While skimming through some favorite photos on Instagram the other day I observed a bit of a spat between two of the bike touring feeds I follow. While the bike packing fat bike off road touring rider claimed one of the reasons he preferred bike packing to typical touring bikes was so he could portage his bike and venture off road where a touring bike would give a person a headache.  As soon as I read that I knew the poster would receive a response and sure enough a more road oriented bike tourist replied with how much more efficient and freedom to wander the roads and highways was preferable.  Their exchange ended with the closing remark "to each their own".  Sure, to each their own there's different bikes for different terrain.

Bike packing has become a very popular method of transporting gear and equipment over particularly rough terrain.  Most commonly applied to steel frame fat tire bikes which are so stoutly built somebody just figured who needs a rack on that type of bike just strap stuff on it and ride,well kind of.

It's one of those silly truisms one finds often in the bike industry and folks have been forking over dollars (pun) on some stellar quality handlebar harness style bags that can carry impressive amounts of stuff.  Preferred fork mounting holes are for large capacity water bottle containers rather than rack or fender braze ons as frame bags are used instead of panniers.  Point being there really is no point in comparing these two widely different styles of touring.  I would no more want to ride a fat bike along fifty miles of rolling hills highway than take a road touring bike boulder hopping.   At Yeti Rides, Peter Nylund provides a description of bikes designed for bike packing and accessories.   Also, check out Bike Touring News' run down of Revelate bike packing accessories. 

Considering how versatile touring bikes can be by evidenced of how well my bike performs on gravel roads depending on the tires of course and the fact that I can stuff some pretty wide tires on without removing the fenders I decided to get a front rack that could be used as much for bike packing as touring.  After finding my old Delta Mega Loader front rack had become bent I installed a Blackburn MTF-1 with a top deck on it.  Photo at left shows the bike with that rack.  It worked to provide more clearance for m front panniers on trails with rocks, brush or when riding through tall grass.  After deciding I didn't like how the bike handled I installed a Minoura FRP 3000 low rider style front rack and wow what a difference.  I love how it handles and is perhaps the main reason I haven't been looking to follow the bike packing bag option.  

Another significant difference is I like having everything packed in the panniers with little or nothing strapped on to the outside of my bike other than a small handle bar bag.  This is just a personal preference and when I compare photos of this same bike with the Blackburn rack with the one at the top of this posting with Minoura rack it's obvious why the bike feels so much nicer to ride when packed for road touring.  That having been said I also preferred to install a low rider front rack on my off road touring bike. Photo below is of my version of an off road touring bike for bike packing, which I tend to pack lighter than my road touring bike.  There are plenty of bike packing options provided with the Minoura MT-4000SF front rack though a bit on the heavy side I have found the versatility of the rack quite handy as a cargo bike for commuting.  However, due to the ease of removing the front rack when not in use I may convert it to a bike for bike packing when I get around to another Colorado visit.  I will be sure to update this post with pics but until that day, enjoy your riding style whatever that may be.
Links related to this topic
Touring Bike Voted Best for Commuting
Building a Half Fat Trekking Bike
Pack Kit List for Multi Day Touring