Touring bike recommendations and suggestions

[Slowbee]

What 4 season tent do you guys use ?

 

I mean a decent waterproof/storm proof one.

[NC_lurker]

What 4 season tent do you guys use ?

 

I mean a decent waterproof/storm proof one.

It's not a 4 seasons, but then we're in SA..

 

I'm 1.85m so some of the ultralight tents are a little cramped, but this one works very well, especially at only 1.7kg.

 

https://www.naturehike.co.za/collections/tents/products/cloud-up-2-ultralight-2-person-tent-upgrade

Edited January 22, 2021 by NC_lurker

[NixM]

Naturehike cloud up, it is almost an exact copy of one the lightweight MSR tents but half the price. Mine has done 3 weeks 4x4 camping in Botswana, multiple overnight hikes and one bikepacking trip, still looks new (very lightweight with delicate fabric but so far so good). Fits 2 of us medium sized ladies fine, not much spare space for wine though.

[Thug]

What 4 season tent do you guys use ?

 

I mean a decent waterproof/storm proof one.

I have an Alpkit Soloist but it’s a 3 season tent. Nice and lightweight.

[Dusty]

It's not a 4 seasons, but then we're in SA..

 

I'm 1.85m so some of the ultralight tents are a little cramped, but this one works very well, especially at only 1.7kg.

 

https://www.naturehike.co.za/collections/tents/products/cloud-up-2-ultralight-2-person-tent-upgrade

We've got the same tent and have used it in snow, torrential rain and high altitudes and we survived. Brilliant for the price and easily available in SA

Edited January 25, 2021 by Dusty

[Thug]

11-50 cassette delivered this morning.

30t Oval on its way.

 

Absolute Black 30t Oval delivered this a.m.

 

Bike now ready, just have to decide how much singlespeed riding I want to do over the next 4/5 months before conversion to a 1x11.

[NickGM]

Just an update here, since I started the thread 2 years ago with the hope that I could do a biggish international tour one day. My partner and I rode from Oslo to Venice over a 3 month period starting in July this year, camping most nights. It was fantastic. I thought I should at least post it in case anyone is thinking of doing something similar. The hardest part was making the decision to go. Cheers.

Photos of the first and last day, Baltic and Adriatic.

 

   

 

[nonky]

On 1/22/2021 at 9:05 PM, NC_lurker said:

It's not a 4 seasons, but then we're in SA..

 

I'm 1.85m so some of the ultralight tents are a little cramped, but this one works very well, especially at only 1.7kg.

 

https://www.naturehike.co.za/collections/tents/products/cloud-up-2-ultralight-2-person-tent-upgrade

Can vouch for naturehike's service and their honouring of a warranty - they replaced a bag that broke a clip without quibbling (and paid for the postage to and fro).

[Milosh]

2 hours ago, NickGM said:

Just an update here, since I started the thread 2 years ago with the hope that I could do a biggish international tour one day. My partner and I rode from Oslo to Venice over a 3 month period starting in July this year, camping most nights. It was fantastic. I thought I should at least post it in case anyone is thinking of doing something similar. The hardest part was making the decision to go. Cheers.

Very nice thank you for sharing , What bikes did you use ? buythere or hire ? 

Details please 

[NickGM]

19 minutes ago, Milosh said:

Very nice thank you for sharing , What bikes did you use ? buythere or hire ? 

Details please 

We took our bikes over. Mine was a Fuji touring that I got from CRC. My partner rode a 2nd hand specialized awol that we picked up over here and modified massively with bits and pieces i picked up on the hub. I originally built up a separate bike (which I love) but it just couldn't take the load without wobbling around like noodle. Also it has short chain stays. Basically it was/is not a touring bike, more gravel-oriented. My bike and cargo weighed just over 40kg altogether, often a bit more if we'd stocked up on food. We wild-camped quite a bit in the Scandinavian countries so often stocked up quite a bit. So I'm now stuck with 2 bikes but wont sell either because I love them both.

Our bikes were great though, no mechanicals.

We saw many, many other tourers out there. 99% were on dorky traditional touring bikes with 3x10 mtb groupsets, ortlieb panniers and kickstands (including us). The other 1% were on bikepacking setups. The trend is pretty much inverted on social media. I've been roasted for saying this before but it feels like bikepacking only really happens on instagram. Anyway, that's a cynical statement and the best bike is the one that gets you out there I guess.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2022 by NickGM