Does riding singletrack instead of gravel actually change what I pack?
Singletrack adds a spares line that gravel leaves off
Surface is the one answer in the interview whose stated reason is that rough ground shakes things loose. The planner was run four times, once per surface answer, with every other answer left at its default and remoteness held at towns-daily. Only the surface changed.
18 → 21requirements on the list, from Tarmac to Singletrack
| Surface | Requirements | Navigation | Spares |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tarmac | 18 | absent | absent |
| Gravel and tracks | 20 | present | absent |
| Singletrack | 21 | present | present |
| A bit of everything | 21 | present | present |
Navigation arrives at gravel, and changes at singletrack
On tarmac the list carries no navigation line at all. Gravel and tracks adds one, named "The route, loaded to work without signal". Singletrack keeps the line but renames it "A way of knowing where you are that is not only your phone". The two names are different requirements with different reasons behind them, not one line reworded.
Spares appears only on the roughest answers
Tarmac and gravel both leave the spares line off. Singletrack puts it on, and so does "A bit of everything". Choosing the mixed answer is therefore not a middle path: it takes the singletrack spares line and the gravel navigation name, and ends on the same count as singletrack.
What changes at each step
- Tarmac to gravel: navigation appears, and the count goes from 18 to 20, so something besides navigation comes with it that this sweep does not name.
- Gravel to singletrack: spares appears, navigation changes name, and the count goes from 20 to 21.
- Singletrack to the mixed answer: the count stays at 21, and navigation takes the gravel wording back.
What this cannot tell you
This is a count and a presence check, not a judgement of how rough your route is. It does not say what the spares line should hold, how much it weighs, or whether your fork bag stays put on a given trail, because the planner holds no weights and the fit engine was not part of this sweep. Remoteness was held at one value; a different one will move the counts. And the planner knows only the four surface answers, so a route that is mostly gravel with one rough descent is whatever answer you chose to describe it.
Every claim above, and how it is known
- DERIVEDWith every other answer held at its default and remoteness held at towns-daily, the kit list has 18 requirements for Tarmac.
- DERIVEDFor Gravel and tracks the list has 20 requirements.
- DERIVEDFor Singletrack the list has 21 requirements.
- DERIVEDFor A bit of everything the list has 21 requirements.
- DERIVEDNo navigation requirement is on the list for Tarmac.
- DERIVEDGravel and tracks adds navigation, named 'The route, loaded to work without signal'.
- DERIVEDSingletrack renames navigation 'A way of knowing where you are that is not only your phone'.
- DERIVEDA bit of everything carries the gravel name for navigation, 'The route, loaded to work without signal'.
- DERIVEDA spares requirement appears for Singletrack and for A bit of everything, and not for Tarmac or Gravel and tracks.
Other notes worked the same way
- What does expecting rain add to a bikepacking kit list?
A dry forecast takes dry-bags, a groundsheet and a rain jacket off the list
- What do I add to a bikepacking kit list for cold nights?
Cold nights add four lines at freezing, and the first step adds one
- I said bikepacking, not touring. Does that change what the planner tells me to carry?
Saying touring instead of bikepacking changes nothing on the list
Every figure here came out of the same rules that answer the interview, so it moves when they do. Yours differ wherever your answers differ.