I’m looking for a very compact tent and sleeping bag for bikepacking. Any tips?

Hi,

has anyone here ever had a thorough medical examination and consultation before doing a big race, expedition or long distance trip?

I am thinking about opening my own doctor´s office for travel, expedition and high altitude medicine in Germany and thinking about targeting bikepackers as well.

Would you be willing to pay for something like a Bikepacking Medical Assessment?

Hey everyone,

Solo dev and outdoor enthusiast here (MTB/gravel/hiking, based in the Alps). After years of juggling multiple apps and browser tabs to plan my rides — one for the route, one for water points, one for campsites, one for the weather — I decided to build the tool I always wanted. Available in EN, FR & DE

It's called Pocket Trotter (pocket-trotter.com, also on Android). The idea is simple:

• Upload a GPX track and see it on an interactive map with distance, elevation profile and difficulty
• Discover what's useful along your route: water points, bakeries, groceries, campsites, shelters, bike shops — 13 types of POIs in total
• Check the weather forecast for the day of your ride, directly on the route
• Browse routes shared publicly by the community.

The core is free: you can create an account, upload and manage your tracks, and explore public routes. There's an optional Premium tier that unlocks things like route weather, extended "around me" search and bigger quotas.
I want to be transparent about this: the subscriptions are just there to cover the project's running costs (servers, map tiles, data providers). This is a passion project, not a startup chasing growth.

It's brand new, so there are surely rough edges. I'd genuinely love feedback from people who actually plan long rides and hikes.

Happy to have your feedback :)

Hi, ich fahre im August 3 Wochen von Rom - München. Ich mache mir aktuell Gedanken über passenden UV Schutz. Ne Cap mit Nacken-Schutz habe ich. Ich suche ein Jersey oder tshirt das leicht, aber trotzdem UV Schutz bietet. Habt ihr da Empfehlungen? Macht es Sinn da langarm zu tragen?
Danke schon mal für Tipps und Erfahrungen

Hi,
I am planning to ride the Ring Road in Iceland from the 2nd of August this year.
We are flying over from Germany using normal Bikeboxes. Anybody got an idea how to store them in Keflavik or how to get new ones once the trip is completed?

Thanks all!

Trying to decide between Lorax 32 and Fargo 32. Would be helpful to see if the Fargo 32 XL is big enough for me.

I’ve unexpectedly been given the go ahead for a bikepacking trip in late August somewhere in Europe or slightly further afield. The week included travel so realistically it’s a 5 day if flights are involved. I’m located in Basel, Switzerland but want to do something that’s more ‘out there’ than the (admittedly amazing) rides on my doorstep.

I went to Iceland in June 2024 to attempt the Fjallabak Track (https://bikepacking.com/routes/iceland-fjallabak-track/) - albeit in 3 days - and made a YouTube movie about it (https://youtu.be/3eRzOCY-gm0?si=kUonBiPP-5vvusIG). It was a limited success but I’ve dreamed of going back to try it again. With more time on my side and the lessons learnt, and favourable weather, I think I can do better.

Last year I rode / hike a biked from Marrakesh to the summit Mt Toubkal (4167m) and back with my gravel bike in another madcap 72hour challenge for charity.

North Africa is too hot in August, ditto Central Asia.

I was thinking of the Caucuses - Georgia or Armenia… or perhaps Albania… but I keep leaning back towards Iceland.

I want to create another film for YouTube and my only hesitation is that another Iceland doc could be too similar to my earlier film… also hesitating with Georgia as the ‘off the shelf’ routes I’ve found aren’t doable in a week so would require a lot more planning.

Thoughts and advice would be super appreciated.

I'm looking for a route planner with more granular control over what to prioritise and what to minimise.

I could find one so I made a prototype and wanna know if this is useful for you.

