I agree with you 100% Good video.👍👍

In 2021 i cycled Lands End to John O Groats. An end to end in Great Britain of about 980 miles. I rode on a Genesis Croix De Fer 725 frame and chromoly fork. Blooming lovely, comfortable and stable. I fitted a GRX 46:30 chainset and 11:32 cassette. My bottom gear was too high so when i got home i fitted a 42:26 chainset and recently fitted an11:34 cassette. 42:11 is a tall enough gear on this bike. The bike is relatively heavy at 13 kg thats with rear rack, mudguards and Schmidt dynamo and front lamp, that said, im a stone overweight. Ive cycling mates riding 8 kg roadbikes whilst packing a big gut. Fair play to them, but whats the point?

Nice video! I have to say that 2019 in France was like prehistory in regards of the cycling infrastructure that has since boomed everywhere. It is now literally more convenient to cycle than drive in Paris: something that would have been crazy to think in 2019!

Items 3 and 4...YES!! ( with 1 thru 6 also YES!!) I didn't start cycle touring until age 50, (although I have done many motorcycle tours in my younger days) and my first cycling tour was in the "Go big, or go home category" I started in Perth W.A and crossed the continent to Sydney NSW... I enjoyed it immensely!. I have not long completed my 2nd bike tour by doing the same journey Perth/Sydney...at age 60.... a totally different experience even though it was the same route. Time for something different, Tour 3 will be Darwin - Adelaide - Sydney for 2025. I loved your East Coast tour from "back in the day". I feel your enthusiasm... keep the wheels rolling 👍

Rubbed the paint of my Kona Unit X on my first bike packing trip, ended up getting the frame nickel plated which now has shiny patches where the bags have polished the frame. Learn my lesson if its painted I put clear tape on the frame.

Thank you for the video. But you should check your chain. Seems a bit too long

I go bike packing with 8kgs of kit plus food ,you seem to have an awful lot of kit there

Well organised, good video.Good luck

Which one is better choice Kona Rove Al or GT Grade Elite?

Your bike model name , tire size and group set please❤

Where you store your food did i miss that

Good you still using the redshilf

Our you sure your using the water filter correctly just fill the bag and drink .. that thing your using is for back washing it to clean the filter

Not in Melbourne anymore unfortunately. Ive watched it rot over 60 years.😢

Just picked up a 2020 Journeyman 650b Sora for commuting and occasional trail/gravel riding. Beautiful bike and great value. Picked it up used for $600 and less than 300 miles total on it!!!

for the coffee, you can have a more simple item, its a mini Italian coffee maker, this is super simple and you don't have bring an other battery with you. and, last argument, it's more ecologic

Be careful, you are using your filter the wrong way, the syringe is only made to push clean water through the filter to backwash and clean the filter membrane every once in a while. You need to put dirty water inside the flask and squeeze it out through the filter. All the best!

You dont need half of the items/s#!7 you have for a bike packing trip. 😂😂😂

Great video! heads up i think the rear rack might be on backwards just because of the angle of the panier mounts. If you flip it around they should be more level

Mate your a dead set life saver. I've seen a couple of these from overseas but haven't had a local do one for here. Thanks for posting it it mate.✌️

Great video and thanks:) I really have been enjoying your content for years now.

Thanks,good tips mate. I find simple living very freeing, has its downsides but overall great way to live/travel.

Im just getting into cycling and bought a base Kona Dew 6 weeks ago and love it so for a winter bike ahead am picking up a Kona Big Honzo in a few days (im in Canada) so thanks for your Kona reviews! The Rove might be brought and then thats it. Your words for the Rove are valuable, thank you.

I love your project. Will follow.

Quite literally the best saddle in the world, I’ve had a B17 on many numerous bikes over the years.

I bought an REI Salsa drop bar gravel bike during the pandemic. Hated it. After multiple handlebar configurations, found the flattish bar I like. Love it.

Apparently the police and sheriff department in a few areas have decided to start touring. They have guns and badges. Not sure I want to ride anymore despite the fact I enjoy riding and exercising. FU cops

Two words: Singular Gryphon.

What the h is a gravel bike ? I'm born early 80s, it's like gen Z just discovered non asphalted roads were a thing you can ride a bicycle on... Isn't this basically a hardtail MTB or so called "90s" MTB ? Just an 80s baby asking

