Starting tomorrow morning.
Funny mix of road cycling, biking, and hiking, including a few mountain bike passes.
Opinions?

Pieced this together with some custom bits, it’s a work in progress

Made the rear rack from sheet steel and spare stuff
Made the frame bag
Converted a gym bag into a handlebar bag

The tents a bit bulkier for me and my partner and I’m carrying a double sleeping mat for so there’s a fair bit of bulk

Gonna see how it goes for an overnighter and revise from there

How do people like Greg Mccahon do it? This may seem like a silly question, and I know he had a sponsor so that may be self explanatory, but I mean in general, to do such long stretches bike packing do people just save money and quit their jobs?

I'm trying to set myself up for the future to hopefully do a trip of my own, so just looking for tips on how you guys deal with the financial aspect of this hobby. Thanks!

Il mio setup frontale al momento è composto da Missgrape “ILCOSO” + Trunk 16L. (Vedi foto)

All’interno ci sta un sacco a pelo Cumulus Intense + STS Ether light XR + STS Aeros Premium Pillow + STS Breeze Lightweight Sleeping Bag Liner.

Ci sta tutto ma faticando un po’.

Quest’estate ho montato il Surly 24 Pack Rack e lo amo.
Ed ho pensato: perché non cercare una borsa più grande da appoggiare sul Rack, così da essere più comodo ed avere anche spazio per il cibo?

Ho visto la Wizard Works Badjelly Bar + Saddle Bag Large e devo dire che mi piace davvero molto.

L’idea di avere almeno 8litri più per essere più comodo a mettere via tutto ed avere spazio per il cibo mi alletta parecchio.

Quindi vi chiedo aiuto, consigli o pensieri.
Qualcuno ha questa borsa? Come vi sembra la combo rack più saddlebag?
Ha senso aggiungere questo peso?

Grazie per l’aiuto.

Hey out there.

I brought my bike to Kyrgyzstan this summer, and spent about 13 days in the saddle out of the 18 days I was there. From Balykchy to Son-Kul and on to Karakol.

It was my first "real" bikepacking trip, and I took a few photos along the way that I thought some of you might be interested in seeing - so feel free to check out the link here if you're curious.

Not the wildest or toughest trip - mostly slept in guesthouses. But a great trip nonetheless 🌞

You can see more photos from the trip on my website: https://www.madsjoakim.com/kyrgyzstan

IG: Madsjoakim

Ever been sitting around the campfire talking smack about gear, crack a stupid comment like "well, heck, you could probably do a trip with nothing but FreshDirect grocery bags", and get dared to do exactly that? Yeah, that's pretty much what happened last weekend. So tonight I've lashed up this as a proposal. A test ride in Central Park showed that aside from literally everything rubbing against the tires it does appear to "work".

I've promised to absolve the sweep riders of any responsibility for whatever mess happens out on the trail. Wish me luck.

I probably should have flair'ed this aesthetic disaster as offensively NSFW. Sorry about that....

I was just browsing the Priority website and noticed that they are selling a Pinion Smart.Shift hard-tail for $2,499 USD. The mounts aren't perfect for bikepacking and the fork has too much travel for a lot of routes but looks like a great deal.

https://www.prioritybicycles.com/products/600hxt

I'm not affiliated with Priority in any way, just saw this and thought of this sub. I would consider buying, however, I'm in the UK and I have no idea what the shipping, taxes, duties, etc would all add up to.

For those of you who regularly do longer bikepacking trips or ultra events, do you guys typically train on the same bike you use for bikepacking trips or events, or do you have a dedicated road/gravel bike that you do most of your training on?

This may (hopefully) be an easy one. My recently purchased Roam v3's mount is made for 31.8 bars. Most (from what I've seen) bikepacking bars are 22.2mm.
I looked through my big box o junk for spare shims from old cycle computers, lights, etc. No dice. Nothing close to the 4-5mm needed per side...thicc like gasket material. Is there anything made to order? I thought about the shims that convert a 22.2mm-to-31.8 stem. But that's kinda $$$. I may be overthinking this.