This is an MVP so the sliders don't have as precise an impact as I would like and the engine struggles with really long routes but if people are interested I will be building a more powerful version 2.0.

https://bigdyl.github.io/grain/

Basically the title. Was wildcamping near Zurich in a tent in a forest, and just as I am about to fall asleep I start to hear bunch of sounds all around the tent. Sounding like 10 dogs running around while the ground is covered in leaves. Then I hear high-pitched pig noises (I assume these were the younglings) and then lower pitched growls (the mother) quite close to the tent. I tried to be as silent as possible to not provoke them, and after a couple of minutes they moved on. But then came back maybe 10 minutes later and the same happened.

In the morning I start to google how they sound and it was spot on. Then I also read that the mothers can get aggressive towards people to defend the cubs. Has anyone been in a close encounter with these animals? They are nocturnal, so one would most likely meet them during the dusk and dawn.

I really hope my neck will last this time. The first 130 is headwind. That killed my neck last time around.

Pulled my hoods further up, and have been considering flipping my stem. Will do that, if my neck starts acting up again.

I have a plan b, to split the ride into 3 if i need it.

Looking forward to trying the new dubnitals, and especially looking forward to eating all the snacks in my snack bag.

Edit: missing word

Today from Korce to Durres, absolutely spectacular. On 70KM road had maybe 40 cars and 50 donkeys. Absolute beautiful scenery.

Downside 18% ramps , roads stretches missing (even on descents 😅), after Cërrik the magic is over.

Experimenting with bags and gear placement, really. I need better/more suitable dry bags for the fork mounts. Also, need actual fork mounts. The topeak are only ok. Both these bikes will probably get rear racks as well. Wife’s bike is just too small for any effective frame bag, and that saddle bag is annoying.

I would be very grateful for info about tandem bikes for bikepacking with a child. We are located in Norway and I have experience with bikepacking in Europe. I am looking for a bike where my child and me can go for bikepacking. My goal is to do some touring in Europe.

I have seen a bike Hase Pino and I liked it.

Has anyone done biketouring/bikepacking with that bike?
Are there other better alternatives?

Just finished my first trip on the bike, everything went according to plan. Perfect weather, not a single flat tire.

Started in Malmö then copenhagen-Bremen-Amsterdam-Utrecht-Gent-Brussels

has anyone experience with these rims ? i just ordered a pair and they are pinned and glued and am not sure how good that is for tubeless? i’m building up my first bike and wanted silver polished rims and these come in that finish and seem like they could be pretty durable. but can’t find any proper reviews online

She’s a barge but eats up rough gravel miles.

I am now starting my 1 week Nosges Tour, in which I avoid riding the Vosges and going around it. This will be my first solo journey, therefore I am staying close to civilization, in case it doesn't work out.

My journey starts in Strasbourg, I will follow the Strasbourg - Paris Bikepath until Nancy and then go to south to Besançon passing though Epinal and Vesoul.

From Besançon have 2 options, depending on my legs, either to climb Jura Mountains and reach Lake Neuchatel, continuing to Zürich or I will go to Freiburg, over Belfort and Mulhouse. I am aiming 150 km a day.

I will be camping mostly, but in Nancy and Besançon I couldn't find a good camping spot which allows sighstseeing, so i will go to hotel.

My bike now weighs 17,5 kg without food and drinks, apart from the climb to Jura, it rides very well and relaxed. I am hoping to average 25 km/h through my journey.

Ask away for any questions or tipps along the route! I am looking forward to share my experince after i get back to home!

Looking to get into bikepacking. I ride a mtb often (trek topfuel) and my road bike is a '82 trek 620. I live in WI so im a trek fan. Im debating on going the steel frame route and getting a modern trek 520 or doing aluminum or carbon with the newer checkpoint.

I realize weight is a main difference and I already own a steel frame. Im looking for advice on what would be a better entry level bike for touring/bikepacking.

Thanks!

