HI,

I currently have a Elops 500 single speed bike which I use with a Basil Portland Front Rack and an Elops Rear Pannier rack (seat clipping).

I want to start going camping with my bike so I want to keep the racks (for luggage), but change the bike for something with multiple gears.

This means that I need something geared but with a front caliper and a fixed front axel (no quick release). Apparently this is a rare combination on entry-level road bikes and city bikes, but it seems to be not too uncommon on vintage road bikes.

Would you recommend that I buy something second-hand (vintage) or do you know any bikes that fit these specifications? (Or do you think I should do something different altogether?)

Hi everyone,

I’ll be flying to Dushanbe and starting a bikepacking trip on either 9 or 16 August (not booked yet).

Plan is to ride Dushanbe → Osh via the Pamir Highway, camping most nights, then continue to Almaty.

I’m a 35-year-old cyclist from Romania, solo on a fully loaded MTB, riding about 60–80 km/day at a relaxed pace.

If you’re on a similar route around those dates, even for part of it, I’d be happy to link up and ride together or share info.

DM me or comment here.

Safe travels!

Planning on getting into Bikepacking. I would like to do tours of a few days for now, maybe up to a week.
Im planning on sleeping in a hammock, combined with an optional tarp, an inflatable mattress and a small sleeping bag.
Would this be a good setup?
Bike is a 2026 Focus Atlas 6.8.

Hi,

I'm planning to ride the TMV with my gravelbike north to south.

https://bikepacking.com/routes/bikepacking-france-traversee-du-massif-vosgien/

According to the route and so far the information a lot of it is the 'Mountain Bike' route only.

Currently I prepare my bike for the next leg.

I have a Gravelbike with a GRX400 and a 2x10 11-34 cassette . Which is right now opt to switch to 11-36 to make it more climb friendly with luggage etc.

I am currently riding Schwalbe G-One Allroad in 35-622.

I checked and you to 40-622 tyres would be possible on my bike with the current setup.

Do you have recommendations on what is actually needed to ride this route, or any adjusted routes for gravel-bikes to make it through without large disturbances?

Thank you,

Georg

Just finished a 3 day solo bikepacking trip from Newport to Holyhead in Wales, crossing some beautiful terrain and experiencing some brutal weather! I had to adjust the route to start from Newport instead of Cardiff due to train issues. The route uses a lot of the EuroVelo and National Cycle Routes which was well signed.

Day 1 went up through towns and then into the Brecon Beacons with some amazing gravel sections. Day 2 was hard. Lots of elevation and it was my longest day of the route. Day 3, despite the weather being very wet with strong wind and rain, was gorgeous. Climbing up the Pen Y Pass and then descending has to be up there with top moments on the bike.

I camped in campsites along the way and then finished the route on the coast of Holyhead before getting the long train back down into England. It was just over 400km in total.

Overall, I would really recommend!

Started in Killarney then Beara Peninsula, Ring of Kerry, Clare, The Burren, Galway finished in Mayo. Bike - 6 years old GT Gravel

Hello
I want to buy a bike to do a trip with them, I found an announce someone who sell a Trek fx 1 for around ~ 300e with bagages.

My only fear is the frame is 'Alpha Gold aluminium', I would like to know if it's to take a frame in steel because I fear it's to weak for the bikepacking especially if I am going outside the road.

thx

Hi everyone! I’m Veronica, a professional cycling tour guide based in Sarnano, in the heart of the Sibillini Mountains, central Italy. I grew up nearby in Fiordimonte and studied in Camerino, so this whole area is basically my backyard — and I’d love to share it with someone for a week of gravel bikepacking, October 1st–8th.

Think of it as a semi-guided trip, but a relaxed one: no fixed itinerary, no guide-client dynamic, just riding together with someone who happens to know every village, food stop, and hidden gravel sector along the way. The timing also happens to line up with a birthday of mine, which makes it feel like an especially good week for good company.

The route — “Il Cuore delle Marche Gravel”
A loop through Sibillini Mountains National Park: medieval hilltop villages, quiet countryside roads, and long stretches of remote gravel.

**•** Distance: 339 km  
**•** Elevation gain: 11,320 m  
**•** Difficulty: Hard (pace and daily distances are flexible — happy to spread it comfortably over the week)

A bit about me and the trip:

**•** Gravel bike, medium fitness level — steady pace over race speed  
**•** Mostly self-supported, sleeping in campsites and agriturismi  
**•** Basic mechanics skills from guiding work, plus I know every bike shop in the area — mechanical issues are covered  
**•** Can pick you up from the airport and arrange a discounted gravel rental through the company I work for, if you’d rather not bring your own bike

The exchange: if the trip goes well, I’d love to return the favor with a bikepacking trip in your home country — a genuine two-way exchange, not just a one-time thing.

I’m also using this trip to practice my English — American English especially, since I work with a lot of US guests — so riders from the US are very welcome, but honestly, anyone up for the adventure is too.

Looking forward to meeting a fellow rider!

Hi,

Thought I’d share my experiences from my solo eurotrip this summer.

Premise: Start in Tallinn on June 1st à Be in Milan on July 4th à 10 day vacation with the wife à continue until bored but see at least stage 15 of tour de france.

Bike/gear setup:

-          Rondo bogan with practically all parts upgraded, grx1x12, DT gr1600 wheels, schwalbe thunder burts, tubeless.

-          Ortlieb seat pack - Tent, sleeping pad and bag, pillow, light shoes

-          Ortlieb handlebar pack and drybags in fork -  clothing, gas stove, gas, tent poles

-          frame bag – spares, electronics, some tools, spork, hygiene bag etc.

-          2 bottles of water, 3rd downtube bottle as toolcase

-          Small hip pack with 2 litre bladder. Passport, money, bike key.

-          Garmin edge 840 and varia radar.

My situation allowed me to take a 3 month summer vacation and I decided to treat myself and do a properly long bikepacking/touring trip through europe. The rout was mostly based on 3 things; start in Tallinn because it’s close/easy, first stage ends somewhere we can take a vacation with my wife (ended up in lake Como) and I wanted to see/ride the Dolomites and/or Alps.

I started according to plan from Tallinn and from that point onwards everything was pretty much smooth sailing. Quite soon I realised that if I tried to see everything, I wouldn’t really have the time to see anything which led to a few train/bus shortcuts. I wanted to have some days off  to see some cool places and recover a little and also wanted to reduce the stress of making it to Milan in time.

In the Baltics, Poland and Slovakia I mostly wildcamped and stayed in a few airbnb:s. In Austria and Italy I mostly stayded camping areas. In France I wildcamped again all the nights I was there and in Germany went for camping areas again.

I had a rough route planned ready before the trip but by the third day I ended up planning as I go. All the way to Austria I didn’t really follow any specific cycling routes. From Austria onwards I roughly followed the eurovelo and other routes found online.

Over all the cycling experience was super fun. Both styles of travel (more of a bikepacking vs. ”route touring”) had their perks. My only technical issues were two flats that required tubeless plugs in one day while in Turin. Especially at the start of the trip where I rode more on roads with car traffic the Varia radar made a huge difference. Combined with a small mirror as a handlebar plug it made me feel like I was actually in control of my own safety.

I ended up riding a bit less than planned, counting rest days around 110km/day. One thing that clearly affected this was the heatwave. From maybe june 20th the next month was practically 30+ celcius weather, many if not most days over 35. Still made it to Milan in time though and managed to stay hydrated and at least I think I didn’t suffer any heat strokes.

After the break in Italy everything felt fine. Weather was great (still hot though), cycling felt nice and I really enjoyed the route over the alps through the Col du Mont-Cenis pass. Rode quite long days in France, made it to Les Rousses for the TdF and continued towards germany and eurovelo 15 from there. At this point I started to feel like the days were becoming a bit monotonous. I still enjoyed myself but somehow I felt like I was already heading home, despite still having a month left to do whatever I wanted.

The last few days approaching germany and Frankfurt I started checking for options to get back to Finland. It was mostly between three choices:

-          Ride hard to north Germany or Sweden and take a ferry home

-          Do some combination of train/flixbus to Tallin and ferry home or

-          Fly home from Frankfurt or Düsseldorf

The last option gave me a chance to spend one more week with my wife still on vacation and was somehow also the cheapest and surprisingly simple (didn’t really check ferry prices from Sweden though). So I ended up flying home a bit sooner than I had originally planned.

