The bikepacking season is just around the corner. Glorious hours in the saddle await you, many kilometers of (almost) unexplored gravel roads want to be discovered. But which bikepacking bike is the right one for your tours? Good question, because with the increasing popularity of the sport, the selection of sporting equipment is also growing – the range of long-distance capable bicycles specifically built for bikepacking is now huge!
Many beginners find it difficult to find the right bikepacking bike, because after all, many kilometers and long distances are to be covered on it; a lot of luggage often comes with it. Therefore, the bike must be
- as comfortable as possible
- efficient
- load-bearing
- and durable
We have collected a lot of valuable tips to help you choose the right bikepacking bike. We compare MTB, gravel bike, and touring bike, and you will also learn what a bike must be able to do to be safe and comfortable on long distances. You will not find specific suggestions recommending a particular model from a particular brand here, as tastes are simply too different according to experience.
What must bikepacking bikes be able to do?
If your demands are not too high, you can theoretically ride into the countryside on any bicycle. And if you want to test the bikepacking trend, you can initially just set off on the bike you have. Once you've developed a taste for it and start planning weekenders, overnighters, and the like, you'll surely want to get the right bike.
What is bikepacking?
Just for completeness, a brief difference between bikepacking and a cycling tour:
- Days on the bike and nights in the hotel – that's more like a cycling tour. Here you only need your personal luggage, such as clothing or toiletries.
- In bikepacking, you don't sleep in a regular bed. You sleep on the go in a tent, in shelters, or right under the open sky. Bikepacking is the ultimate outdoor adventure. Here you must bring camping equipment with a tent, sleeping bag, and gas stove.
However, you can interpret the terms as you wish. What's important are you, a bike, luggage, many kilometers, and lots of fun along the way!
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Therefore, it's important that the bikepacking bike is comfortable enough for many hours in the saddle and that luggage can be stored safely and in sufficient quantity. |
How much do good bikepacking bicycles cost?
How deep do you have to dig into your pockets to get a good bikepacking bicycle, and what does "good" even mean? "Good" in this context mainly means "robust and durable," because if you save at the wrong end here, you risk unnecessary bike breakdowns. You should definitely steer clear of the very low price segment if you want to do longer tours. However, you don't have to immediately buy the most expensive gravel bike or hardtail you find. If you are in the lower middle of the price scale If you shop for about 1700 Euros to 2500 Euros, you're making a good start. You can then gradually adjust and/or upgrade the bike for your purposes. Make sure your bike has common components from well-known manufacturers, because you can get spare parts for them everywhere.
Which bike is the right bikepacking bike for you?
Most bikepackers are on a gravel bike. The hardtail holds second place in the popularity scale. The trekking bike was the travel bike par excellence for many decades, but the gravel has clearly replaced it. And then, of course, there are the corresponding e-bikes. When choosing your bikepack bike, there are many possibilities, here we present the types of bikes with their advantages and disadvantages.
Gravel bikes and MTB hardtails are the most popular bikepacking bikes. Images © Cannondale, Orbea
MTB for Bikepacking
On the MTB, bikepacking trips often become a very special adventure, with the unpaved path always tempting you to leave the busy road. MTBs are built for poorly paved paths and loose surfaces, the geometry, the wide tires with coarse treads, and the well-suspended fork make difficult terrain rideable. With a lot of luggage on board, you might have to bypass the really nasty tracks, but if your bikepacking routes will lead over trails far away from civilization, you can ride a hardtail.
However, we are really only talking about hardtails, because a fully is generally not efficient enough and too heavy for a long tour (although this is only partially true for newer model years). Of course, you can also buy an e-bike . If you want to use the eMTB as a bikepack bike, you should pay attention to sufficient range. Especially e-MTBs often have a lot of torque and therefore little range, which is rather unfavorable for long distances.
Gravel Bikes as Bikepack Bike
Gravel bikes are absolutely trendy, and a large portion of all bikepackers are on a gravel. On one of these sporty bikepacking bikes, you can cover a lot of ground, as they are fast and efficient on the road. Yet, the seating position is not too low. A low seat would be particularly fast, aerodynamic, and efficient, but simply too uncomfortable for long riding times. The tires and the range of the gears allows riding on asphalt and paved roads as well as tours over dirt roads or forest paths. When it comes to equipment, you have a wide range to choose from. With fenders, lowriders, luggage racks, lighting or without. At least there are the necessary mounting points for all the luxuries. The drop handlebars make long tours particularly pleasant because you can change your grip on the go and thus change your seating position.
Note that there are different interpretations of gravel bikes. Some are built for touring or bikepacking, while others are more city bikes or very close to road bikes. This can affect the geometry, but also the equipment or specifications such as tire clearance or gears can differ significantly. Even among gravel bikes, more and more e-bikes are appearing, and here too the range is crucial, if you want to use it for bikepacking.
