Tag: smartphones
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Cycle Touring WhatsApp Groups For Global Long-Distance Riders
It’s the time of year when long-haul cycle tourers who earlier set off from Europe are approaching parts of the world where information about logistics – visas, border crossings, money exchange and transfer, taking bicycles on public transport, etc – is scarce and rapidly changing. And where forums such as Lonely Planet’s now-defunct Thorn Tree used to be the digital grapevine where cycle tourers would exchange such intel, it seems today’s version is the private WhatsApp group. Continue reading →
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Game-Changing Headphones For Safe Listening While Cycle Touring Or Bikepacking (Video)
As an inherently DIY-oriented bicycle traveller, I don’t normally post about new commercial products in the context of cycle touring and bikepacking. But I do want to highlight a development in the personal entertainment industry that has changed the way I engage with digital audio on the road for the better, and which I think would benefit a great many more riders. Continue reading →
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No Stupid Questions: What’s The Future Of Cycle Touring Electronics?
A reader writes: [What is] the future of cycle electrics? Dynamos vs power banks. Lights are becoming much more efficient, but there’s more and more requirements for charging eg: mobile phones and navigation. Any thoughts? Thanks for the question! I’ve had a fair few questions about tech and cycle touring, specifically about getting the best out of smartphones on bike trips – but none about what the future might hold in terms of electronics and their ever-increasing demands for power. It’s an interesting one! Continue reading →
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No Stupid Questions: How Can I Use My Smartphone As A Bike GPS?
A reader writes: I would like up to date information on integrating my iPhone to my bikes as a GPS. Everything from safe phone mounting through power supply (I have built a usb feed into my elekky bike’s battery shoes) and route planning and following on the phone. I was raised on 1” OS and Bartholomew’s half inch maps. The half inch are unusable nowadays and the OS 1: 50,000 are too large but when folded into a map clip not big enough. I can read OS maps and like to see the Historical and Landscape information that may make a… Continue reading →
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27 Cycle Touring & Bikepacking Apps For Every Imaginable Purpose
While I’m a big advocate of low-tech bike tours, almost every long-distance rider today is bringing along their smartphone for the ride. But what exactly are the best apps for cycle touring and bikepacking? It’s a tricky question. To my knowledge, there is no single app that does everything an cycle tourer or bikepacker wants when exploring the world by bicycle. And that’s probably because the cycle touring or bikepacking lifestyle is a complex, multi-faceted thing, taking in a diverse range of activities that go way beyond route planning and navigation. No one app could possibly serve all of them! This… Continue reading →