Bikepacking Gear

Pedals and shoes have taken up a bit of research time recently. For all my past mountain biking exploits and previous travels I’ve passionately ridden SPDs, with clipless pedals as they are oddly dubbed. Not this time. Here is some minutiae regarding my foray into platforms and bike travel shoes.

Space (and weight) versus comfort is a tricky (and expensive) battle that we cyclocampers fight regularly. Tents, sleeping bags and pads make up the majority of heft and bulk that has to be packed and stowed. In an effort to go as ultralight as possible for an upcoming trip, with minimal luggage, I put together a kit using The Mother of Comfort.

I’ve always admired the lust-inducing photos of vintage, quill-driven, lugged randonneuring gems, beautifully documented within the pages of sites such as Lovely Bicycle. So I decided to attempt and give one of these old steeds a shiny second life.

Never having operated a sewing machine, I have always been fascinated and intimidated by the fabric arts. I decided that a trial-by-fire is the best way to learn and made a canvas frame bag one afternoon…

I’m a die-hard side sleeper, and no spring chicken, so a wafer thin Thermarest mat isn’t an option. After a long ride, fully loaded, having a fairly thick and plush pad is a must, no matter the weight penalty. And now you don’t have to have carry a 2 pound gigantic bundle in order to be comfortable…

Finding the ideal tire is something that two-wheeled nomads seem to spend a lot of time thinking about prior to, and during a trip. I have talked with folks who have blown out a couple of sidewalls, been plagued with flats or just went through several inferior sets of rubber. They all come full circle to the Mondial after a while. Or at the very least, they want a pair.

I had read somewhere that Selle Anatomica’s Titanico is the cadillac of long-distance saddles…The king of comfort. So before going on our Central American bumpy road odyssey I thought I’d give it a shot, for my ass’s sake. Here is my 6,000 kilometer review.

Five ultra-lightweight and very functional DIY stoves for bikepacking and bike touring. Made from handsome cans that housed some hoppy brew. Built and tested.

There are many options for stoves to take on a bike tour, short bike packing trip or even a ‘coffee ride’. So, what makes a stove good for bike travel?

Well well well, what do we have here? It’s my Rohloff on some new Velocity Blunt 35s.

Riding on a train in Ireland during the first week of backpacking about Europe during the Summer of 2010 I saw several groups of travelers boarding with lightly loaded touring bicycles. The moment I saw this I thought that it would be a great way to see Europe…

Listed below is what I had on my 5-month tour of Mexico and Central America. This is hardly a minimalist kit, but it carried me through some cold nights in the high altitudes of Mexico and Guatemala as well as some ridiculously hot days in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.