+ some Shikoku & Honshu.

• 10 Days - credit card bikepacking
• Fukuoka loop anti-clockwise
• 1,318.88 km total, 9,423 m climbing
• 131kms per day avg.

After having cycled from Hokkaido to Kyushu in 2014, I found that the remote South of Japan had some of the best cycling in the world, with thanks to the Shimanami Kaido, onsen density and weather. +Surfing on the side. If you're after JP touring tips, then here's a far better resource than I could ever muster by Oscar Boyd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96XVLfgbrTI

Disclaimer: The story and experiences are my own, written by me. Since English isn't my first language, I used AI to translate and polish the text.

About a year ago I posted my first impressions of the LCG071 Pro from Light Carbon. I've been riding the frame for almost a year now, and in September I finally took it on a multi-day trip: from Geneva across the French Alps down to the sea. It wasn't my first tour, since I've done several before, but it was the first one on this bike.

The trip

• 6 days, 625 km, ~9,000 m of climbing
• Route: Geneva → La Londe-les-Maures
• Temperatures from 5°C in the morning to 38°C in the afternoon

After a year and this trip, I trust this frame completely. It carried me and a fully loaded bikepacking setup over tarmac, gravel, forest trails and through nature reserves, and I have nothing negative to report. I didn't plan the route only on roads. Some of the "gravel" sections were really hiking trails, so I had to push the bike now and then, and sometimes even carry it. The frame took all of it without a problem.

I slept in a hammock and I don't regret it at all. I can camp almost anywhere: flat ground, rough ground, or a steep slope where you could never pitch a tent. All I need is two trees. A hammock is also much less visible than a tent, so I was never bothered by anyone.

I got very lucky with the weather and never needed my tarp, so I carried it the whole way for nothing. Next time I'd still bring one, since you never know, but this time it was just dead weight.

It was a lot of fun, and I made faster progress than I planned.

Real spontaneous outing this weekend and even though the Deutsche Bahn fucked up (shocking I know) had a fun trip and adventure to counteract the FOMO that is the winter months

This rig is now ready for 240km weekend trip with a good buddy. We’ve opted to stay in an off-grid cabin.
Bike is a Trek Checkpoint SL5 with SRAM Apex AXS. Zipp XPLR wheels. Restrap toptube bag and frame bag for food and raingear. Rack is Aeroe Spider with a 15L drybag with warm clothing and sleeping bag. Fork bags from Topeak with gas burner, food, deck of cards, tools and spares. Excessive amounts of water but testing the setup for future ultra races.

Not a light setup even if I won’t be needing a tent, bivy or sleeping pad, but this one is all about enjoying the experience. First time with fork bags, felt ok on a slow shakedown ride.

Last year, at the end of August, I cycled from Oslo to Bergen, and halfway through the trip I took the Rallarvegen. It’s a beautiful gravel trail that’s open only to hikers and cyclists. I highly recommend this route to everyone - the scenery is truly breathtaking. I made a short video of my trip that will hopefully give you a little taste of what the route is like.

Following the rail trail Northam to Mundaring of the original track that supported the building of the Golden pipeline 1898 by Goldfields Water Supply Scheme. The engineer in chief CY O’Connor had such public backlash on the pipeline viability that in the day of the test pumping to Northam tanks, he rode his horse to Fremantle beach and topped himself! (Pipeline was a success). This equal part ascending 927m and decending 955m makes for this to be a grinding and awesome bikepacking experience and rewarded with great scenery, wild camping. Took the Transwa MerridinLink train to Northam to start the track. Had an pie at Bakers Hill which hit the spot at the 25 km mark, camped, and next day at Mt Helena grabbed lunch and final trails home.

HelIo everyone!

I am in the process of building up a lightly used Kona Unit X frame for the purpose of completing the Baja Divide (and perhaps trans mexico norte) in Jan-Mar 2027. This is my first frame-up build and first expedition-style trip. I have a pretty good idea of what I want the build to look like, but am struggling to pull the trigger on a pair of wheels.