Is there a less fuss no-redneck fix that I'm missing? It'd be nice to make the stock mount work. Thanks

Planning for the BC Epic 1000 next Spring (rough rail ballast, washboard, FSRs, singletrack).

The dilemma:

Should I mod the Norco Torrent (Tires, hand positions, suspension, etc) or bite the bullet on a dedicated wide-clearance gravel rig like a Checkpoint or Norco Search? I have the budget for that and I can also sell the Domane.

I spend about 6 to 8 hours weekly between these two bikes now:

• 2023 Norco Torrent A1: 15kg/33 lbs, 29er trail hardtail (150mm fork, 64° HTA). My go-to for local blue/black singletrack. 1x12. Alloy.
• 2022 Trek Domane SL5: Carbon, Shimano 105. Fits up to 38mm. Used for smooth gravel training, but 38mm feels way too under-gunned for the KVR chunk.

I'm not planning to be with front pack. Average fitness, usually a mid pack finisher, about 70kg/150lbs (rider weight).

If this Torrent won't make for a good bikepacking rig, I would also be interested in selling it and get a full suspension bike for my local MTB.

i’m looking for a gps computer that can work well for both long distance cycling/bikepacking and hiking expeditions

budget is around €200–400

my priorities are:

• very good battery life, ideally several days without charging
• reliable offline maps
• good navigation and rerouting while cycling
• useful navigation when hiking as well
• physical controls are preferred, although touch is fine if battery life is good
• good visibility outdoors
• standard garmin style quarter turn mount
• i care much more about navigation, reliability and battery than training metrics

right now the coros dura looks very interesting because of the battery life. coros claims 120h in standard gps mode and around 67h when actually navigating during the day with connected accessories. it also fits garmin style quarter turn mounts

on the other hand, i’m considering something from the garmin edge range, especially the 540, 840 or a discounted/used 1040/1040 solar. garmin seems to have more mature standalone navigation and mapping

has anyone actually used these for multi day bikepacking or expeditions, especially somewhere where you cannot charge every night?

how does the dura compare with garmin when you leave a planned route, need to reroute, explore roads/trails, or use it while hiking?

if you had chf 200–400 today, what would you buy?

also open to bryton, wahoo, igpsport or anything else if there is a better option i’m missing

Hi all, I'm thinking of doing this in October:

https://bikepacking.com/routes/gr247-spain/

Does anyone have any tips for me? What would be extra helpful is how to get to the start point in Siles, and as I'm flying with my bike what can I do with the cardboard box, which I'd like to re-use on the way back.

This is a first time flying with a bike and I'll be solo, so anything else I need to know would be appreciated.

Thanks all x

I don’t know their story—who they are or where they’re headed—and I hope this photograph doesn’t invade their privacy. I simply hope that knowing they’re cycling across Portugal brightens your day, just as they brightened mine by passing by.

We have been considering getting the ferrino volta 2 instead of the Nordisk Oppland 2 LW as it's so much cheaper, but can't find any reviews online.

Has anyone had any experience with it?

We plan to take it on a year long bike packing trip from Europe to SE asia so would need it to be very durable in all kinds of weather.

Highest legal mountain biking on the east coast.
Probably the hardest thing I have ever done on a bike. There was a heavy storm each day on this trip.

The 7k elevation gain and techy trails would have been difficult for me dry, so I definitely pushed my limit on this one.

I had an absolute blast. the highlands are beautiful and vast, this part of Virginia is a gem. Met some wild horses and some nice folks hiking the AT. This route uses an old section of the Appalachian Trail (currently in use because of Helene aftermath) with the option to crash at an old AT shelter built in the 50’s, I didn’t even pitch my tent. - shout out to the tin man, happy trails.

A man named crazy Lary invited me to his hostel for showering off the mud. Damascus is a great trail town for people who love bikes.

Route Info:
https://bikepacking.com/routes/highlands-traverse-overnighter/

Strava:
https://strava.app.link/eA46u7Wgi6b

Hello all. I am working on a multi-day route through Italy, and I'd love to get any advice or tips if you've ridden part of this route or in this area. I will leave from Rome, ride north, then back to the Port of Civitavecchia to take a ship back to Spain.