Trekking bikes as bikepacking bikes – still contemporary?
The trekking bike currently has a somewhat dusty image, and that's completely undeserved! A touring bike or trekking bike is actually the bike for bike tours, whether you're bikepacking or not. But gravel bikes are "in," and trekking bikes are therefore (currently) more wallflowers. These bikes still offer numerous advantages. They are incredibly robustly built, have a wide range of gears, long-distance suitable equipment, and countless mounting points for luggage. If you want to travel long distances and carry a lot of luggage, it's absolutely fine to declare such a bike as a bikepacking bike! However, their disadvantage is the weight. A heavy lighting system, fenders, and luggage racks have their advantages but they make a bike a heavyweight.
Especially in the trekking area, there are many e-bikes, which are well suited for bikepacking. A trekking e-bike usually has a large range, which is particularly important for big adventures!
A trekking bike is perfect for bike trips, bike tours, or as a bikepacking bike. Image © Giant
👍 The right bikepacking bike – our recommendations 👍
Gravel Bikes | MTB Hardtails | Trekking bikes
Randonneur, touring bike, and expedition bike for bikepacking
There are different names under which you can find bicycles for very long bikepacking tours , randonneur, touring bike , or expedition bike are just a few of them. These bicycles are the true pack mules, and if you want to do bikepacking on a large scale, you should buy such a bike. Among other benefits, there are particularly two points of interest in an expedition bike: To ensure you don't get stranded on the way, they are built to be as durable as possible. They also often have repair and maintenance-friendly equipment, meaning more common parts that are widely available, so you don't have to search long for spare parts. Steel frames are also typical here because they may be somewhat heavier but are very durable. If your bikepacking takes place not in the Black Forest but in Mongolia, a touring bike is a good idea.
The E-Bike for Bikepacking
“The E-Bike” does not exist, but there are E-Gravel Bikes, E-Hardtails, or Trekking E-Bikes. If you want to ride an electric bicycle on your bikepacking tours, you should pay attention to two points:
- Your battery needs a lot of range.
- The charging process should be as short as possible because if you spend the night somewhere far out, there may not be a power outlet. Then it's practical if you can get a lot of juice into your battery during a lunch break at a beer garden. You might want to invest in the SpeedCharger that some manufacturers offer.
⚡ Bikepacking E-Bikes – our recommendations ⚡
E-Gravel Bikes | E-Hardtails | E-Trekking bikes | Step-through E-Bikes
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The final word in choosing the bikepacking bike should always be your body. Not the coolest or trendiest bike is the best. The bike on which you feel completely comfortable is a good bikepacking partner! |
Advantages and disadvantages of MTB, Gravel Bike & Trekking bike
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Gravel bike |
MTB Hardtail |
Trekking bike |
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✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
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light |
relatively light |
well-equipped |
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Rideable on roads, dirt paths, and forest trails |
trail-ready |
Rideable on roads, dirt paths, and forest trails |
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Mounting points for a lot of luggage |
you may need to improvise with the luggage |
mounting options for a lot of luggage, luggage rack available |
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fast and efficient |
good damping through suspension fork and thick tires |
good damping, suspension fork, and wider tires |
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handlebar allows different positions |
robust |
|
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❌ |
❌ |
❌ |
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not suitable for off-road |
slower |
not suitable for off-road |
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rigid fork |
less efficient |
usually heavier |
Overview of advantages and disadvantages of different bicycles
Gearing and Tires – what is sensible on a bikepacking bike?
As a beginner, you can initially rely on the manufacturer when buying a bikepacking bike and start with the components that the bike comes with. The more experience you gather, the more you'll know what exactly you need for your tours. However, we have some tips for you:
What gearing do you need?
To save weight and maintenance, many bikepacking bikes have a 1x gearing. However, there are also models that come with a 2x or even 3x gearing. Especially with a heavily loaded bike, many gears are an advantage, but extensive gearing also makes the bike heavy. What exact gearing you need depends on the weight of your luggage, but also possible inclines, the nature of the terrain, or your fitness play a role.
For beginners and a not too extreme mix of terrains and inclines, a 1x gearing with a 10-42 cassette has proven itself, a 2x gearing with an 11-32 cassette would also be conceivable. Once you've gained some initial experience, you'll quickly notice in which direction you need to expand your gears to find the right setup for you.
Tires
What tires should your bikepacking bike have? Here too, various criteria like damping, grip, speed, or off-road capability play a role that can influence your decision. The crucial buying tip is right in front of you, or better: under you. The terrain you prefer to travel on tells you whether you should mount thicker or thinner tires.
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To make the right choice for tires, you need to look at the targeted terrain! |
- Do you mainly stay on asphalt?
- Do you ride on gravel roads, field paths, and forest paths?