Excellent content, thank you Codey

As a compromise I chose the C17 which is the fabric/plastic version because I didn't want the break in time and I'm not good at caring for my stuff. In my experience after a several 1000s of km of regularly endurance training and also one 2000+ km trip ... the C17 (plus my better fitting bike) is far more comfortable than my much cheaper first bike but I have experienced some mild saddle sores possibly more due to the shorts I wear than the saddle, and mostly over the last several years I have experienced what I think is the adaptability of the body to new positions and exertions. I believe retailers might exploit the belief that it is their product that is giving the benefit when in truth it may be a combination of their product and the customers changing body or even their customers changing body alone, and when judging a competitor company they may choose to assert that it is not the customers body but the competitors product that is at fault. I believe the product and the body change and fit to each other, and perhaps my body would fully adapt to my first saddle if I gave it the time. Indeed in my first 2 years of riding this bike there was significant improvement in my body/saddle system, though not as much improvement as I would like. Hence I choose a brooks saddle for my second bike. Also having been off the bike for a few years and now returning to training first on my first bike for a couple of months and then on my second bike I noticed that my first bike/saddle was comfortable for maybe 10 miles but with increasing distance became uncomfortable, and that my second bike/saddle was far more comfortable from day 1 even at greater distances. But I'm still going to need to get my body used to the C17 for bike rides of 30-100 miles a day. I have forgotten what the comfort level of the C17 was my peak cycle fitness a few years ago, so if the comfort level is not to my liking I may switch to a B17. Thanks for the review.

Start young is so true ..

Maybe stating the obvious, I’d recommend trialling all your camping gear and bike setup on a couple of day rides from home, then refine it with a couple of short over-nighters from home, adjust, chuck out, change, then you’re good to set off on an extended multi-day tour. My first o/n camping test was at a campground only 8km from home just to test my setup, learnt a lot.

Thanks for the vid and the piece of advise, really useful for my upcoming bikepacking trip in Japan!

During 2020/21 I forced myself to wake 2 hours before sunrise, have breakfast and then do a pre-sunrise walk until the sun had risen. Best time of the day for me. It was the routine of other family members that made it impossible to continue this as I had to contact them at 8pm and couldn't get to bed before 10pm. Still want to switch my sleep pattern back to pre sunrise but its very psychologically and physically difficult for me and its socially difficult for me because my body needs to sleep at 8pm in order to wake at 5am. Hoping to do so within the next 12 months.

Also embrace the suck of getting cycle fit either after a life of little activity or after a health issue. I found and am finding again how uncomfortable and painful it is to get cycle fit again. Uncomfortable and painful on the bike and also while trying to sleep the night after a long training session. But maybe this depends on ones genes. Did a 2200+ mile trip just before the pandemic and now training up again hoping to do a weeks trip next summer as a shakedown for another big trip in 2026. Also avoid being influenced by those who have never done it or prefer to remain comfortable in their life and want you to remain comfortable.

thank you mate

These are perspectives that most people don't consider.

Very good thoughts and perspectives on the beauty of bikepacking. You are so right that one should start in as young as possible. A time in your life when you really do need to gain perspective and broaden your world view. That being said, jump in at any age. I have done multiple off-road tours since turning 60 and they have not been easy routes. Most have been solo and it’s always wonderful to meet people at any age. Thank god for trail angels in the desert!

Great tips! I would recommend this video to everyone. Done some longer tours myself and you're right: The strongest memories I have from my tours are the human interactions. "Go slow" Do you know how often I need to remind people on this? I think I'm gonna make a sign for my bike that says: "Stop and smell the roses" In todays society, where EVERYONE feels completely drained and fatigued, this is the cure. It's the ultimate remedy.

Really enjoyed the tips - I've bike road and mountain bikes for 50 years and still feel like a kid when when I get on the bike. Haven't done a long trip in many years, but your old videos and this one is getting me itchy to ride around the Fundy Isles again. Thanks, Codey!

❤👌

Thanks for the nuggets of wisdom. I've done a few trips in southern California and I was surprised to find that the interactions with strangers was one of my favorite parts of the experience. I can relate to pretty much every one of your other tips. All good reminders. Thanks for sharing!

If I hold no expectations in life, I will never be disappointed.

really insightful!!

You're a good decent bike tourist. You should come to the U.S. and ride the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR). You would appreciate the great people along the route that help cyclists. And you would dig the backcountry remote areas. The racers cover the route in 14 days, but you would enjoy the route touring slow and easy for two months. Happy trails. ☮

That bike is listed as gravel,tour comute if you like

G'day mate. Can you help with a technical issue..i want to start short touring and just couldn't afford thousands of dollars for a tour bike. I have a fuji jari 2.1 as they advertise as being able to tour on. The gearing is tiagra. And 2 x10. It days you can only run 11-34 and was wondering of i could possibly mat 36 teeth work. Also crank is 46-30 teeth would i need to go smaller to take big hills.

Nice overview and I completely agree! It was surreal watching this and then seeing my bike show up in the video (Ti Fargo at 9:55). I think the king of this genre is the Esker Lorax right now. It's taken every complaint I've had about my Fargo and fixed them. +20mm travel but with a lower stack, 31.6 seatpost w/ internal dropper, Sram transmission compatible, larger chainring clearance, standard rack braze-ons (fargo uses alternator hinge bolts for rack), brazeons for full bolt on framebag/top tube bags and flat mount or post mount compatible.

Brooks saddles are the kind you don't notice. Isn't that the point? Get the spring version. Takes the sting out of road shock. Great review