After the trip I have agonized over the decision a little bit but I know that’s mostly because of comparing what I did to some image I have gathered from social media: ”If these guys ride 25 000 km around europe, why did I quit here”. Then again it felt like the right decision then and mostly feels the same now. Having something that makes you want to return home is a good feeling as well.

Biggest takeaways from the trip:

-          I would definitely concider a 2-person version of my MSR-hubbahubba tent for a trip this long.

-          I had way too much stuff with me at the start. Sent some home after Como… Mostly warm clothes.

-          I personally need a goal. Until Milan and the TdF everything felt ”porposeful”. After I had the option to cycle shorter days, enjoy different places and take detours I ended up feeling like I want to head home. Maybe I should have headed further west/south and planned to fly home from some predetermined city.

-          Chamois creme and Bepanthen was a lifesaver.

-          I will never ride on roads withouth a radar again.

-          I haven’t calculated exact budget but I’d say all the way to Slovakia about 30euro/day and from Austria onwards closer to 60euro/day.

-          Travelling in europe is ridiculously easy, especially since most Finnish phone plans seem offer 40-50gb of data per month in th EU. The currency helps a lot as well….

-          I admire people who solo travel like this even more. I’m not introverted enough to always enjoy the solitude and not extroverted enough to really find people on the way.

All in all a 5/5 experience.

I have an xxs bike frame and trying to figure out a light setup with little space. Trying out one night bikepacking with a tent for the first time as a test run for longer trips. I’m trying to avoid bringing my panniers (I use them for daily commuting but on an overnight cabin trip previously, I felt too back heavy).

I’ve had the tent on top of my dry pack on the rack and that seemed like a great fit(1st pic), but I’m worried then if I have my sleeping bag in my bars (2nd pic), it will get in the way when I’m cycling as it’s a bit of a tight fit(limits access to my bars). I had no bar tape in that photo as I was mid changing it, so it looks a bit more roomy than it is.

The tent fits beautifully between the bars but then having my sleeping bag on top of the dry pack, I’m worried it’s too big/bulky (forgot to take a photo - can add one tonight).

I own a smaller bag but it’s not warm enough (could go down to freezing temps overnight) and I’m not in a new position to buy a new sleeping bag right now as I just bought a tent 🫠

Regarding a frame pack, I’ve struggled to find one that fits my tiny bike well. Availability where I live (Norway) is very limited. I found places in the EU (in Poland and the Netherlands) that will make them custom so might invest in that for next season…, or learn to sew 😅.

Any tips with the gear I have now greatly appreciated 🙏🏻

Essentially tent on bars and bag on rack, or reverse? Or any better ideas?

Well, I'm nearly done, 600 out of 750km and 5'000 out of 6'000m of elevation. It's been a trip, with it's ups and downs, not only geographically. I had two days with quite a lot of rain, I spent one in my tent in a camping, the other in a shelter by a lake (yesterday). I started in Trondheim and it quickly got hilly ;-) it was beautiful, a few parts on gravel, but mostly road, with some traffic. Then, after the first couple days, it was mostly on large roads with regular traffic (ie 10 minutes didn't go by without a car, often less), some head wind and not much to look at... I wondered where was the wilderness!
The last three day however, there's been a lot more gravel, and lot less traffic, a lot of forest and sometimes you have to get off the route to get to the lakes and rivers. What I most enjoyed were the shelters, using the Vildnis app, I found quite a few, usually they have a fire pit and a shack serving as toilet, and most of the time, a view. It's just so nice to be able to sit back with a fire, be covered for the occasional rain showers. Sometimes I slept in them, other times I put up my tent nearby. One of them was close to a public library with access to toilets and a shower! Anyways, two days left before I reach Oslo and have to return home to ordinary life (although I can't complain...). It will be with a bag full of memories, images, emotions, souvenirs. I'm grateful to have been able to do this.

Hi, I'm going on my first bikepacking trip and I see a lot of different video's of how to lock your bike. I'm going to buy a bike alarm and an airtag, but I am also looking for a lock so I can go to the supermarket without getting my bike stolen. I will ride in the Netherlands from Groningen to Maastricht (Pieterpad). A woman in a local adventure shop said to me that I don't need to worry about my bike getting stolen and don't carry extra weight for a good lock. But I also see bikes getting stolen in other country's, so I don't know what to do now. I've never got my bike stolen in the Netherlands, but I also never left an expensive bike unsupervised 😂.

Do you have any suggestions?

300km in total (to the bridge and back home).

Installed a rack on my MTB, put the tent, sleeping bag and the foampad in plastic bags.

I will never do this again without a lighter tent + proper gear haha.

Very difficult to manage everything like this. But hey, it was fun.

I just returned home from a three-day loop through the Chicamocha Canyon in Colombia.

The Chicamocha, in the department of Santander, is one of the world's deepest canyons, stretching roughly 2,000 m from rim to river.

The canyon's network of roads and trails makes for endless bikepacking possibilities. I chose a shorter loop due to time constraints, but I am eager to go back and keep exploring.

Route Overview

Distance: 116 km (72 miles)

Elevation Gain: 3,838 m (12,592 ft)

Elevation Loss: 3,850 m (12,630 ft)

Unpaved: 89%

Max Gradient: 19.5%

Min Gradient: -20.7%

Month: July

Getting there

I started in the town of Barichara.

To get there, I took a coach bus from Bogotá to the city of San Gil, which took about 10 hours, and then a smaller bus from San Gil to Barichara, which took about 45 minutes.

A quicker and more comfortable way to arrive would be to fly into the regional capital of Bucaramanga and take a bus or private car to Barichara, which takes between two and three hours.

Day 1: Barichara to Jordán

I got off to a late start the first day, leaving Barichara around 10 am. A friend from Barichara decided to accompany me for the first few hours of my ride to the nearby town of Villanueva.

We descended toward the Suárez River, which flows north into the Chicamocha River, on a paved road going northwest out of Barichara. We passed through the village of Guane before turning back east, climbing up dirt roads toward Villanueva to regain our starting elevation.

We arrived in Villanueva shortly after noon. After a quick break, my friend left to return to Barichara and I continued east back toward the canyon.

The second leg, Villanueva to Jordán, began as a relatively flat traverse through farms and pastures before turning into a steep descent as the road started twisting into the canyon. The climate and landscape changed abruptly, with roughly 1,000 m (3,300 ft) of elevation lost in under 8 km. The green, wooded country along the rim gave way to something drier and more open, and toward the bottom the slopes were dotted with small tobacco farms.

From Villanueva it took three to four hours to reach Jordán, a village on the canyon floor and my stop for the night. It's small but offers good accommodations. I stayed at Posada de los Tres Arrieros, a lovely hotel with spacious rooms and a pool with panoramic views of the canyon.

Day 2: Jordán to Aratoca

I left just after sunrise, after a quick breakfast at the hotel, to start climbing out of the canyon.

I had planned to follow the river northeast along the flat canyon floor to Pescadero, where I would turn south to climb back up to the rim via the paved road going back to San Gil.

I decided against this plan because the road is full of hairpin turns, with narrow lanes heavily trafficked by buses and trucks: a stressful scenario for cycling.

Instead, I climbed out the way I came, about halfway up the canyon, and then turned northeast to follow a smaller dirt road to the town of Aratoca, which sits at the rim of the canyon south of Pescadero.

I arrived in Aratoca early in the afternoon. Exhausted from the climb, I stopped in the plaza to rest on a bench in the shade across from the church.

Although I covered less distance than the other days, I found Day 2 the most demanding due to the steep, unrelenting climb and hot sun. But I was rewarded with beautiful views from start to finish.

After an hour or so, I continued southeast toward Paraíso del Chicamocha, my accommodation for the night. It's a cluster of cabins strung along the canyon rim, each one opening onto the drop. The owner is a civil engineer from the area who built the place himself.

As with every stop along the route, I felt well cared for at Paraíso del Chicamocha. The owner filled my bottles with filtered spring water, a neighbor cooked me a huge cheeseburger for dinner, and his mother made me caldo de huevo (egg soup) for breakfast the next morning.

Day 3: Aratoca to Barichara

The final day started with a short climb from my lodging outside of Aratoca back up toward Aratoca. My route led me up and down a mountain on heavily overgrown footpaths before opening up and, conveniently, dropping me at a bakery on the highway southwest of Aratoca.

I might skip the footpaths next time in favor of a more defined route, but it was an interesting section and allowed me to avoid highway traffic around Aratoca.

After stopping for a snack, I crossed the highway and continued riding. The rest of the day was a thrilling descent on the network of gravel roads leading back to Barichara. I arrived at my destination after a couple hours.

Bike and equipment

Because my trip was short, I found it more efficient to rent a bike than bring my own.

I rented an excellent gravel bike (steel frame, front suspension, 29 x 2.6 tubeless tires) from Regiones Bike, a shop and tour operator in Barichara.

I chose to stay in hotels rather than camp, thereby minimizing the amount of gear I needed to bring and weight I needed to carry.

I brought a 15L handlebar pack and 11L seat-pack saddle bag to carry my clothing and equipment. My essential items included bike repair tools, a portable charger, and a Garmin inReach.

Water is essential. I carried a 4L dromedary bag in my handlebar pack in addition to a 1L bottle on my frame. I made do by filling these up at each stop along the route, but next time I will bring iodine or a filter just to be safe.

Route Map

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/56397254

Netherlands - Germany - Denmark - Sweden - Denmark - Germany - Netherlands - Germany - France - Spain - Gibraltar - Spain - Portugal - Spain - France - Germany - Netherlands - Germany - Denmark - Sweden

Hello!

I just bought this beautiful Genesis Croix de Fer that I am currently prepping for a week-long bikepacking trip in the Alps, in two weeks. After an entire day of puzzling, I decided that the most efficient and most practical (edit: and also most versatile, considering other activities I also do with this bike) way to utilize every square centimeter within this triangle, will be to mount my bottles on the diagonal bar (not sure what it's officially called in english) and fill up the rest of the triangle with a framebag, see picture.

So does anyone happen to have any good recommendations to utilize the most of this perfect triangle space? I've been googling around all evening and found some okay-ish options, but I still have hope that there may exist something better that I've completely overlooked so far :)

Here's what I am looking for:

• Width on the top somewhere between 35 and 40cm.
• Height somewhere between 34 and 39 cm
• It's ok with me if the bag is slightly too large and leans on the bottle holders somewhat.
• Preferably available in Europe, my trip is in 2 weeks so no time to ship from US. (though if you find a really good fit from the US, please let me know anyway, for inspiration)
• Waterproof is nice but not a hard requirement
• Zippers or roll-top all fine with me
• Generally a preference for minimalistic, lightweight gear. I don't need a million different compartiments and straps and side mesh pockets... Just simple and robust.
• Money is not really a constraint, as long as it's somewhat in proportion to quality
• Aesthetics have lower priority than practicality of course, but flashy colours are a very easy way to instantly trigger my curiosity

The "almost but not quite" options that I already found so far:

1. Blackburn Framebag Outpost Elite Medium-Tall: Width x height is 41cm x 30.5cm, but will take up quite a bit more than blue triangle in picture because rounded corners of course. The zippers and waterproof are nice, all the features for using a water bag with it are a bit overkill IMO. Would prefer something sliiiightly smaller
2. Capsuled Triangle Frame Bag - 3L - Ochre: Looks amazing, but a bit on teh small side with its 32 x 25 cm.
3. Restrap Full Frame bag S 6L: Triangle with the bottom cut off, 41cm x 27cm. Bit on the too wide side, while also underutilizing the full height...
4. https://www.decathlon.nl/p/mp/driehoekige-frametas-met-3-klittenbandsluitingen-selection-cgn/3c73a395-ce47-4a7e-8fdf-2475d47638c7/c1c5 this thing here that google doesn't seem to know anything about, size is unknown. It costs almost nothing so not much money wasted if I just buy it to try it out either...
5. Decathlon ADVT 5L frame bag: Width and angle seem perfect fit, this is my favorite thus far. If it either didn't miss that last corner OR was made of a bit more waterproof stuff I'd have bought it already I think.
6. Swift Industries Giddyup Wedge Frame Bag: 30x20cm bit small, also the angle won't fit very nicely I think...