- Are you also riding off-road?
In general, thick tires with a lot of tread at home on uneven, loose, and rough tracks, they cushion and have good traction due to the wide contact surface. However, they cost more energy (they have a higher rolling resistance, and they also weigh more) and never reach the speeds that narrow, smooth tires achieve. A pronounced tread further improves grip. The better your path is paved, the narrower and smoother the tires can be.
How wide the tires can be depends on what fits in your bike frame. Therefore, a simple rule applies when buying a bike: The more tire clearance your bikepacking bike offers, the more flexible you are in choosing tires.
➽ Just read the complete Guide to Tire Width here in the Bike Blog if you need more information about bike tires.
Another criterion comes from above – also the weather is an important factor. There are Gravel Bikes rain tires, all-weather tires, and tires that grip optimally on dry ground. It's quite similar with Mountain Bikes . There are Mud-Tires (mud tires), tires for dry surfaces, and all-rounders. Season and weather conditions may require special tires; otherwise, all-weather tires are a good compromise.
That high-quality tires with puncture protection or a tubeless setup cause less trouble on the road, we probably don't need to tell you again.
When buying a new bikepacking bike, you should also consider the tire size . For particularly large or small bikepackers, the question may not arise, but if you have the choice, you can choose between rolling pleasure (large tires) and agility (smaller wheels).
What to consider when buying a bikepacking bike
What accessories does a bikepacking bike need? Simply EVERYTHING? Or just rather little? Image © Marek Piwnicki on Pexels
Luggage Rack
Opinions differ when it comes to luggage racks. Many bikepacking bikes have one. Many bikepackers would never be caught with one. Where the truth lies is hard to say. The fact is: For bikepacking you need a lot of equipment, and it is quickly and securely stored on a luggage rack . The 65 liters of content that the three-part luggage rack bags achieve, simply no other bicycle bag can! Nevertheless, especially on a gravel bike, front bags, saddle bags, and frame bags are more commonly used. More on that below.
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Our tip: When buying a bike, pay attention to the mounting eyelets. You can easily retrofit luggage racks if there are mounting points on the fork and frame. Which bags you then take with you is a very individual decision, but there is certainly plenty of choice! |
Lighting
Bikepacking... long riding times – it can certainly get dark before you reach your destination. Moreover, you will repeatedly be on roads that require a StVZO-compliant bicycle, and for that, you need the appropriate lighting. Whether you have a permanently installed lighting system with a dynamo or battery lamps on the bike doesn't matter, but you need approved lamps. Removable bicycle headlights also serve as a flashlight in the camp, which can be really practical!
Is a headlamp useful for bikepacking?
Many bikepackers recommend a headlamp because it allows you to set up your tent in the dark or prepare your food at night with both hands free. In principle, this is a good idea. Wearing a headlamp while riding, however, does not replace the mandatory bicycle lighting. Rather, it can happen that the fluctuating light on your head irritates other road users more than it provides good visibility and safety.
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Here is another tip for everyone who wants to go on a foreign trip with their bikepacking bike: Inform yourself about the laws in the holiday country before the trip, as the same regulations and rules for bicycles in road traffic do not apply everywhere! |
What mounting options does your bikepacking bike need?
There are bicycle bags that you can simply attach with straps, straps, or clamps. Other bags require a bolted luggage rack, but then they sit particularly firmly and do not wobble or slip.
These options are available on the bikepacking bike for carrying luggage:
- The classic luggage rack: Many bicycles have a luggage rack above the rear wheel or at least the screw eyelets for it. However, there are also rear luggage racks without fixed bolting, but they usually have significantly less load capacity.
- Lowrider: You can also mount a fork luggage rack and attach bicycle bags there. However, your fork must have screw eyelets for this. But there are also fork bags that can be mounted without a luggage rack.
- There are frame bags , which you can screw into the eyelets that are actually meant for a bottle holder. However, most frame bags are attached with straps.
- Most bikepackers are traveling with a handlebar roll . These round handlebar bags are usually attached without a mount, they come with their own straps or Velcro fasteners.
- Saddle bags are attached without screws, they also come with their own straps, clamps or holding rubbers.
If your bike doesn't have the necessary screw eyelets, you can attach bike bags with straps or flexible mounts. Then you might have to retighten or reposition them from time to time.
A bikepacking bike often has many mounting points for luggage racks and water bottles. Image © Diamant Rad
Consider the load!
No matter how and where you fix bags... if you are looking for a bikepacking bike, you should definitely pay attention to one key figure. Every bike has a permissible total weight or the allowed payload specified. Overloading a bike with too much luggage for a long period can cause material damage and premature wear. Even worse would be if the brakes or steering properties no longer cooperate!
How do you make your bike comfortable for long bikepacking tours?
Q: What makes a bike comfortable?