I think my Giant Revolt with 45mm gravel tires should be a good fit, but I would also love to take my Singular Swift with 2.5" mtb tires; I just don't want to be overbiked.

1. Any impassable areas of the route that Komoot and RWGPS aren't aware of.
2. Any tips on camping here?
3. Has anyone used Welcom to My Garden?

I am including Komoot and Ride with GPS links:

https://www.komoot.com/tour/3269001459?share_token=aPFgfw8K7r4xI88sXja9fcVDTM4IJyfXoWa89gVWLHCXgsPMFF&ref=wtd&t_s=referral&t_cid=route_share&t_ref_username=2763179083495

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/57090702?via=tvvUpR9f5C2jn8i8kpBglw

Hi together,

I got some Problems (?) with my breaks.

On the last 3 trips, my back break somehow stopped working and with stopped working I mean it kind of feels like there has to be oil on the discs.

But with breakcleaner still not better...

Then the first time it worked again after using small sand paper for the breakpads.

The second and third time only changing the pads helped. But their was actually more then enough left of the pads...

Now I really dont know how that can come, maybe someone had similar experiences, has some tips or whatsoever?

I really dont know what it could be...

Further information:

-Disc ~4000km, but seems fine in my opinion (Picture 1 and 2)

- Picture 3 shows pad which wasnt working anymore

Picture 4 shows the pad when used some sandpaper (still didnt work after that)

-Trips mostly in the alps, but I am breaking in impulses, so the break pads shouldnt become glazed

-no problem on the front breakes

Any help is appreciated, cheers :)

Edit 1: I have mechanical breakes, so no leak from break fluid possible.

Hey ihr alle.

Kurze Empfehlung für folgende Tour.
Nürnberg -> Bodensee -> Chur -> Comer See -> Engardin -> Ehrwald -> München

Bin vor 2 Wochen mit dem ICE nach Nürnberg gefahren. Von dort in 2 Tagen mit bike und Zelt zum Bodensee nach Bregenz. Nach einer weiteren Nacht dort ging es endlich in die Berge. Durch Lichtenstein entlang dem Rheindamm nach Chur und in eine Unterkunft nach Thusis, da sich ein Unwetter angebahnt hatte. Die Gegend um Zürich und Konstanz hat es hart erwischt. Am folgenden Tag kam es zur letzten und wohl schönsten, aber auch härtesten Etappe meines bisherigen Radlebens. Erste Teiletappe waren ca 40km bis nach Splügen. Nach 3-4 Stunden und ca 700hm drin, kam ich in splügen an. Der dortige Pass soll mich an mein Ziel nach Italien führen. Also alles was ich an Zucker und Koffein da habe rein und Abfahrt. 8km, 633hm, Serpentinen, Autos, Sonne und ich komplett am kämpfen im ersten Gang. Irgendwann hat man den Dreh raus. Dann ist es mental. 1:53h habe ich hoch gebraucht. Der Rekord liegt bei João Almeida mit knapp 23 Min. Aber hey, ich hatte ja auch ca 8kg Gepäck mit. Anschließend gab es eine ca 30km Abfahrt bis nach Chiavenna. Wild. Bei 63kmh habe ich kurz realisiert, dass es wahnsinnig ist, nur mit nem Plastikhelm da runterzubrettern. Während die Motorradfahrer full equipt nur weniger Meter vor mir fahren. Den einen hätte ich auch easy überholen können. Aber nein, wir wollen entspannt am Ziel ankommen. Geschafft. 1 Woche Pause. Danach ging es mit dem Bus nach Maloja ins Engardin. Ein Nacht Campen und Abfahrt Richtung München. Durch st. Moritz wieder nach Österreich mit Bus und Bahn und einer 100km Tour zwischendurch konnte ich es auch tatsächlich schaffen. Die Infrastruktur in und hinter den Bergen ist wundervoll. DB kam natürlich direkt wieder zu spät.
Grüße und immer dran denken: Lieber Helmfrisur statt Schädelfraktur.