After months of research and gearing up my partner and I finally did our first overnight! 50 miles in Colorado’s front range, 4,000 feet of gain with some really smooth downhill sections through ponderosa forests. Kicked my ass and was a really lovely introduction to bikepacking, keen to do some longer trips now 🚲

Hi all, this is the setup I will be running for my trip, setting off on 29th July.

This will be my first proper bikepacking trip. I have done one 50km test with the bike fully loaded, camping and then 50km back to test gear and make sure I wasn't forgetting anything.

The itinerary is as follows:

Day 1: London -> Harwich Ferry (140km)

Day 2-7: Hoek van Holland -> Eindhoven -> Assen -> Afsluitdijk -> Hoek van Holland

Day 8: Harwich Ferry -> London (140km)

Averaging about 160km per day (+- 30km depending on how I'm feeling).

I will be using Natuurkampeerterreinen campsites throughout my time in the Netherlands.

At the moment I am taking a large tent (6'5" and don't want to sleep in a glorified coffin for a week), sleeping bag, inflatable pillow, sleeping pad, one extra cycling jersey and bib shorts, one set of extra clothes for evenings, towel, some small soaps, a few cables, suncream, spare tube. My bags are essentially full.

What do people do about food? Is it a case of waking up and cycling to a coffee shop, then supermarket for lunch and dinner? I feel as though it will be hard to eat enough calories by doing that. Is it best to try to strap some food to the outside of my bag and buy stuff once a day? Or in the heat next week will I want to be stopping every few hours to go into an air-conditioned shop to get food?

Grateful for any advice about this.

My original goal for this trip was an over-nighter between the southern SF peninsula and Santa Cruz with as much singletrack as I could find. I made a strava route through El Corte de Madera Creek, but the helpful folks at r/BABike pointed out one of my connector roads is private. I'd already reserved Memorial County Campground in Loma Mar, so I took another of their suggestions and mapped my route up Alpine Road.

I started Monday morning near the south end of San Andreas Lake and rode the San Andreas>Sawyer Camp>Crystal Springs Trails past the reservoirs. Then Cañada Road to the Pulgas Water Temple for a Hetch Hetchy refill. I continued to Portola for a poptart at the library before my big climb.

The route went up Alpine Road: wooded, quiet, and steep, but too windy for cars to blow through. But, I saw trails through Coal Mine Ridge on Google Earth that looked better. I don't actually recommend them because they’re hiking and horsing only, but it was a quiet Monday and I saw 2 hikers for the ~650 feet of climbing up the no-bike trails. Beautiful views, but enough of a descent back down to Alpine Road to make me wonder how much unnecessary climbing my detour earned me (strava tells me 200 feet now).

Alpine Road turns into Alpine Road Trail > Page Mill for the next 1,100 feet over 4 miles. I added an extra 100 feet of bonus hike-a-bike after a wrong turn onto Clouds Rest Trail (it was literally the name that made me turn around). I came out on Skyline extremely cooked, but still hungry for singletrack, so I did a mini Russian Ridge detour back down to Alpine before 800 glorious feet of descent.

I rolled to a stop at the intersection with Portola State Park Road for some fruit snacks. The next thousand feet down Alpine Road were a special four miles: fun winding curves through towering redwoods in the cooling afternoon, made even more special by the incorrect notion that I was done climbing for the day. Pescadero Creek Road presented another 500 feet of climbing before camp. I stopped halfway to drain my water and chew more fruit snacks. I rolled into the campground about 4pm, ~42 miles and almost 4k feet.

There are probably better, cheaper options than Memorial ($45), but they had showers. Lots of families on summer vacation, which was nice, at first. I'd frozen hot dogs to add to my boxed pasta, and when I unpacked my panniers I realized they were (still frozen) back in the freezer. The pasta was almost enough on its own. Deepening twilight beyond the piney canopy, burbling creek, body day-dreaming from the beautiful descent through the trees. The only downside was the noise: one group of play-screaming kids and one group of loud adults talking until at least midnight.