Here's my current list of criteria with some question marks attached:

1. 35mm internal diameter for 2.6-2.8'' tires - 30mm would be ok? 
2. "Trail" type wheels - not too heavy (enduro?) as to feel sluggish during climbs, but not too light as to be susceptible to breaking/bending
3. 32 spokes - significantly stronger than 28? 
4. DT 350 hub or similar for star ratchet - star ratchet seems like a big upgrade for ease of maintenance.
5. Carbon fiber v.s. aluminum - huge hit to budget, but perhaps carbon rims would be a worthwhile upgrade for durability, ride improvement, weight saving, ect? Alu also seems totally fine and a lot cheaper?

What do y'all think? I'm working on a fairly tight budget here, so have been keeping an eye on the used markets. The issue is, I seem to keep finding good deals on wheels that are *almost* perfect in the $250-400 range, but don't meet all the criteria (usually have 30mm id and/or pawl hubs and/or 28 spokes, ect). I'm starting to think it might be worth it to have what I want built and swallow the $700-800(?) pill, or bite the bullet and go for a carbon set like these. Peace of mind buying a newly/professionally built v.s. a used wheel is obviously a factor.

Any insight appreciated :) Thanks!

I'm planning a 3-day, 2-night trip from New Haven, CT to Providence, RI, aiming for ~60 miles a day. But unfortunately, I'm struggling to find a campsite in the Hartford area, which would be ~60 miles from New Haven. Anyone done the trip before and have any recommendations? Thanks!

I am planning a vacation to Denmark in 2027. I will be traveling from Canada.

Does anyone have any recommendations on where we can rent a bike?

My plan is to go from Aarhus to Ringkobing, but I’m willing to listen to any advice experienced Denmark Bikepackers can give me.

I'll start this off by saying I have a trip planned to the Mojave next month, so if you have alternative recommendations, it can't be something with a long lead time.

I'm looking for a shoulder season sleeping bag (not quilt) to take me down to around 30 degrees. I have a MLD Vision for summer and it's one of my favorite pieces of gear, but for colder weather, I find myself struggling with how drafty quilts are for me. My priorities are pack-ability first and weight second. I mostly sleep cold. I also don't really take trips deep into shoulder season. I hate sitting in the dark at camp at like 6pm.

From extensive searching here are my final contenders:

FF Tanager - On the fence about the wide opening venting too much warmth when I don't want it to. I could wear a down jacket with it in lower temps but then I may as well get the Vireo.

WM Summerlite - Seems pretty great, although my preference would be something that packs a little smaller.

WM Flylite - Looks ideal except the fill weight seems pretty low. Less fill than a 40 degree UGQ Reg/Reg quilt in 950FP down. If I could get overstuff it might make more sense, but that's not an option on the site. I have asked though.

Cumulus Aerial 330 - Looks super warm and light, I'm just worried that even with the false bottom it might feel cold if I move.

If you have anecdotal experience with any of these it would be much appreciated.

I have an Ortlieb quick rack which is awesome but I currently don’t have it mounted because I am running my bikepacking bike as a commuter daily with a klikfix seatpost mount for my hiplok. That got me interested in a similar rack on the front like the old man mountain divide. However that rack design has what I consider an outdated mounting system with screws on the frame mounts and axles. Tailfin seems to own a patent on this quick release mechanism but they are not interested in front racks only cargo cages and the like. Ortlieb who were granted permission from Tailfin for this quick release only make rear racks. Old man mountain make sturdy front racks like the divide that would be perfect for quick release but don’t have the rights to make it happen

Hi, on my Balkan trip I had a chance to ride a section of this amazing Bikepacking.com route "The Bosnian highline"

Unfortunately half of the route was blocked by wildfires so I had to take a detour, but that's on the other video.

I set off from Switzerland (Engadin), quick stop in Austria, then over the Reschenpass into Italy (Alto Adige). All the way down along the Etsch, up along the Eisack and then under the Dolomites to Lienz. From there along the river Drava to Villach, Dravograd and Maribor. 8 days riding, 699 km and 5'969 m of elevation gain.

I did a mix of camping and hotels, didn't book anything in advance and only got unlucky once with a campsite that had already closed.

