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I'll admit, I've been bikepacking curious for awhile. As my touring continues to expand and evolve I'm thinking more about bikepacking options for 2021 and I thought I'd share the process on the pod. Join me, won't you? Exploring bikepacking options Evolving gear - what is touring and what is bikepacking? Does it matter? Expanding gear to suit tours best Slimmer profile Less gear for low or no camping touring More trails and gravel (hi WV!) Option 1 - modify what I have fork cages + dry bags (10L x2) = 1 ortlieb EXCEPT... new fork doesn't have brazons handlebar roll EXCEPT current brake cables block ability to tighten dry bag on rear rack or saddle bag This is currently doable Saddle bag? With a rear rack this doesn't do much.   Option 2 - Reduce gear in and get into 2-3 dry bags? Ding ding. An option I've done before. Particularly easy for no-camping trips. For camping: Hammock? Bivvy or smaller tent? Option 3 - New bike? Probably where I'm heading. Surly ECR looks amazing. COVID continues to limit availability, and also Surly has slimmed down its bikepacking line (pour one out for the Ogre, not to mention the non-disc LHT!) Then add bikepacking bags. Build: go all out or frugally? I think my next bike might be more the former, but it really depends. This option gets very expensive, very quickly.   Where do I land? I've been threatening a new bike for a while, but it's a big outlay. I would need to justify its purchase by actually using it, or I'll feel dumb/wasteful. Biggest thing working against this is the substantial overlap between my Safari and the ECR. When I ride one and could use the other, I'll be thinking of waste. My spring tour is almost certainly on the Safari, it's just a question of where...  probably close to home again because it seems prudent to wait on the vaccination and summer for a longer ride Much more to think about! Pedalshift Society As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this spring's DC to Cincinnatti bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there's one-shot and annual options if you're not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society. Kimberly Wilson Caleb Jenkinson Cameron Lien Andrew MacGregor Michael Hart Keith Nagel Brock Dittus Thomas Skadow Marco Lo Terrance Manson Harry Telgadas Chris Barron Mark Van Raam Brad Hipwell Mr. T Nathan Poulton Stephen Dickerson Vince LoGreco Cody Floerchinger Tom Benenati Greg Braithwaite Sandy Pizzio Jeff Muster Seth Pollack Joseph Quinn Drue Porter Byron Paterson Joachim Raber Ray Jackson Jeff Frey Kenny Mikey Lisa Hart John Denkler Steve Hankel Miguel Quinones Alejandro Avilés-Reyes Keith Spangler Greg TownerDan Gebhart, RIP Jody Dzuranin Lucas Barwick Michael Baker Brian Bechtol Reinhart Bigl Greg Middlemis Connie Moore William Gothmann Brian Benton Joan Churchill Mike Bender Rick Weinberg Billy Crafton Gary Matushak Greg L’Etoile-Lopes James Sloan Jonathan Dillard John Funk Tom Bilcze Ronald Piroli Dave Roll Brian Hafner Misha LeBlanc Ari Messinger David Gratke Todd Groesbeck Wally Estrella Sue Reinert John Leko Stephen Granata Phillip Mueller Robert Lackey Dominic Carol Jacqi McCulloch John Hickman Carl Presseault David Neves Patty Louise Terry Fitzgerald Peter Steinmetz Timothy Fitzpatrick Michael Liszewski Hank O’Donnell David Zanoni David Weil Matthew Sponseller Scott AngeloChad Reno