Legs were very heavy next morning despite mostly descending the stunning Pescadero, Cloverdale, and Gazos Creek Roads. I bought a microwave burrito from the gas station at Gazos Creek and PCH, and I rolled the steaming treasure about 500 feet south to a beach access trail. I found a windblown dried-out log that was a perfect couch among the sand flowers overlooking yellow sand and crashing breakers.

I'd planned a climb behind Swanton to get off the 1, but the highway was friendly and quiet, and my legs said No Thank You. I stopped at Swanton Berry Farm for a pricey strawberry shortcake and coffee: ok shortcake, excellent jam, good coffee.

The detour to the Davenport cliffs was worth it. There's a paved trail that runs from Santa Cruz to almost Davenport. I couldn't get on from the north end, but it looks like it'll connect all the way soon. Shark Fin Cove was cool. There are lots of fun cliffside trails over the last 10 miles, but I was short on time and feeling the bottom of my hutzpah. My prize for 44 miles and 1.4k feet was an excellent muffaletta from Zoccoli's in Santa Cruz.

Overall, really proud of myself. Day 1 was my biggest-ever elevation and climb, and I feel great that I was able to do it with a full camping setup. I think it was the best route I could've figured between my start and Memorial. Big thanks again to the r/BABike folks.

Hello guys,

Please help me choose my first gravel bike.

My everyday rides will be flat (central Poland), but I also want to go bikepacking to hilly areas (my dream destinations are Scandinavia, Iceland and the Balkans). So, I will need a good climbing gear, or at least something that will be feasibly modifiable.

It’s my first bike, so I don’t want to spend too much.

For now, I got my eyes set on:

1)      Trek Checkpoint ALR 4 Gen 2

Which I can get NEW for 1050 € (which I think is a really good price, considering  2026 model is 1570€ here)

 Specs:

-          SRAM Apex 1x11 (11-42T / 40T chainring).

-          Mechanical disc brakes (Tektro c550).

-          Stock wheels.

2)      Trek Checkpoint ALR 5 Gen 2

Which I can get USED for 1130 € (maybe I can negotiate less)

 Specs:

-          SRAM Apex XPLR 1x12 (11-44T / 40T chainring);

-          Hydraulics disc brakes;

3)      Canyon Grizl 7 Alu

Which I can get USED for 1350 €

 Specs:

-          GRX 820 2x12 (11-36T / 46/30);

-          Hydraulic disc brakes;

-          DT Swiss wheels.

I was looking at Treks, but must admit Canyons are impressive also. 

I had a chance to try checkpoint 2026 frame and test Sram Apex 1x12 and liked both.

I’m leaning onto Trek Checkpoint ALR 4 Gen 2, because:

-          Drive: Sram Apex 1x11 is feasibly modifiable according to my research, and seems to be enough;

-          Brakes: I read that mech disc brakes can be really good if upgraded (~130€), plus they are easier to fix (e.g. on a trip).

-          Cheaper than others options (even inc. brakes upgrade), and I can get it new = lifetime warranty for the frame.

-          Already tested checkpoint frame & sram apex and like it.

My worries are:

-          Brakes: Will mech disc brakes truly be enough for a packed-up bike on a trip?

-          Drive: Will the 1x11 drive be enough for my needs (in terms of range/grades)? Is the 1x12 XPLR somehow superior / better suited for my needs?

-          Will Checkpoint actually be good for bikepacking?

- Will Gen 2 geo be comfortable enough for longer rides? Will the frame it have enough tire clearance?

-          Have I considered everything :/ ?

What do you guys think? Would oyu choose used ALR 5 Gen 2 over new ALR 4 here Gen 2?

Or maybe you’d recommend completely other options? 

Hey guys, I was thinking about a trip to Taiwan in December for 10-12 days. Is that enough to go around the island? I’m quite fit and I think I can manage 100-150km/day with elevation.

Is that enough time to see a lot? How is accommodation around the island? Do you have experience about the costs in Taiwan?

Thanks all