Month: September 2014
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How To Fly With A Bike For Free, In Business Class, For The Price Of An Economy Ticket
Yes, you read that correctly. It is possible to upgrade an economy flight ticket for free to business class, and get free bicycle carriage into the bargain. Pretty good, right? This lunacy is a classic example of travel hacking. I’ve been experimenting with its various techniques for the last year or so, and I’d like to share what I’ve learned — specifically, […] Continue reading →
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How To Budget & Save For A Cycle Tour: A Foolproof Financial Plan
This guest post has been put together by the very clever Ramona Marks, who is far more financially literate than I and thus far more qualified to write this, the ultimate guide to financial planning for big adventures. She’s living proof that it works, too. Take it away, Ramona… You want to go on a […] Continue reading →
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Why Casting Cycle Touring As ‘Sport’ Is Completely Missing The Point
Today’s guest post is from Victoria Cadman, who has completed several solo, long-distance bike journeys across Europe as part of an extremely ill-defined idea to explore the history of the continent. I asked her to write about the perception of cycling as a sporting endeavour, why transferring the goal-oriented mentality to travel is missing the point, and […] Continue reading →
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15 Unorthodox Ways To Train For Cycle Touring & Bikepacking (Bicycle Optional)
So you’re dreaming of life on the open road on that epic long-distance cycle tour or bikepacking trip. Yet you’re doing nothing proactive about it, because (among other reasons) you think you’re not fit enough. The odd commute or day-ride isn’t enough; it’s waaaaay too big a leap from your current lifestyle to the kind […] Continue reading →
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Eurobike 2014: The Best Of The Rest, Plus More Fatbikes Than You Ever Thought Possible
Over the last week I’ve gone off on an unusually long tangent in the field of cycle touring equipment, mainly because I happened to be passing by the world’s biggest bicycle industry expo in Friedrichshafen, Germany, and thought it’d be rude not to drop in. We’ve so far seen awards won by world tourers from KTM, […] Continue reading →
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Eurobike 2014: New Folding Tourers from Tern, Plus (Probably) The World’s Most Expensive Touring Bike
I wrote a while back about the Tern Link P24h, a 20-inch wheel folding bike with luggage-carrying capabilities that I had on long-term loan from the company. This year Tern are launching the successor to that now-discontinued bike in the form of the Verge S27h. At a glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was the […] Continue reading →
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Eurobike 2014: What Happened When Brooks And Ortlieb Got Together And Made Panniers
In what is sure to be a ludicrously hipster-pleasing move, Brooks of England and Ortlieb of Germany have got together once again and significantly expanded their range of insanely expensive expedition-grade panniers and bags for 2015. Sold under the Brooks brand but advertised as being made in Germany, the existing Land’s End (rear) and John O’Groats […] Continue reading →
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Eurobike 2014: Will The Pinion P1.18 Be Rohloff’s First Serious Competitor?
One of the more curious component developments at Eurobike this year of interest to touring gear nerds was the Pinion internal gearing system. Pinion — or so I was told by one of the bike manufacturers who’ve incorporated the system into new bike models this year — was developed by a group of breakaway engineers from […] Continue reading →
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Eurobike 2014: Introducing KTM’s Award-Winning Life Lontano P18 World Touring Bike
This is the first in a series of posts I’ll be making this week (and this week only) that’ll be sure please all the touring gear nerds out there. It’s based on a thorough scouring of the world’s biggest bicycle industry tradeshow, Eurobike, in search of anything and everything related to our favourite cycling niche: […] Continue reading →