Bikepacking is how a bicycle is packed for bicycle touring, and also refers to the adventure sport of long-distance unsupported cycle races. As with backpacking, lightweight packing is a popular topic within bicycle packing. Any kind of bicycle can be used for bikepacking, and specialized touring bicycles often have attachment points from the factory such as low riders and luggage carriers, but most types of bicycles can be equipped with a frame bag (attached inside the frame's main triangle), saddle bag (attached to the seatpost), top tube bag and handlebar bag.

The term bikepacking was used in the May 1973 article Bikepacking Across Alaska and Canada in National Geographic magazine, where the writer Dan Burden described 30 cyclists who had a go on the Hemistour Bicycling Expedition from Alaska to Argentina. The packaging was described as consisting of side-mounted panniers, handlebar bags and whatever could be fitted on the luggage carrier. Backpacks were not relevant since they were concerned with long-distance cycling, and a backpack can become bothersome after a couple tens of kilometers.

In the 1980s, bikepacking races became popular in Alaska, which are long-distance touring races where the riders cycle with all necessary equipment on their own and are self-supported. An example of such a race was the 320 km (200 mile) long IditaBike race (playing on the name of the famous Iditarod long-distance sled dog race) which was started by Joe Redington Sr. Out of 26 people, which started on what were common mountain bikes at the time, 13 finished.

In 2006, the Arizona Trail Race popularized the sport, and the sport received attention through a 2008 article in Outside Magazine titled "The World's Toughest Bicycle Race is not in France", as well as with the 2010 film Ride the Divide.

Around the 2010s, the term bikepacking gained new attention when it became popular to pack up and use mountain bikes as touring bicycles, with the use of frame bags, saddlebags, top tube bags and handlebar bags for self-supported touring. In other words, these newer forms of packaging have become more "integrated" into the bicycle in contrast to traditional bicycle touring where the equipment often is packaged more on the "outside" of the bicycle using side panniers mounted on luggage carriers and low riders. Without side panniers, the packaging can come closer to the bicycle's center of mass, which can give better handling,^{[citation needed]} as well as it being closer to the profile of the rider which can provide lower aerodynamic drag. Less protrusion from the bicycle can also be an advantage while riding off-road since the bike will be less prone to snagging onto vegetation. Luxury bikepacking, defined as “the adventure of long-distance cycling combined with the comfort of luxury hotels, fine dining, and premium services,” has also emerged as a modern variation, blending the minimalist spirit of bikepacking with upscale amenities for enhanced comfort.

Bikepacking can be done on any type of bicycle. Originally the focus was on mountain bikes, but over time this has evolved to road bicycles and most recently gravel bicycles. Bikes are usually with gears, but many of the most challenging bikepacking races have been done by people on single-speed bicycles. Bikes are often equipped with dynamos (for example a bottle or hub dynamo) so as to provide power to lighting, navigation devices and phones over extended periods.

Modern bikepacking equipment may utilize soft bags which can be fitted directly to most bicycles, or use dedicated racks and panniers which can require eyelets on the bicycle frame and fork for mounting.

Soft bikepacking bags typically fall into the following categories: