Good afternoon all

[Elysian_Roads]

Hi everyone. Just joined the site, though have to say it has been a source of very useful advice from time to time over the last few months. Half way through my first year of cycling on a bike with drop bars, and riding some reasonable distances. Previously was all flat bars, and nothing too serious. Looking forward to attempting some of the half/full century monthly challenges. Hope the weekend is going well for you. Cheers.

 

[welsh dragon]

Hello and welcome

 

[Fonze]

Hello there ..

 

[Mrs M]

 

[hopless500]

Hi

 

[raleighnut]

flat bar bikes can be good for distance too, if I was doing that I'd chose this one out of the shed,



Especially if there was a tent involved.

 

[Elysian_Roads]

flat bar bikes can be good for distance too, if I was doing that I'd chose this one out of the shed,


Especially if there was a tent involved.

[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]

Thanks, @raleighnut. It was more that I was struggling to keep up with friends on 20 mile rides while on an Apollo Belmont, so decided to break the habit of a lifetime and discover what it was like to have a bike with drop bars.

Enjoying rides around the 40-50 mile range at the moment. But am thinking about touring and camping as something to do in the summer.

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

Welcome!

 

[Paulus]

welcome,

 

[Fab Foodie]

[/ATTACH]

Enjoying rides around the 40-50 mile range at the moment. But am thinking about touring and camping as something to do in the summer.

Excellent! Plenty of experience here to call apon. What are you thinking?

 

[Elysian_Roads]

Hi @Fab Foodie. The grand vision is cycling around various parts of Europe that take my fancy. The reality is I haven't been camping in over 30 years so a few trial overnight runs from Sunny Berkshire will be in order to see if that particular balloon is going to fly or deflate with a sad wheeze. I will be trawling the site to learn from those who have gone before, though.

 

[flake99please]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Hi @Fab Foodie. The grand vision is cycling around various parts of Europe that take my fancy. The reality is I haven't been camping in over 30 years so a few trial overnight runs from Sunny Berkshire will be in order to see if that particular balloon is going to fly or deflate with a sad wheeze. I will be trawling the site to learn from those who have gone before, though.

I did similar a few years ago. Time and kit had moved on in the intervening 25 plus years, but the basics are still the same (despite what young people may tell you)!
In my case I wanted to use a Brompton instead of a regular bike. I sorted through my old kit to see what was still useable: Trangia, bedding mats, sleeping bag, mugs and cutlery. I had two large Saddle bags, One I molished to fit a Brompton front rack, the other I mounted on a Carradice SQR. very basic tentage was a bit cheap and bulky, (I bought a Banshee 200 in the sales) but I added a seat-post rack for trial #1

Note - Brompton and all bags in tent!!

Trial #1 was a 60 mile ride from Abingdon to join a regular yacf meet-up camping at the back of a pub near Rugby. Having all day to get there the distance wasn't an issue, there were bail-out options if it all went wrong. Meeting-up other cycle-campers meant that I'd have plenty of help and advice if I needed it.
I didn't really need full kit and caboodle, but this was a test-run.
All worked well, the Brompton would need the gearing lowered for future trips.

The next trip was the same venue with the same folks etc. but I took a novice friend along and we went on proper bikes. Still full kit with some minor editing.

The Rourke was not designed with touring in mind, but was OK. This sealed the deal for lowering the Brompton gearing and using that as my main fully-loaded tourer.

In the meantime I refined/reduced my kit and planned a trip bivying/hostels in the Outer Hebrides!
Cycling shoes were ditched in place of walking shoes. Lighter/dual function clothing was sourced, Bivvy bag, lighter/warmer sleeping bag, tarp, inflatable sleep mat. Bulky Trangia replaced with pocket-stove, meths replaced with Esbit solid fuel, 600 ml MyTi mug for heating duties. No beam-rack required. Downsides of the OH is you need to carry quite a bit of food as shops are few and far between and closed when you most need them!
Flexibilty was key, when possible I wild camped alone or outside a hostel to use facilities. I also stayed with a couple of friends.

All in all, it was brilliant! I've since bought a proper Brompton T-bag for future use instead of the molished saddle-bag on the front rack.

Since then I did the lighweight (credit-card) 'Friday's' Tour and incorporated the Ghent Jazz festival into the schedule requiring some semi-decent clothing.