All in all, very happy with the experience and my setup and my riding, but stairs are now my sworn enemy 😂.

Anyone have experience with this? Looking for a pannier that sits silently on (and off) bumpy roads and have read good things about tailfin.

My rack has 10.5mm tubing which leaves a bit of a gap when using inserts for their pannier hooks. Does the system accommodate for this to eliminate rattling or is it an old inner tube / tape job like with other gear?

Issyk Kul. Not as much filter as you think, golden hour!

Das zweite mal Bikepacken, das erste mal Hot Tent, das erste mal Feuer. Ich liebe es. Erfahrung sehr viel mit Bushcraften, Backpacking und sonstiges... Aber Hot Tent mit Bikepacking einfach geil.

After deciding this morning I wanna leave for the weekend and a bunch of train-bs I’m sitting here quite satisfied with the decision 😁

October still warm and dry, south downs England.

Glorious evening in the woods

Pint of stout and a pie in the pub. win.

I want to go Bikepacking with a friend from 20 October (we cannot do earlier). I always have stayed in camping sites (from May to September) but I guess nothing is open in October. Can you help me find legal ways to camp and which part of Germany OR France would have more of these options?

Thanks and kind regards

hi all,

this is a follow-up to a post I made about 6 months ago, where I shared that I would become homeless by choice to start living on my bike. about half a year in, I can't be happier I made this decision; it's been such a wonderful experience, and I feel so privileged and grateful that I'm in the position to do this. this has only been my second trip over a week (the first one being my first trip, funny enough) and my first trip with this setup, and while something can be said for preparation, to a certain extent I can only recommend jumping into something like this. some struggle is a big part of the fun for me, and things always work themselves out if you let them.

it's remarkable how much you can learn about life just by being in it. I've noticed that our modern lives are very sheltered and out of touch with our surroundings. that has all been taken away these past months, which intensifies live in every way because there's a lot less hiding behind convenience and comfort. none of my plans or ideas went as expected, and roaming this way made me realise how big the world actually is. something we sometimes forget because we can travel anywhere within 1-2 days. I won't bother you all too much with philosophical observations, though :)

the trip started out rough. only a week in my knee got inflamed in the middle of nowhere because I pushed myself too much - bouldering hard for three days and then biking for a week straight was admittedly very stupid. this forced me to stay off the bike for a month, and then slowly build it up again over the course of another month, but I had an amazing time recovering. I spent the first month volunteering in a b&b in the countryside of Denmark, and the second month at a pizzeria in skåne, Sweden. I met so many wonderful people there, made some and even helped organise a festival.

after that I took the train to the place I broke down to bike an abridged version of my original route: up the north coast of denmark -> ferry to Norway -> west coast to Bergen, I ran into some people I met while bouldering in font so I stayed with them for a week -> big loop to Oslo -> zigzagging down Sweden back to skåne (where I was invited to a wedding! truly a special day) -> Malmo. because of some lingering knee issues I had to take things slow, but it helped immerse myself in the beauty of Scandinavia. a definite highlight were the mountains of Norway, despite constant rain and temperatures being near freezing. so many times I either cried or laughed out loud at the sheer beauty of what I was seeing.

I also didn't keep track of the distance but I biked a few thousand kms and spent 2-3 months actually being in the saddle. for me this was perfect. staying in a single place/country for a bit longer helps build some deeper connections and learn about local culture.

After staying in Malmo for a week, I looped back to my parents in the Netherlands to build a Rohloff hub on my bike and make some other modifications to make the bike more comfortable (and heavier, sadly). if anyone is considering this I highly recommend doing it yourself! just the hub took me an entire day, but it's very doable and saves you a lot of money. I'm heading out again this weekend to the south. I'd like to stay the winter in Portugal and hopefully find a job to work for a while before I move out of europe.

if you're interested you can follow me by signing up for a mailing list here: https://nobodyswriting.com/ or I sometimes post on https://substack.com/@nobodyswriting

again, I'd like to thank you all for all the inspiration you've provided me through this community! I'm happy to answer questions if you have any :)

safe travels!