A: Pay attention to the sitting position when buying!
The lower you sit, the more sporty, efficient, and aerodynamic you are on the road. Just faster. But this sitting position also has disadvantages. You don't see much – and that would be a real shame. Moreover, some backs don't hold up for long in this position. Providing an exact specification for the best geometry is simply impossible, everyone is different, women and men need different frame dimensions, and so on.
⏩ Bikes for Women & Men ⏪
Women's Bikes | Men's Bikes | E-Bikes Women | E-Bikes Men
Typically, the typical bikepack bikes are not too low Invested, but if your gravel bike is built close to a racing bike, the seating position can be quite athletic. It's best to try out different bikes and plan some test rides before a long tour. You can also change and adjust the seating position of your bike with different stems, handlebars, saddles, and seat posts.
Saddle
The choice of saddle is similar to frame geometry, purely a matter of feeling. What you feel comfortable with cannot be predicted, you have to take test rides. That was the bad news. The good news is: There is a huge selection of saddles, you will find one that suits you! If necessary, a saddle fitting or a custom-made saddle can help. But you should definitely test your saddle, before you set off on a longer tour!
Around the saddle, you can ensure more comfort with two bicycle parts: Firstly, there are bent seat posts, which shift the entire seating position. The stressed areas of the seating region also change with a new seating position. If you notice that every bump lands directly on your intervertebral discs, a suspended seat post can specifically relieve you.
Handlebars
The more options your handlebars offer you, the better. As a gravel biker you are definitely well off – the gravel handlebars offer many different grip options that you can use on the go to change the position of your hands and arms and thereby relieve your body. To have more control over the bike on difficult sections, the lower end of a gravel handlebar is often flared (the handlebar has “flare”). A hardtail does not offer this possibility with its flat bar, so you should test, test, and test again thoroughly before your first big bikepacking tour!
If you want to read a very detailed guide for setting up your cockpit or want to know how to install a better handlebar, you can find one here in the Bike Blog.
Vibrations are a problem
A hardtail has a suspension fork, a gravel bike usually does not. This can really become a problem when bikepacking, because the suspension fork and the thick tires of the MTB have a big advantage: They absorb bumps. Gravel bikes are unsuspended, which means every pebble on the path comes directly to your shoulders.
Here are two very affordable options to ensure more comfort on the bikepacking bike:
- Gloves with gel padding
Gloves don't cost much, they're simply mandatory on long bikepacking tours, otherwise blisters, numb paws, or little grip in wet conditions threaten. But your cycling gloves can make your bikepacking bike particularly comfortable . If they come with a gel insert, they absorb shocks. There are also gloves with foam padding, but many bikers find gel particularly pleasant.
- Handlebar tape with suspension
Looking for "suspension" in handlebar tape might be exaggerated, but there are definitely pads! Handlebar tape can be bought in different thicknesses, thicker handlebar tape consists of various layers and comes with a shock-absorbing inner layer. Your bikepacking bike becomes particularly comfortable if you don't rely on foam pads here, but wrap a tape with gel insert . Knobs or a honeycomb structure can also compensate for rough terrain. Manufacturers provide you with a wide variety of products today, and you're sure to find a handlebar tape that makes your bikepacking bike more comfortable.
Damping or good grip even in wet conditions – fortunately, you don't have to choose here, high-quality cork tapes can do both!
You can also buy damping grips for your touring bike or MTB. Ergonomic grips with wings offer your hands a larger contact area, many cyclists find this very comfortable. And – admittedly – their coolness factor is close to zero, but bar ends also allow for repositioning on the flat bar.
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Generally, it's not a problem to combine gel grips and gloves with gel inserts, but you should still test the combination before embarking on a long bikepacking trip! Too much gel in your hands can make the steering feel mushy. |
It gets a bit more expensive if you want to replace the handlebar, but this investment can also be worthwhile because there are handlebars that kill vibrations and thus provide more calmness in the upper body. Additionally, there are handlebars with all possible dimensions, surely your comfort handlebar is available somewhere. You can change the position of the handlebar with a new stem .
💡 Bicycle parts for a comfortable bikepacking bike 💡
Handlebar tape | Grips | Handlebar | Stem
How do you prepare your bikepacking bike for the big journey?
You found the right bike, now you're ready to go? … almost!
Before you spend several hours in the saddle, you should definitely test, test, and test some more! Ordering a bikepacking bike and heading straight from the box to a cycling route can really become a fiasco! Therefore, one last tip at this point: Buy your bike well in advance of the tour, so you can take test rides, adjust everything accordingly, and replace parts if necessary. For your already existing bikepacking bike: Check it before the trip and do not neglect maintenance and care, this reduces the risk of breakdowns. We wish you lots of fun out there and keep the chain on the right!
Title image © Teemu R on Pexels
