The Ultimate Bikepacking List

FOR MAXIMUM BIKEPACKING FUN: LESS IS MORE

First things first: the “ultimate” bikepacking packing list is not a definitive thing—what is essential and what is completely superfluous depends on what bikepacking means for you.

First off, you should ask yourself some questions like: 

Sure, you’ll have your own ideas and priorities, and you can of course expand your personal packing list to suit you and your trip. The most important tip we can give you is therefore:

As you pack each item into your luggage, ask yourself the question: does that really need to come along?

Because one thing is clear: anything you don’t absolutely need, you’ll end up carting around for nothing. And ultimately that consumes energy, and your riding pleasure will suffer as a result.

Bikepacking From A to Z: What Do You Really Need?

We’ve been on many bikepacking trips and forgotten to take lots of things with us—but we’ve also needlessly schlepped a lot around with us. The result of our experience is this packing list, which also served us well when preparing for our tour of Scotland. On our North Coast 500 tour, we were traveling for five days in the wind and rain, staying in hotels, bed & breakfasts, and also in a tent. You will find everything we had with us to have a good time on the new Road Rage in our packing list.

Under the heading “Nice to have” we have also listed a few things that aren’t so important, but which are still worth thinking about. To help you prepare perfectly for your bikepacking trip, our packing list is available to download here as a PDF. Simply print it out and check off each item once it has made its way into your bikepacking bag.

It’s advisable to prepare for all possible weather scenarios when bikepacking. For Scotland, a rain jacket is an absolute must. It’s also a good idea to pack waterproof overshoes and possibly covers, for example, for your backpack.

On Our Body

Here we sum up everything you’ll be wearing while you’re on the road. Much of it is pretty logical—you’re hardly likely to go on a grand tour without your cycling shorts. But a lot is also easily forgotten, such as your Buff or rain jacket if the weather’s nice when you set off. If this had happened to us on our Scotland trip, we would have had a real problem: we were met with nothing but rain for the first four days. For this reason, we also stayed in B&Bs more often than we’d originally planned. At least that allowed us to dry our drenched clothes in the evening.

On Your Bike

Other than the panniers, there wasn’t much that we mounted on our bikes. Little detail: In order to be able to carry a camera tripod on the frame, Martin mounted his two water bottles on the front of the fork, which is conveniently equipped with attachment eyelets for that purpose.

Must-Haves:

It’s important to have enough to drink. Your water bottles don’t have to be attached to the frame in the traditional way: the Road Rage also has attachment eyelets on the fork for this purpose. This keeps space on the frame free for other things.

Food & Drink

Here, we made a clear decision in advance: if possible, we would stop at restaurants or supermarkets on the road, or eat in our accommodation in the evening. That saved us a huge amount of packing stress. However, we still packed a few energy bars and a few packs of outdoor instant food for emergencies, which proved to be very useful: when we arrived in Laide, all the stores had already closed and we were really glad that we could cook up some tasty noodles on our camping stove.

If you’re on the road for many days, you’ll need a lot to eat. Food weighs a lot and takes up a lot of space. Therefore, a sensible alternative is to plan your journey so that you regularly pass supermarkets, snack bars, and restaurants.

Sleeping

There are lots of different preferences here. Some swear by hammocks, some are happy to lie on the concrete of a bus stop in an emergency, while others plan from the outset to spend the nights in the comfort of hotels. Your own personal preferences will decide what needs to be packed and what doesn’t. Obviously, if you are going to be sleeping in a hotel, your sleeping bag is just dead weight. We wanted to be flexible and in a pinch simply pitch our tent somewhere that took our fancy. And even though we slept outside much less than we had planned, it was absolutely the right thing to do to take a tent and the like with us.

Sleeping under the open sky has its own special charm. To ensure the romance of bikepacking isn’t destroyed, a warm change of clothes for the evening and night—alongside a tent or tarp—are a must.

Hygiene

Hygiene is something else that means a different thing to different people when it comes to bikepacking. If you are sleeping outdoors in particular, it will be difficult to avoid a more “interesting” smell working its way into your layers of clothing after a few days. The incessant rain on the first few days of our NC500 tour gave us a very singular fragrance. It didn’t bother us—stinking a bit is all part and parcel of bikepacking, right? And you don’t need all that much for a basic level of hygiene...

Electronics

In our opinion, less is definitely more here. After all, we’re riding outside in glorious nature—a bit of a digital detox is just what’s needed. Nevertheless, we had our smartphones and sat nav as well as power banks and all the necessary charging cables as this makes a journey much more pleasant and easier to plan.

It doesn’t take much more than this to be prepared for the most common malfunctions: Pump and spare tube (or tubeless repair kit), spare shift cable, spare derailleur hanger, and a multitool.

Miscellaneous

“Miscellaneous” sounds a bit like “not so important.” However, some of the most important accessories that might make your life on the road much easier are listed under this heading. Chain lube, for example. There’s nothing worse than a squeaky, rattling drivetrain. An unoiled chain is not only annoying, it also actually costs you energy. If you’re traveling alone, a little bike lock can be a true blessing. For example, if you want to stop by the supermarket, you can lock up your bike outside and pick up your supplies without worrying. And speaking of grocery shopping: a small cloth bag is ideal for this. It takes up hardly any space, but it’s really handy for carrying your supplies from the supermarket to wherever it is you’re sleeping in the evening. And once you’ve done that, you can stuff a few pieces of clothing into the bag and it can serve as a pillow at night.

Text: Martin Donat

Photos: Martin Donat, Tim Winterburn