>>1972022>>1972041>If it has two wheels and a rack, it is good enough.This.
My first bicycle was this cheap yellow steel bike I bought used. At first I wanted to put 1k5€ in a Decathlon RIVERSIDE TOURING 920 but I realized that it would be a stupid thing to do if you're just getting started and don't even know yet if you're going to like bikepacking at all.
The only reason I built my new baby
>>1971908 is to be able to enjoy big chunky 29x3.0 tubeless tires on the few singletrack portions of my trips, and boy is it comfy, 0 regrets.
Hydraulic disk brakes are also very nice to have.
But this cheap yellow bike got me through some crazy trails, and those rim brakes got me through some crazy descents (my fingers got numb though). So just starting with a cheap used steel MTB would be my recommendation. Upgrade a few things on it, and see if you like bikepacking/touring. Then treat yourself with a brand new fancy bike if you feel like it, and keep the cheap bike for city stuff.
Also three more advices:
- Just get Ortlieb panniers from the get-go, don't try weird stuff like I did in the pic attached (frame bag is great though).
- If you get a bike with cantilever brakes, upgrade that shit with V Brakes.
- Get an adjustable stem to find the most comfy position you can have. But something with a reputable brand behind it, not noname shit from Amazon. I got a Decathlon one, Ritchey also makes some.
And a handlebar with some sweep to it. I have cheap Ritchey Comp Kyote bars on both my bikes.
