Photo taken on a 2 night, 3 day 114ish mile trip through the White mountains.
As the title states, to those of you who watch videos, what is the main thing you enjoy? My videos are just raw clips taken while riding and in camp with some gopro time lapses.
by Ramn_King_Hikes
29 Comments
Seeing what bike you’re using, the setup (bags) for the trip, your adventure (distance, location, and maybe cool spots to stop)
There has to be a reason behind a video. Something that draws the watcher in. Footage has to be dynamic enough to keep one’s attention. I personally don’t want watch a video where it’s all about them, I want to see the adventure. Hope this helps.
It depends on my mood and what kind of time I have. Sometimes I like the 1 hour plus day to day grind and seeing how people deal with the tired, cold, sometimes not fun parts. Other times I enjoy the small 15 minute recaps, though I prefer the long ones.
I like to see what kits and loadouts people have, but those also tend to drag on longer than necessary. Getting to camp and setting up seems to get missed in allot of videos. The dramatic shots of pristine back country is always a plus.
The biggest negative for me is bad audio. If the wind noise is over powering, or if the dialogue sounds crummy, it’s an automatic skip for me
Minimum 5 bikes lined up. Sorry better luck next time
* Show your setup (bike, bags, clothes, …)
* Show your route
* Show scenes where you encounter difficulties (e.g. mechanical failure or wrong route planing)
* Show how & where you sleep
* Show where you buy food and what you eat
* Keep the footage from the GoPro on your chest/bike to a minimum, it’s most of the time boring. Maybe use it for a time lapse or for conversations with people you meet (if they are ok with it!)
* Quit yapping about how awesome and beautiful it is, we’ll judge for ourselves
* At the end of each day, show the route you did, how many kilometers and how many hours you spent on bike
* The cherry on top are drone shots with nice music
* If you arrived via plane/train, show it. Same for the departure
Just my opinion, maybe other people have other preferences
I don’t watch bikepacking videos. Watching people ride a bicycle is like watching paint dry.
Videos that inspire me to get out and ride when I am not out riding. People who ride because they love it.
Less about gear, skill level, or ego. More “let’s do what I love”.
I find to keep me watching, narrative structure becomes more important as videos get longer. Not so important for 1 minute videos. 1-5 minute requires a very basic narrative (went on a ride) to hold my attention 5-10 needs more. 10-20 requires a lot more. 20+ and you need a complex narrative to keep me watching.
By narrative structure, i mean avoiding making your video feel like “and then, and then; and then, and then”. The longer the video the more monotonous that structure becomes.
The only time I watch raw riding videos longer than a few minutes is when I am watching my friends race, and even then I will skip.
Truly, what I think doesn’t matter.
Do what you love, learn as you go. What is your end goal for sharing videos?
The editing makes all the difference. Many of the bike packing videos all have the same format. Could have all been created by one person.
Check out ‘Listers’ on YT. It’s about birding. I don’t give a shit about birding but the editing is great. And I think it’s a great film.
We like videos that are relatable. We aren’t athletes, so seeing the struggle is good stuff. No glossing over the crappy weather or hike-a-bike.
We’re not watching your race video. Or the century a day video. Or your three month trip video. Show us forty mile days with stops for swimming, picnics, needing out about rocks, identifying flowers, etc.
Make it for yourself first and foremost, not others – you’ll likely be the only one watching it over time. Show your rig and your route, and the great sites and scenery, and great food and drink. Don’t try to be poetic and overly verbose – it’s just a bikepacking video and not an attempt at the Pulitzer prize – keep it light and fun.
Less the scenery (though that’s nice) and more for practical learning. I like to see the gear used, choices in what to bring, preparedness, wild and campsite camping tips, dealing with challenges…
For me it is just the raw videos. Breathings and pantings can be disturbing, but the wind and the sound of the gears are pretty fun to hear. And definitely not the music on the background.
