Bikepacking trends over the past five years

Cycling Insight has shared bikepacking search trends over the past five years.

The search term ‘bikepacking’ has been gaining momentum, it said, with search interest peaking during COVID-19. With the past few months aside, the term has had around a 100% increase from 2016-2020.

Currently, the term ‘bikepacking’ receives on average 4,400 monthly searches and is searched for twice as much in Scotland than in England.

Cycling Insight also looked into bikepacking events, finding that some of the key multi-day races see similar search trends with the peaks being around the time of the event. The Tour Divide had peak search interest mid-2016 whilst the Transcontinental Race saw significant search growth in 2019, a 25% increase from 2018.

The Tour Divide averages 590 Google searches each month with the Transcontinental Race averaging 1,900. These are likely to be around 75% higher during the peaks, Cycling Insight said.

In terms of bikepacking brands, ‘not much has changed’ over the past five years, according to Cycling Insight. The off-season (September-February) has gradually picked up in recent years, perhaps indicating a growth in the dedicated community to the niche. Apidura in particular appeals primarily to 25-34-year-olds (45% of their 1,900 monthly clicks).