bags, theres very little room for creature comforts, and those that remain have to be studiously thought out.

That being said.....ROCKIN HELLA WAY TO TRAVEL. Can't wait to hang this stuff off my road bike and let it rip.

Bekologist

BigAura

Great report. I love the rig.

mtnbud

Nice!

Where are you packing your sleeping bag? In the seat bag?

(I really like the reflection of the clouds caught in the sunset picture.)

shipwreck

Looks awesome. This stuff is inspirational.

When you go for a road bike tour do you plan on stealth camping? I am probably going to leave my tent off my rig when I go, taking only the Hammock, and two tarps, one smaller camo for stealth, and one bigger sub one pound nysil tarp(bright red) to bivy in in heavy rain and in campgrounds where hanging is not an option. The smaller tarp will then be a ground cloth to protect the hammock bottom. Will take some pegs to stormproof things.
I figure that rest days can be spent in grotty little motels. Generaly follow the once a week thing for rest days, unless a snow storm or the like convinces me to take one.
On my last longer(1000+ miles)trip I took one tarp and a hammock, so its not my first rodeo, but there were some nights where I just literally threw myself on the ground to sleep wrapped in the tarp. Luckily it was winter so ticks were less of an issue.

I weighed my home made bags the other day, and the front, rear and middle came in at 1 pound 4 ounces. So I am convinced that I should go whole hog and really reduce.
Looking at this as a bag, https://www.rei.com/product/746296/re...5-sleeping-bag. Cheap enough that I can still make the rent. Its really low powered at 55F for a fall tour, but with a adventure medical bivy sack it would still bulk less than my current bag, and come in at just under two pounds. In a hammock it could be used as an under quilt, with the bivy on top. As a warm sleeper who used to do winter backpacking with one wool blanket, I am not to worried.

my biggest current issue is the pad. Would like to just take a Z rest, I am used to those in a hammock, but while the weight it super low, its bulk is such that it would have to be strapped on the outside of the bags. I don't like inflatables for longer trips than a week. finding leaks and patching stinks.

All in all, going for simplicity and the potential for higher mile days seems like a great option, but still planning on doing some, ahem, encumbered touring, particularly when going with others who will be doing the same.

Bekologist

yes, sleeping bag in seat bag. packs this small.

Tarp, bivy, pad, stove in frame bag.

i have to rig a larger volume front compressor system for greater creature comforts like warmer socks and a button up shirt for rest days.

those aren't all clouds in the reflection on the lake at sunset -most of it is ice!

Bekologist

effectively capturing the necessary spirit of ultralite bikepacking! I've been wrapping myself up in blue tarps since i was a teenager, groveling in the dirt wrapped up in a tarp is the ethos needed to relish the SUL bikecamping experience.

i can see this as an ideal way to travel if you DON'T have to camp. i believe the founder of Clif bars tours extremely lightly without shelter or camping gear. but he's the founder of clif bars, he's written he tries to swing a couch or other types of accomodation when he's riding UL.

Im thinking the ideal packing scenario for the vast majority of bike tourers is SUL - 'SLIGHTLY ultralight', on a bike with a back rack.

here's photos of my bike rigs from the last three trips i've taken. Last trip

It was far easier packing the gear, and taking a little extra creature comforts on the bikes in these last two photos

staehpj1

Thanks for sharing.

jbphilly

I just went on an overnighter last weekend. Here's a trip report with photos :

https://www.julianbender.net/bikepacking/frenchcreek2013

And a picture of the rig:



I was pretty pleased with myself for going totally rackless, no backpack required. Obviously, that would be more difficult for trips longer than an overnighter. This kind of "bikepacking" setup is really geared for off-roading, and the front-heavy load here wouldn't be too great for that, but future tweaks can continue to be made.

Ozonation

What is "thruhiking"?

BigAura

This is what I think I'll be doing on my next long tour. With my current equipment I can pack all gear in my rear panniers and medium handlebar bag. I'm good down to 25F degrees. That includes kitchen and "2 man" fully enclosed tent. Nothing on top of the rack, although I could use it for situations where extra food and/or water are required.

The weight/bulk savings I've gotten have been from ultralight equipment I've purchased for backpacking. Last fall I did 4 days backpacking in the Smokies and carried a 22 pound pack including 4 days food, excluding only water weight. I know people do a lot less, but for me that's the best I've done.

Bike touring is different in that I'm willing to carry more comfort items than backpacking. My recent tours have been over a month and virtually all camping. For me extra comfort is worth slowing down a tad.

BigAura

Another great report.

andrewclaus

If you're being serious, he left out a space--"thru" hiking is a shortening of "through" hiking. The term is common in the hiking community. "Thru" hikers are those who hike the long trails in the US, the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide to name a few, in one trip. I'm not sure if the term is used in other English-speaking countries with long trails that require an entire season to hike.

I am a thru hiker first, a touring cyclist second. My bicycle pack is highly influenced by my hiking pack. The main differences are the tools, lock, and spares needed for the bike, and the packs and rack themselves. On my back, I can carry my stuff in a very light sil-nylon rucksack that weighs ounces, for a total load of less than ten pounds. On the bike, the old panniers and rack I have weigh over five pounds by themselves. Add the extra stuff for the bike, and it's over 17 pounds, a huge increase over the hiking pack. So I'm looking for a lighter way to carry gear, and following this and similar threads with high interest.

