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I'm looking at doing a decently long bikepacking trip mostly on road. I currently have a carbon framed orbea avant endurance bike. I'd like to do the ride without necessarily buying a new bikepacking bike. I was thinking that a seat post bag, frame bag, top tube bag, and maybe a backpack to ride with and putting 28 or 30 mm tires on. Does this seem reasonable as a setup? I've done century rides on this bike before and it's comfortable enough. What are the drawbacks of a carbon endurance bike vs. a more bikepacking focused steel or aluminum bike? I know if the carbon cracks I'll be SOL.

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    What kind of SOL? acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/SOL ? Many people use carbon bikes, should not be a problem at all. Get the right bags that don't require racks.
    – Vladimir F Героям слава
    Commented Oct 3, 2020 at 19:20
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    The premise that "Carbon Cracks" is your problem. Steel 'cracks'(although often, but not always repairable), aluminum cracks (unrepairable). Carbon is not as fragile as many think.
    – mattnz
    Commented Oct 3, 2020 at 20:43
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    If your frame cracks, you’re equally as done with any material.
    – MaplePanda
    Commented Oct 3, 2020 at 23:07
  • OK, if it means sadly out of luck then be aware that carbon frames can often be repaired by a specialist and that alloy frames can crack too. Depending on the design and weight a carbon frame can easilly be stronger than an alloy one.
    – Vladimir F Героям слава
    Commented Oct 4, 2020 at 7:51
  • I much prefer a rear rack since it allows you to use proper, waterproof panniers and is often lighter than a plethora of frame bags. If your bike doesn't have eyelets for a rack or mud guards, there are "adapters" to mount a rear rack to the rear axle and caliper rim brake mount (the hole in the seat stay bridge) or seat post clamp.
    – Michael
    Commented Oct 5, 2020 at 8:52

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Yes it's reasonable, assuming your bike is in good condition when you leave home. Frame failures end most trips regardless of frame material (the bravado of "A village mechanic welded my frame" rarely comes to pass). Lots of people are bikepacking on carbon bikes--carbon frames have even accelerated the bikepacking trend because they typically lack rack mounting eyelets.

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That is a reasonable setup and is a great way to start! Regarding the bags, protect the carbon frame with tape of something like electrical tape or helicopter tape anywhere the bags and associated straps touch the frame. See Bikepacking.com's great article for more information.

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    Great answer! We’d prefer if it was self-contained though as the link may break any day. Quoting the relevant parts of the article would suffice to keep the answer relevant for years to come.
    – MaplePanda
    Commented Nov 20, 2021 at 3:52
  • Welcome to the site - please take a moment to browse the tour and learn how SE works. Your answer is good and relevant, but if the remote website reorganises/vanishes then the answer decreases in usefulness. Best thing to do is summarise the remote link, and put some extra text in your answer, using edit Excellent find in the link.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Nov 20, 2021 at 22:06

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