The Lighter Side of Bikepacking
Heading away for a long weekend? Here's what I'd take... The equipment I chose to use for the 2014 Kiwi Brevet was on the lighter side of the typical load - I got by without a backpack/camelbak, instead relying on a frame bag and a seat bag to carry my shit. Even loaded to the gunnels with food, drink and "stuff", I never wanted for extra storage, and didn't once wish I had another bit of gear during the event. I was interested in seeing how light I could go without becoming a liability, or at least breaking my stuff on some of the reasonably rugged sections of track. A carbon cyclocross bike with carbon wheels seemed like a good place to start - below is a shot of my steed as she rolled for the 1,130km journey. The bike itself is an Ibis Hakkalugi, recommended to me by Mike at Hyperformance Hardware. There aren't too many 'cross bikes quite like this one - the dual bottle cages and disc brakes combined with slightly less racy geo mad...