Category: Tom's Expedition Bike
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Oxford Bike Works Expedition: New Upgrades For 2023
Before my recent Australia tour, I took Tom’s Expedition Bike back to its birthplace in the UK for a tune-up and a few experimental upgrades. This post details what’s changed, explores the thinking behind the upgrades, and goes deep into the specifics of why they were made. (Warning: it’s a 5,000-word long read, so maybe put the kettle on.) Continue reading →
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How To Custom Build The Ultimate Expedition Touring Bike (With Pictures)
Some of the most frequently-asked questions I get on this blog are about designing and building custom touring bikes, whether DIY or built to order by a professional bike builder. Especially now the world has opened up to bicycle travel again, these questions often come from people planning cycle tours or bikepacking trips of ambitious scale – across multiple continents, or even around the world. But why would you want to custom-build a touring bike in the first place, rather than buy a commercially-manufactured one? I’ve come across a few common reasons: And of course, there are always folk who just… Continue reading →
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Oxford Bike Works & Tom’s Expedition Bike: The Story So Far
Just before I flew out to Bangkok for my current trip, I paid a visit to Richard Delacour at Oxford Bike Works to collect Tenny’s newly upgraded tourer. Based on a vintage steel Trek frame, the lovingly recycled bike is a tidy piece of work, naturally — but it got me reflecting on the story of my acquaintance with Richard and his company; a tale of serendipity and good timing that still elicits a smile. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tom Allen (@tom_r_allen) I first met Richard in 2014 when he wrote to me asking if I’d… Continue reading →
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Tom’s Expedition Bike: The Full Specification & Parts List (Geek Alert!)
‘Tom’s Expedition Bike’ was designed to meet my needs after years of touring all over the planet and advising hundreds of budding cyclists on trip planning and bike selection. It was conceived as the last expedition-grade touring bike I’d ever need – a true touring bike for life, and the summation of everything I’d learned during more than 20,000km of riding on five continents. (Full story here.) To get it built, I collaborated with Richard Delacour from Oxford Bike Works. I never expected it’d be something he’d offer commercially – but that’s how things have turned out! What follows is a complete list of the… Continue reading →
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A New Expedition Touring Bike From Oxford Bike Works (Designed By… Er… Tom Allen!)
Can’t afford expensive bikes? Do yourself an enormous favour by ignoring what follows and reading this instead. I never imagined I would one day be able to call myself a bike designer. (Or a writer, or a filmmaker, for that matter.) But now I can – as of today. And here’s how it happened: Last summer I was enjoying a nice few weeks of bicycle-mounted wandering in central Europe. Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria, to be precise. I was riding with Leon McCarron (with whom I also went adventuring last year in Iran and Patagonia), his wife Clare, and my wife Tenny.… Continue reading →
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What Name Would You Give A Heavy-Duty World Touring Bike?
After last week’s rather vocal debate on the ethics of commercialism in adventure, I figured it was time to get firmly back to what we all love: travelling the world on two wheels. (Less talk, more action, and all that.) Now, as long-term readers will know, I’ve never had any particular fascination with touring bikes themselves. Though I’ve written the odd blog post on the topic, this has mainly been in order to get people here via search engines so that I can talk to them about how getting on a bike and going somewhere is a far better use of their time than endlessly… Continue reading →