Like most people I tend to overpack and then refine for the next one. Using lightweight, quick-drying multi-functional clothing is a big win. Cycle specific stuff adds extra bulk, so you save if you can ride without it or use cycle-underpants under regular shorts. Flip-flops for evening/camp use etc.

 

[Elysian_Roads]

I did similar a few years ago. Time and kit had moved on in the intervening 25 plus years, but the basics are still the same (despite what young people may tell you)!
In my case I wanted to use a Brompton instead of a regular bike. I sorted through my old kit to see what was still useable: Trangia, bedding mats, sleeping bag, mugs and cutlery. I had two large Saddle bags, One I molished to fit a Brompton front rack, the other I mounted on a Carradice SQR. very basic tentage was a bit cheap and bulky, (I bought a Banshee 200 in the sales) but I added a seat-post rack for trial #1

View attachment 391571


View attachment 391572
Note - Brompton and all bags in tent!!

Trial #1 was a 60 mile ride from Abingdon to join a regular yacf meet-up camping at the back of a pub near Rugby. Having all day to get there the distance wasn't an issue, there were bail-out options if it all went wrong. Meeting-up other cycle-campers meant that I'd have plenty of help and advice if I needed it.
I didn't really need full kit and caboodle, but this was a test-run.
All worked well, the Brompton would need the gearing lowered for future trips.

The next trip was the same venue with the same folks etc. but I took a novice friend along and we went on proper bikes. Still full kit with some minor editing.

View attachment 391573

The Rourke was not designed with touring in mind, but was OK. This sealed the deal for lowering the Brompton gearing and using that as my main fully-loaded tourer.

In the meantime I refined/reduced my kit and planned a trip bivying/hostels in the Outer Hebrides!
Cycling shoes were ditched in place of walking shoes. Lighter/dual function clothing was sourced, Bivvy bag, lighter/warmer sleeping bag, tarp, inflatable sleep mat. Bulky Trangia replaced with pocket-stove, meths replaced with Esbit solid fuel, 600 ml MyTi mug for heating duties. No beam-rack required. Downsides of the OH is you need to carry quite a bit of food as shops are few and far between and closed when you most need them!
Flexibilty was key, when possible I wild camped alone or outside a hostel to use facilities. I also stayed with a couple of friends.

All in all, it was brilliant! I've since bought a proper Brompton T-bag for future use instead of the molished saddle-bag on the front rack.

View attachment 391576

View attachment 391577


View attachment 391578

Since then I did the lighweight (credit-card) 'Friday's' Tour and incorporated the Ghent Jazz festival into the schedule requiring some semi-decent clothing.

View attachment 391574

View attachment 391575

Like most people I tend to overpack and then refine for the next one. Using lightweight, quick-drying multi-functional clothing is a big win. Cycle specific stuff adds extra bulk, so you save if you can ride without it or use cycle-underpants under regular shorts. Flip-flops for evening/camp use etc.

Wow, @Fab Foodie, this is fantastic. Much appreciated.

I had considered a short initial distance with bail out options to be the most sensible approach, but the thought of going to an event with other cyclists as a potential source of advice and help hadn't occurred to me.

The Vango brand of tents were on my radar, so will check these out. Appreciate that there is always a weight v price balance to be struck but suspect I'll leave the tarp option for sometime later...

As for the choice of bike, the likely choice from what is in the shed will be a hardtail Marin mtb. Maybe not ideal, but can get away with just adding a rack, maybe some mudguards and some less knobbly tyres so a low initial outlay. One advantage is it will give me a little flexibility as to the routes to follow. I also need to look for some panniers to double up for commuting duty.

Lots of food for thought. Thanks again!

 

[Fab Foodie]

Wow, @Fab Foodie, this is fantastic. Much appreciated.

I had considered a short initial distance with bail out options to be the most sensible approach, but the thought of going to an event with other cyclists as a potential source of advice and help hadn't occurred to me.

The Vango brand of tents were on my radar, so will check these out. Appreciate that there is always a weight v price balance to be struck but suspect I'll leave the tarp option for sometime later...

As for the choice of bike, the likely choice from what is in the shed will be a hardtail Marin mtb. Maybe not ideal, but can get away with just adding a rack, maybe some mudguards and some less knobbly tyres so a low initial outlay. One advantage is it will give me a little flexibility as to the routes to follow. I also need to look for some panniers to double up for commuting duty.

Lots of food for thought. Thanks again!

Sounds line you’re on the right track. Shopping around you don’t need to spend much to get workable kit.
The Marin will be grand.

Enjoy!