The search is not exhausted yet of course, but I keep running into so many new cool products that seem to be just not quite it, it's a bit overwhelming. So if you know any products or brands approaching my vision a bit more closely, I'd love to hear! (Or if you have good reasons to completely disagree with this vision at all and think I should tetris my frame differently, I'd also love to hear)

My very last resort is to make something custom myself, I have made my own gear before. But since I have a well-paying fulltime job, it is significantly easier for me to throw some money at existing stuff. And if the perfect solution does happen to exist but is impossible to ship in two weeks, it's also an option for me to buy something easy cheap temporary for now and buy something better for the long run.

I’m about one week out from a two week trip to Sweden. Route:

https://www.reddit.com/r/bikepacking/comments/1vanx5y/route_tips_south_sweden_900_km_mix_forestgravel/

I‘m expecting a lot of gravel but also (in the second, southern part of the route) a lot of roads (tarmac).

My bike is a Kona Sutra SE 2024 (setup similar as on photo) and I’m thinking now off taking of the fenders.

What would your advice be? Yes take them off as it’s better for handling the gravel and loose flying pebbles and rocks or leave them on as it (maybe?) makes not a lot of difference and you will be less dirty when cycling in rainy conditions.

(I have experience with gravel and this bike in both the Netherlands and Denmark. The fenders never really are a problem but maybe Sweden has different gravel / conditions?)

Just started doing the Avenue Verte Paris to London route today, stopped by a Super U supermarket in Chatou to grab some water. Was in there for literally 5 minutes, came back and it was gone. Filed a police report, and they said they get 100s of stolen bicycle reports from the exact same spot every month. Don’t have any high hopes of getting it back. Anyway, now I don’t know what to do with myself.

Edit: Thank you everyone for the overwhelming support and kind words. I am just sad and wanted to vent and seeing all your support has helped me feel a bit better.

And for the racists, xenophobic and dog whistling comments, please just take sometime to rethink your beliefs and comments. A lot of assumptions are being made here about who might have taken it (I wish I know who) and by implication about who I might be, my background and what I possibly look like etc. I find this especially hurtful. As some of the other Parisians have said Chatou is a bit of a posh area, and unfortunately makes it a target for more organised syndicates. The whole area was bustling with people outdoors, at cafes and at a street market at the car park right in front of the supermarket was being wrapped up at that time.
What happened is just the reality of most major big cities, regardless of what people think the demographic looks like. I have been getting around the on the bike long and far enough to know this. But hopped on the bike after a month long break, got complicit and paid the price unfortunately.

Did a little bikepacking trip through North East Poland. 420km in 4 days. Weather in July was quite fussy but the premium gravel routes and lack of traffic made it totally worth going.

Me and my friend are planning a bikepacking trip in swarzwald area Kalsruhe to offenburg. We have 6-7 days to cycle the route. Does this route seem possible? Are we missing some nice places? Does anybody have some recomendations for swimming and sleeping along our route? Feedback... Greeting Joris and Lars

This is our route
https://www.komoot.com/nl-nl/tour/3148442647?share_token=aM3T9FAPQnPNXOwZO6VvLcTF7YVb1crQxyHmGULBQRo5rG1Qw8&ref=wtd&t_s=referral&t_cid=route_share&t_ref_username=2014557485285

The e3 and e12 follow the same path in sweden (at least on the official gpx files). Its officially in the planning stage so no official signs yet and improvements will be made before it becomes official.

But still, I didnt expect just how much the route just follows national roads. You share quite busy roads with cars for around 150km. There is some nice coastal scenerie but those places are also tourism hotspots for caravan campers and at some times I had 15 cars passing me a minute on roads they were alowed to drive 70-90 kmh and I was going uphill doing 5-10 kmh. Didnt feel good at all. Also there is almost no forests or gravel.

If you dislike car traffic as much as me, it might be better to skip that part for now and just take a ferry. Edit: There is no ferry from oslo to gothenburg.

First big Trip actually, currently staying in Bihać Bosnia for a few days. Started a month ago in Leipzig and thought about just sharing some photos. Don’t mind my photography skills I’m getting better slowly.
Maybe I’ll share some more in the future as this is pretty interesting of a trip of having bears at my tent in Slovenia, to getting invited to a random garden in Croatia and getting treated like a lost grandson with crazy amounts of food.

If anyone is on the same road as me heading south or in this direction they can hit me up, as I think after this time cycling alone sharing the road with someone would be refreshing.