Bicycle Touring and Bikepacking

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For all the pedal pushers out there that love long distance cycling. There are no gear requirements and no 'minimum distances' here.

Have you ridden for a cheeky overnighter or a 3 year global trek? Doesn't matter, you're welcome here.

Have you got panniers, bikepacking bags or just a backpack with the essentials? Doesn't matter, you're welcome here.

Have you got the latest in carbon engineering or your dads old 10 speed from the 70's? Doesn't matter, you're welcome here.

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Casual Chat Quarterly 04/23 (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

26 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Since i have mod powers i am just going to try this.

This topic is meant to be a low threshold possibility for all kinds of discussion. It is not meant to keep anybody from creating a new topic, the idea is that it may enable some discussion that would otherwise not happen at all.

Just a test balloon to see if this will get used. Do you think it is a good idea?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So I pulled the trigger on a folding bike. I have always wanted to do some bike touring, but raising kids took precedence and now I should be able to hopefully get out and do some of the things for me. So I decided I would get a folding bike for the convenience of being able to take it places, like on the train and such. I want to take the train up to Washington D.C. and spend a week or so just riding around, seeing various parts of the Smithsonian, and I feel like this would be a great way to make that happen. I will try some shakedown rides, and try and get plenty of riding on this bike so I am comfortable with it. Anyone do their touring on a folding bike?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Follow up post. I took the folding bike with me on a trip last weekend, and absolutely love it. I was able to pack it in the car for the trip ( I was just a passenger for the main trip), then borrowed my daughter's car to take the bike down to a place I could go for a ride. Just popped it out of the trunk, took it for a ride and back in the trunk when I was done. Super simple. So now the plan is to start test fitting my camping gear and things I would want to take on a tour and doing some test rides. I am pretty happy with the gearing on the bike. Once I get everything tested out I can then start planning a few quick trips.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Nice! What kind of folding bike do you have? Small wheeled one?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I picked up a Dahon Suv D6, which has 20" wheels. For years I had been concerned about the small wheel size, but after watching videos of people touring on folding bikes I decided it was worth giving it a try. So far so good. I have a couple of Specialized road bikes, (allez and roubaix) and on my crappy local roads the ride can be pretty harsh, so I wasn't expecting much with the new Dahon, but I think the wider tires and lower pressure seems to buffer some of the road bumps better. I am sure the more upright position also has something to do with it. Since all of my kids are grown and out on their own, I would like to do more travelling, and I think being able to just fold up a bike and take it with me will at least allow me to explore a lot more and maybe get in some overnight trips occasionally. I am looking to see if I can find one that might even fold up smaller, which I believe the Bromptons can do. I believe they have 16" wheel standard, which might be a little too small for comfort, but makes them pack up a little smaller. Either way, The plan is to get in more miles and so that when I do get to retire I am not just a decrepit old man.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I have a Brompton, took it from my mother since she didn't use it. It looks like it folds smaller, but yours looks pretty small folding too. I think it is comfortable and fun to ride, i just kinda feel it is a bit more "dangerous" to ride a small wheeled bike like that, although nothing bad ever happened.

There are certainly a bunch of Brompton fans happily touring with it. My father (82) is also a Brompton fan, he rides it everyday while his "regular" bike is collecting dust for decades now.

Personally, i use it only for getting by train and bike to work, for every other use case i would rather take one of my other bikes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

This is my first folding bike so I am still getting used to how it rides compared to my regular bikes. My plan of taking it on the train to go on a vacation is really what spurred the purchase. I think this bike will be perfect for that and then travelling around wherever I get off the train, or throwing in my trunk and just randomly driving to a small town, pulling it out and riding around exploring. Not sure if that qualifies as touring, but I have wanted to take a full on, stop working, just get out and ride bike tour for decades. Maybe this will help me get closer to that goal.