Edit: word correction
This is one of my favorite Bikepacking videos, and its not even marketed as a bikepacking video. The dude buys a shitty bike, and rides across rural france to take photos of old buildings and trains. The way he set up the video- the pacing, the things he recorded, and the monologue, all made me feel like I was right there. Cooking videos were nice too.
https://youtu.be/pGagZQPg7jY?si=6NSQZPHI4uPHDcp2
nightly sleep setup seems to get overlooked a lot
If there’s fly fishing involved I’m studying everything to figure out where exactly they’re fishing. With that being said I also enjoy that they didn’t spot burn the place to ashes
Some amount of realness. Less interested in the rider and their motivations, more interested in the route. Do still appreciate the story of the given ride. Too much artificial positivity or influencer vibe and the whole thing leaves you with a gross aftertaste despite being beautifully shot.
Adventure. Lewi Blake is posting incredible content right now crossing the Congo.
Story.
As a backpacker first, I get bummed when they skip all the camp parts. I like the rest, I just wanna see the camp set up too! Show me your meals, tent set up, etc.
Some of my fav bikepacking video creators are [Dan Cycles the World](https://youtube.com/@dancyclestheworld?si=UQaxTwEEW0kMksbk), [PNW Bikepacking](https://youtube.com/@pnwbikepacking?si=r23Z-KwBOXUSGUYA), and [Everything’s Been Done/Dustin Klein](https://youtube.com/@everythingsbeendone?si=WAa2JRsTBXbJ_woK) (only sometimes because he usually does product reviews).
Generally speaking, what I like about their content is the storytelling:
– Where are they going (setting), and why (purpose)?
– How are they going? What bikes are they riding, what gear are they using, did the route dictate the equipment?
– What challenge are they overcoming? Did they know about the challenge ahead of the ride, or did a mechanical issue or environmental factor arise during the route?
– Decent videography, change up the angles, show some environmental features, show the challenge that’s being overcome.
– Decent sound, even just using an in-line mic on wired headphones or an AirPod mic is better than the crunchy noise from a GoPro or iPhone
Brevity. Good soundtrack. No yapping about yourself and how important the ride is to you blah blah blah. A movie where we feel like we’re doing the activity through you. Show us the route, a little history, a little POI, and dont be afraid to be quiet.
I want to know about the route, gear, some logistics. I don’t want it to be some self-promotion or anything about personal meaning if the trip. I don’t really care about your backstory unless it’s relevant (like a race you did in the past). Basically just show me some good footage and let the video speak for itself.
Bike, Packing and Video.
I hate videos that talk a lot about gear.
I hate when there is no story.
I love the editing done by PNWBikepacking in his videos and also really appreciate the series by danbikestheworld.
the quick cuts and ADHD style editing of everythingsbeendone are really hard to watch. Plus he give off a really “bro-y/hipster” vibe and is super offputting.
Friends and vibes*
For me it’s far less technical, and my favorite parts are seeing friends fooling around, just having fun riding bikes and camping.
Favorite has been https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U1SNeFXsNI&t=2s
Depends on the length of the vid. Feel like most bikepacking/touring content is very similar, superficial, and overly optimistic. I’d honestly love to just see silent bicycle touring vids, almost like ASMR. Videos from backpacking with dickpoop25 come to mind. Educational stuff would be cool too, like facts about the region and wildlife as well as history.
As for longer form I think its really hard to do that. UK to Austrailia by Hackisouthere stands as my gold standard of a travel vid, because its pretty simple and relatable. Two dudes on some pretty run of the mill bikes that ur average joe probably has sitting around somewhere making memories and sharing real conversations that most people can enjoy. Once things like gear and high price points come into the mix I feel like that’s a huge turnoff
Technical DH and flatbars
I watch videos to scout out & consider a new route.
Tell me about 1. The parking – safe? 2. Show & describe the trail; cool features like a rails-to-trail trestle, tunnels, swimming holes. 2. How easy is it to find camping or lodging?
Then something about yourself, how long you’ve been doing this. Show us your rig, how you pack the bags, your camp set up.
At least for me, its about discovering a new route, learning about its nature, and what sort of gear would work. I’m not so much into people just videoing themselves riding, superimposed over light acoustic guitar music; but certainly some of that is included in any good backpacking video – just not the whole thing
you need a story, not just the fact that your bike-packing, there are thousands of other channels I can get that from.