We spend a lot of time searching for, recommending, and sometimes just trying to remember what bikes and parts are out there. We’ve made a list of the bikepacking forums and resources we use when we’re looking for reviews, lists, comparison tools, and more to help make the most out of the website.
Despite the wealth of options and knowledge in this golden age of cycling, many of us are still need a little guidance on what the best choice is for whatever gear we may be looking for.
Bikepacking.com is a highly active site with a lot going on with the great team they have established.
Each index that Bikepacking.com offers has been created in a number of ways, but the majority are due to user submissions, which are then critiqued by the Bikepacking.com team and sometimes fine-tuned by them.
One awesome bonus to the site is a lot of the gear they test is often passed out to the Bikepacking Collective members.
The member forum at MTBR.com is a great example of how passionate individuals can find an audience and build a platform. MTBR.com would not have happened without the founder’s passion for mountain bikes and desire to share their passion with others.
Members go to MTBR.com to post reviews, ask questions, help other users find the right bike and get advice from MTBR.com’s well-established high level reviewers.
This is one highly active forum community with several disciplines to chat about including bikepacking, XC, bike touring, gravel, even singlespeeds.
Bicycle handlebars come in all shapes and sizes—flat, riser, bullhorn, drop, etc. Why not just use the stock bars that came with your bike? Sure, they’ll get the job done but it’s more fun to experiment with different options.
Whatbars.com lets you compare the dimensions of any two handlebars. You can select up to 7 traits of comparison and for each trait you can compare multiple options within an interface that effectively displays the differences between the two side-by-side.
Geometry Geeks is a great website for new and veteran cyclists, where you answer a few questions about your bike and riding style, to discover the best geometry for your next ride. With dozens of hand-picked bike geometry databases to choose from, and millions of combinations to test, finding the right size bike is easier than ever!
This list of the best bikepacking forums and resources wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Adventure Cycling. The archives accommodate readers who would like to understand more about the technicalities of a product and even supported rides. Even though bike tech, materials, and other factors will never be exactly the same as they were in the past, their blog posts offer timeless advice for any traveling cyclist.
The site is sleek and easy to navigate. You can sort by categories, read reviews, see a handful of different pictures of each bike, but the real draw here is the lists. Each bike listed is accompanied by a pithy summary of its various attributes.
The site author Alee Dunham admits that his selections aren’t authoritative, much like mine, nor will you find every bike you ever want inside, but they are meticulously compiled and sometimes very specific.
Need to sort through seemingly infinite options? Many of which are poorly described or have no pictures. In addition to photos and descriptions, theCycleList.co provides sorting by type, brand, country of origin, price, and weight data to help you make an informed decision.
But it’s not just about buying stuff. It’s about choices. They’ve tried to make every detail as clear as possible so that you can decide what’s most important to you.