Bekologist

foam pad volume, and the volume of extra clothing, are the biggest issues i've faced. The thermarest neoair mattress - a glorified air mattress - is the current winner. A few years ago i was using the guidelite, which is twice the packed volume.

but man, is the neoair ever slippery in conjunction with coated nylon! Tyvex is far nicer a groundsheet, quieter and tackier too.

As for the clothing volume, the only solution is to add more volume, a compression system on the front will be just the ticket.

BigAura

Here's an ultralight setup that I used a couple of years ago for a bike-camping trip. I didn't carry any cooking apparatus. I just packed raw foods (nuts, seeds, dried fruit) for the two nights of back-country. I also bought food on the road out. There is a fast-fly-tent in the panniers plus quilt and pad. It was a minimalist getaway and I left my electronics at home so there are no other pictures.



The rack & panniers weigh 3.5 pounds for 25 liters of volume.

bmike

nice bek.
wish my sleep kit packed as small as yours!
good looking setup.

BigAura

I was using the $45 Thermarest tech blanket and short thermarest pad. They packed easily into one small pannier. The nighttime temps were very warm here in South Carolina, even in early fall when this was. I wouldn't recommend using that blanket/quilt except in the warmest temperatures.

Bekologist

in temps just about freezing, a 40 degree bag usually feels cold to me, so a down vest is packed for all seasons, to wear around camp at night, in the morning, and in the sleeping bag if needed. "summerweight" sleeping gear often falls short in my experience. But i'm usually camping quite far north, haven't camped down south since the 90's.

Waiting on some new tires and rigging for the front end, should have the bike further refined by next week for another blitzkrieg, and have the capability to carry a little more like a spare shirt and light shoes or flipflops.

I'm pretty confident there's enough spare space inside my gear if i rig up a new front end carrying system to extend the rig to long duration tours in UL comfort, akin to staeph but rackless. I've got the gear dialed down to a small enough size, despite my caveat it's a lot easier to pack with a rear rack.

I'm still going to recommend people get into lightweight touring by going as lightweight as they can, but still rely on a rack - front or rear- to the extent needed to carry the gear.

A bike weighted with 25 pounds of gear- a very reasonable load - handles a lot differently than a bike with 45 pounds, and a bike with 14 pounds of gear or less handles differently than both of those. Aiming for 15-25 pound camping base weight for your gear (not weighing packs, water or food) is a very achievable goal.

ksisler

All said, it would be a better ride if some of that pack weight were moved down to a set of panniers.

Bekologist

perhaps, but 'better' to what degree? This is very, very light equipment. This rig is an ultralite bikepacking setup without a rack. My shelter and bivy for this rig, combined, weigh all of 13 ounces.

I've ridden tours both with racks and without. I am a proponent of racks for traditionally weighted tours. I consistently suggest racks are the way to go for typical, slightly ultralite touring.



Trust me, it's not a lot of weight to affect the bike's handling. When it gets this ultralite, you could tour with your gear in plastic shopping bags hanging from the handlebars and it wouldn't affect the handling or ride significantly!

staehpj1

I have found that to be true, when you get the base weight into the ultralight range it really doesn't matter too much where you carry it.

bmike

i'm not ultralight yet, and i ride a heavy Fargo (or my brevet bike) - but even my base kit is in the 20s without food or water... and its really nice to ride with soft bags.

bek - get a front roll or dry bag setup. you'll be able to carry some extra clothes, or a colder weather sleep setup.
for me, upfront, i have my big agnes pad (heavy and bulky) and my sleeping bag in a dry bag on a harness. then a pouch for stuff i might need on the bike.
tent, clothes, etc. go into seat pack.

shipwreck

As a test last summer I rode the same 200 mile route on different weekends with panniers and a light load, heavish load, and the Ultralight style with all the mass up top.
By far the least effort was the ultra light with under 15 pounds(hammock/tarp, pepsi can stove, one pair on one pair off bike clothes, tools, first aid). The handling was slightly different with things up high, but after twenty minutes everything feels normal. Just like riding a bike with four panniers feels weird at first.
One benefit is that once camp is set and you ride to get something to eat the ride is far less odd than it feels after riding all day with full bags and then riding without.

Bekologist

combined weight of sleeping bag, shelter, bivy and sleeping pad - claimed weight 44 ounces.

thats under 3 pounds for the core kit. throw in a trangia and a mini pot, a warm hat and a pair of socks, and i'm set (well, almost)

bmike

nice.
i'm at way more...

tarptent contrail: 26.5 ounce with optional pole, probably 28 with my thicker pole and extra stakes.
big agnes insulated air core: 22 ounce
big agnes fish hawk: 39 ounce (heavy, 30d down bag)

wow. 89 ounce. 5.5 pounds. ouch.
envious of your sleep kit. for sure.

the insulated air core need to go for summers. too bulky, too heavy.
i use the trangia or a homemade stove.
of course my fargo weighs more than your cross rig...