Hi! I’m Tom, originally from England, but the island was too small.
For 20 years I’ve been exploring the world by bike at every chance I get.
Why? Simply put: because it’s the closest thing you’ll find to pure freedom!
Here at TomsBikeTrip.com I share hard-earned lessons about cycle touring and bikepacking, tell original stories, and road-test new ideas.
A love of adventure has powered my 100% AI-free blog since 2006, when I first decided to travel the world by bicycle and write about it.
Welcome!
The blog: over half a million words of hard-earned, hand-written cycle touring & bikepacking advice.
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Extrawheel Classic Single-Wheel Bicycle Trailer Review
Looking at getting an Extrawheel? The trailer reviewed here has been replaced by the improved Extrawheel Voyager and is no longer available. Go and read the new review. There are quite a few trailers on the market nowadays, but none seem to be able to shift BOB and his Yak and Ibex single-wheeled trailers from the top of the pile as the most well-known and popular models. But Polish engineers at Extrawheel might just have designed the trailer to topple it. Mark, who cycled with me for the first 2 months, used a BOB Ibex, and I was able to… Continue reading →
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Touring Wheelset Review — Sun Rhyno Lite rims on Shimano Deore XT 36h hubs
First, I’d like to tell you a story. We began the ride on different wheelsets. Not because we wanted to, but because of a balls-up with the wheel order. I departed on what we’d originally planned for — Sun Rhyno Lite 36-hole rims, DT Swiss plain guage spokes, and Shimano Deore XT disc-compatible hubs. I’ve been riding on them since the beginning of the trip, almost without incident. Andy’s story, however, has been a different one, as you’ll know if you’ve been reading our blog. Continue reading →
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SKF BXC600 ISIS Touring Bottom Bracket Review
Not the most exciting component on your list, I’d guess, but certainly one of the most important. The last thing you want is to cycle a couple of thousand kilometres and have your bottom bracket disintegrate, only to find that no bike shop stocks a replacement to match your cranks. (Just ask Mark.) If you’re really unlucky, that’ll also mean new chainrings, and if your drivetrain is sufficiently worn to induce chain suck, a new chain and cassette. It makes sense, therefore, to get hold of a bottom bracket that you can literally fit and forget. Continue reading →
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Using The Kona Explosif As An Expedition Touring Bike
UPDATE: The Kona Explosif is no more. Pre-2011 frames, if you can find them, will continue to deal well with off-road adventures, as the article below relates. Whilst the steel Explosif frame is aimed at the cross-country mountain-biking market, it is not uncommon to see long-distance cycle tourers taking advantage of the increased strength and durability of mountain-bike components, which are naturally more heavy-duty than their road-bike equivalents. We chose the Explosif frame (2007 model) for a number of reasons, not least because we planned to travel in remote corners of the world where tarmac had not yet reached. So… Continue reading →
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White Peaks and Red Tape
We knew that as we headed out of Europe and into the Middle East and Central Asia, we’d be cutting through as much red tape as we would snow and ice. So maybe it was a good idea that we’d expected it, as international bureaucracy is becoming a bigger pain in the proverbial than a brand new leather saddle! Continue reading →
Books, eBooks & Guides
I’ve written a range of guidebooks and travelogues to read at your leisure, whether you’re preparing for a bike trip, living life on the road, or home and dreaming of the next big ride.
How To Hit The Road: A Beginner’s Guide To Cycle Touring & Bikepacking
First published in 2017 and updated in 2021, this book is my comprehensive newcomers’ introduction to the art of the bicycle-mounted adventure.
Every aspect of a cycle tour or bikepacking trip is covered in 34 chapters, split over three parts: pre-trip planning, initial execution, and adapting to the long haul.
As well as broad, practical advice, I’ve woven inspiring and reassuring anecdotes throughout the book – because getting away from the starting line isn’t about knowing everything, but having the confidence to begin.
Drawing on my personal experience of almost two decades of adventure cycling, more than 50 veteran riders from diverse backgrounds have also contributed to this guide, making it one of the most well-rounded introductions you’ll find to this radically liberating form of independent travel.
Whatever you’re planning and wherever you’re going, if it involves a bicycle and the spirit of adventure, How To Hit The Road has got you covered.
Janapar: Love, on a Bike
My first travelogue, originally published in 2013 and the subject of a successful crowdfunding campaign, telling the true story of my first 3½ years on the road.
This was far from your typical long-distance bike tour, however. From the cover blurb:
When twenty-three-year-old Tom Allen and his friends set off from their English village to cycle around the world, they were expecting physical hardship, extreme conditions and a serious case of culture shock. But the hours spent poring over maps could never have prepared them for the experience of life on the road: the petty squabbles, the extreme hospitality, the unexpected joys and dangers.
And then Tom meets Tenny, a feisty Iranian-Armenian girl with dreams of her own, and hits a crossroad. Should he give up his grand plan for the girl he loves, or cycle off and risk missing out on the greatest adventure of them all?
Temporarily out of print (except in the USA), Janapar is still available as a Kindle ebook from all Amazon portals worldwide.