Minimum necessary gear for bike packing

[fair weather cyclist]

There's a good round up here of various ways of attaching extra bottle cages and mounts to your bike:

https://bikepacking.com/index/add-cage-mounts-bike/

Cheers. This is pure gold1

In terms of handlebar bag. Have a look at Alpkit.

https://alpkit.com/products/tivaro-20

This one is only £34.99 and 20 litres and waterproof.

Aye, didn't know this brand but seems very good value for money. Like the one you've linked. 35 quid while the same product from apidura costs more than double.

Reduce your bottom gear by adding 2 extra teeth to the rear sprocket compared to your usual setup. Have a good tour.

Cheers. My gravel bike has a 48-32 chainset paired with an 11-32 cassette.

I recommend that you book accommodation in advance - in places it can be sparse and does get booked up. We struggled a couple of times when we didn't and were 'rescued' by a lovely lady whose friend put us up - other wise it would have been a night under an upturned boat!

Yeah, I thought so too. I'm thinking about booking in January for end of May.

 

[fair weather cyclist]

Puzzled by this. Tyre width is determined by clearances and you should be able to fit a tube tyre same width as tubeless.

Yeah so, let me clarify.

The bike came tubed but with tubeless ready wheels. So I converted it to tubeless and put a pair of slightly bigger tyres.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I recommend that you book accommodation in advance - in places it can be sparse and does get booked up. We struggled a couple of times when we didn't and were 'rescued' by a lovely lady whose friend put us up - other wise it would have been a night under an upturned boat!

I think that depends on temperament and approach. I can say that waiting room at Crainlarich railway station has a heater and lighting. Makes for a quiet and comfortable sleep after the last evening train has passed through and before first train of the day.

Carrying a lightweight bivvy setup as backup. Only booking weekend accommodation a few days in advance. Using apps like booking.com. Riding outside of holiday seasons / weeks. Allows for plenty of flexibility to each days route choices and distance to be ridden.

 

[MichaelW2]

Check out some of the options for ultralight hiking. You can minimise the weight/size of spare clothing and footwear.
A barbag+saddlebag combo should be fine. Traditional touring kit like Carradice are dependable.
See the thread on emergency gear for remote Yorkshire Dales. If you have a mechanical mishap 20 miles from anywhere, out of phone signal and getting cold, wet and dark, a few simple emergency precautions can see you through the night.
You need enough tools to fix anything that can normally break ( cables, chain, spokes, tyre).

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Going back to minimal clothing for a B&B tour

Don‘t wear Lycra on the bike. Wear walking t shirts and shorts. Which double up for the evening.
Have a pair of running bottoms
Have a lightweight fleece and insulated vest and beanie for the evening
Have flats and trainers / normal shoes
Have just one change of socks, underwear, t shirt

The idea is that if you get wet on bike during day. You always have a set of dry clothes for the evening. Try and dry out wet gear at your accommodation or a local pub with a fire. Ask owner if you can bung some clothes in washer and / or dryer. They may have drying room if it’s a bunk house setup.

If clothes still wet from day before. Put them back on when setting off on next day of your tour. If it’s dry they will soon dry. If it’s wet, then you still have a dry set of clothes packed for that evening.

 

[lane]

Really. When did that start?

Not sure but has been over 12 months - they seem very strict on it - even email a reminder.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Not sure but has been over 12 months - they seem very strict on it - even email a reminder.

Maybe to do with contact tracing for COVID 19 purposes. A pandemic measure that may or may not stick.

 

[steveindenmark]

Food?

You do not need to carry it. Buy it on the way.

 

[steveindenmark]

If bivvying toilet roll and trowel?
And some basic hygiene stuff?

He asked for minimum and not luxuries.

I can find toilets when I need them.

 

[Gillstay]

Went with a chum to the Tatra mountains and he decided we did not even need a map, as if we were both still there together then no one was lost.
We also took a few old T shirts and just left them at the lodgings after we wore them so our luggage got less. My chum even tore the pages out of his book after he read them.

 

[oldwheels]

You do not need to carry it. Buy it on the way.

Where if there are no shops as in large parts of Scotland?

 

[PaulSB]

For me it depends where I'm touring, areas with good access to food and water and those without. My basic kit is:

Spare bib shorts
Spare jersey
Spare base layer
Gilet or jacket
Trousers with zip on/off legs
Boxers
T-shirt x 2
Socks
Shoes I always wear SPDs so same shoes day and evening
Lightweight fleece
Full wet weather gear if somewhere like Scotland
Toothpaste and brush
Tubes x 2
Levers
Puncture kit
Pump
Tyre boot
Cafe lock
Multi-tool
Quick links
Zip ties
Spare Allen screws for rack if using one
Spare cleat and screws for SPDs
Pen knife

If I'm touring somewhere like France where distances, food, water can be further than expected I would carry my next meal and plenty of additional water. This means rear panniers.

Without the need to carry food and water I only use a rack bag which has small side pockets which role down to make small panniers if needed.

Pack everything rolled in vacuum bags which significantly reduces the volume and gives extra waterproofing.

I would avoid large bar bags like the plague as they take up valuable bar space for hand positions. Just how much stuff does one need easy access to? If needed I can easily fit all in my jersey pockets. I have a very nice mini handle bar bag which is around 2-3 litres in volume, more than adequate. Similarly I would avoid top tube bags, just an annoyance in my book.

I recently purchased a Restrap saddlebag as shown earlier. Really looking forward to using this.

In many areas one can buy virtually anything one needs. T-shirt stinks? Tesco and bin the old one.

I'm definitely a credit card tourist. I do it to ride the bike and see places. In the evening I want a B&B and a pub meal. I would try to avoid booking accomodation ahead. Ideally I find somewhere when I'm ready to stop but do sometimes phone ahead on the day to make a booking. Having a well researched set of daily bookings creates an unwanted need to reach a target destination. Sometimes I want to ride further, others I want to stop sooner.

 

[berty bassett]

B and B credit card tour for me:

I have my normal 5 litre rack top bag Vaude Silkroad 5L. This contains what I normally carry on a day ride being, waterproof, 2 tubes, levers, multi tool, sunglasses and sunscreen.

For the tour I add 1 ortlieb front pannier which I think is 12L (on rear rack)

I pack in the pannier the following:

Spare pair of bibs and jersey
Lightweight trousers and tee shirt for evening plus very lightweight shoes
Toiletries, toothbrush, mini toothpaste, plastic BIC razor, very small small aerosol deodorant that I have mostly used to reduce weight
2 charging cables (phone and GPS)
Lightweight plug with two USB charging points
Spare pair of socks and pants
Possibly lightweight fleece for evening but can use waterproof and leave this out

i did 5 days in highlands and that is almost identical to what i took
pre- booked b&bs as the tourist route sells out bloody quick , downside of this is you have to get to where you have booked come what may
if cold you can put all kit on , including the fleece and waterproof
i did it in august expexting sun - i got 40mph headwind and rain -blown off over a cattle grid cut everywhere , tore the arm off waterproof and still had 50 mile to go that day - and there are some bloody big lumps in the way
having said that , i would do it again tomorrow , well maybe not the falling off bit
spectacular scenery up there - i did post a little food parcel to a couple of the places a week before what was nice as some villages have got nothing
the bothy in tounge was a brilliant b&b - i even had my own sauna
good luck

 

[Baldy]

Where if there are no shops as in large parts of Scotland?

The trick is to only carry enough to get you to the next shop or pub.

 

[Blue Hills]

The trick is to only carry enough to get you to the next shop or pub.

dangerous I think. If not normal food I'd always make sure I had enough energy stuff with me to get further than that.