Bike Tools and Gear
So many tools, so many accessories. How to choose between them?
On this page, we talk about the tools and bike-specific equipment and accessories you’ll want to get you over smooth and rough roads.
You can also Ask A Bicycle Mechanic about any technical bike questions on your mind.
The Essential Tool Kit is something every cyclist should take with them. Once you’ve got that together, then consider a few additional things.
Ortlieb Panniers
Cyclists rave about Ortlieb panniers and in our opinion the praise is justified. These are truly bicycle bags for life. Even after our 3-year world trip, our bags are still in great shape. The only signs of wear are a little sun fading and a few broken plastic clips (easily replaced). There is also one small hole read more...
Take-A-Look Mirror
The Take-A-Look mirror is often called the best rear view mirror for cyclists and after using it for 3 years, we'd have to agree. We call this mirror our lifesaver because it provided a constant view of what was happening behind us. When a car was approaching too quickly or about to pass too closely, the Take-A-Look mirror gave us the vital extra few seconds we needed to react and either get out of the way or signal our presence to the car driver. read more...
The Best Tires For Bike Touring
When Schwalbe decided to stop making the Marathon XR, I was devastated. Sure, it might have been heavy, and it definitely required a firm grip to get on and off the rims, but I found it hard to hold much against a tire that rolled happily for more than 15,000km, with hardly a puncture to speak read more...
Essential Tools for Bike Touring
Every cyclist should carry a few tools but you don’t need the whole workshop. A tool kit ready to fix absolutely everything is also one that will weigh down your bags and in our experience you’re unlikely to need most of it. Unless you’re going on a lengthy expedition to the earth’s truly remote places, read more...
Thermarest Mats: Comparing the Prolite and the Z-Lite
A good bike tour means getting a good night’s sleep so if you’re going to be camping, it’s important to choose a good mat. We’re big fans of Thermarest mats. They’re comfortable, the company backs its product with a lifetime guarantee and, having tested that guarantee on the road, we can vouch for the great customer read more...
Topeak Mountain Morph Pump
A bicycle pump is a key piece of equipment for your tour. Buy a good one and flat tires will be a breeze to fix. A bad pump will turn what should be a five minute job into a half hour trial full of sweat and stress. When we bought our first pump, we were so focused read more...
MSR Miniworks EX Water Filter
We researched water filters more than any other piece of gear before we finally settled on the MSR Miniworks EX - an easy-to-use option that's field serviceable. It's also fairly affordable but it does tire us out when we have to pump a lot of water in one go. read more...
Equipment For Bike Touring In The Rain
When we first started bike touring, a friend gave us 3 words of advice for rainy days: “Gore-tex. Gore-tex. Gore-tex.” Wise words indeed. Good waterproof equipment is essential for cycling in the rain. Of course, no one really plans on bike touring in wet weather but unless you’re going to the Sahara, chances are you’ll encounter read more...
Choosing Racks for Bicycle Touring
You only need to know one thing about buying a rack for your bicycle tour: don't get a cheap one. Racks take a beating on a bike tour and cheap ones break down too easily. This is one area where it really pays to invest in quality. read more...
Going Soft: Adding A Pillow To Our Bike Touring Gear
We've taken another step towards the 'pampered' end of bike touring. After 3 years of sleeping on a "pillow" of scrunched up clothes, we've finally splurged on the real thing: a Thermarest Compressible Pillow. read more...
10 Reasons To Bike Tour With Duct Tape
There are few products in this world more versatile than duct tape. No bike tourist should be caught without at least a few feet of it to use in emergencies. Here are our top duct tape tips. Can you add any? read more...
Water Treatment For Remote Bike Tours
For bike tours that take you away from the hustle and bustle of civilisation (as all the best ones seem to do), it's crucial to consider how you will find clean drinking water. Here's a guide to the different options, from simple boiling to complex purifiers. read more...
Pedals For Bike Touring
If you're just getting into bike touring, you may be amazed to discover how much choice there is when it comes to pedals. Like most things, ask 100 people which pedals they prefer and you'll get 100 different answers. Here we outline the main options to consider. read more...
Saving The Tax: More Bike Touring Gear For Your Money
Planning a bike tour in Europe? Hold off on buying a bike and all the gear until you get here. You could save hundreds of dollars by claiming back the sales tax, for a savings of up to 25% on all your bicycle touring equipment. read more...
Why I Love Trangia Campstoves
Steve Tober has been travelling with his bike for over 20 years and in all that time, he's only used one stove: the Swedish made Trangia. "All these years later, the same Trangia is still going strong," Steve says as he tells us just what's so great about his favourite stove. read more...
6 Tips For Picking A Sleeping Bag
Crawling into a cozy sleeping bag after a long day on the bike, knowing that you’re settling down for a well-earned rest, is one of the wonderful pleasures of touring. Equally memorable, for all the wrong reasons, is a sleepless, freezing night because your sleeping bag just wasn’t up to the job. Here are 6 tips for picking out a sleeping bag. read more...
3 Ways To Keep In Touch On A Bike Tour
It's not always easy to keep in touch on a bike tour. Cyclists tend to seek out quieter roads and that means you're not always close to a strong mobile phone signal or a nice cafe with free wireless internet. Here are 3 options to keep you connected. read more...
Straps, Nets and Cords: Attaching Stuff To Your Bike
We try to pack lightly, but nearly every bike tour involves attaching something to the back of our bikes. Here are 3 options for strapping extra luggage to the back of your bike. read more...
Planet Superflash Bike Light
We try to avoid cycling in the dark but sometimes it can't be helped. Unexpectedly long days, bad weather and tunnels all create situations where you'll need a light on your bike. Which one to get? Our first lights were from the well-known manufacturer Cateye and we were initially pleased with them, but then we spotted another cyclist using the Planet Superflash bike light. read more...
Trailers For Bike Touring
Trailers are an alternative choice to panniers for carrying luggage on a bike tour. Learn about their advantages and the most popular models, including the BOB Yak, the Burley Nomad, the Carry Freedom and, for cycle trips with kids, the Cougar Chariot. read more...
Merino Wool Cycling Socks
Nothing makes me go 'ahhhhhhhhh' quite so much during a bike ride as the perfect pair of socks. Yes, that's right. Socks. And not just any socks: merino wool socks, to be specific. Find out why we love them and which brand is best, in our experience. read more...
Making A Cargo Trailer From A Kid Carrier
Here's how we took an old trailer designed for carrying kids and turned it into a cargo trailer, that could be used around town or for touring. It cost us just 12 euros and was extremely easy to make. Once you've found someone who's throwing out a trailer, all you need is about 2 hours and a few basic supplies from your local hardware store. read more...
Tents for Bike Touring
A tent is perhaps the most crucial piece of equipment that the independent bicycle tourist will carry. It will be your home away from home, a haven from wind, rain and cold temperatures, a key to travelling on a budget and one of the few constants that appears every night as you go from place to read more...
Equipment List for Bike Touring
What you pack for a bike tour will depend on many factors. Before you fill your panniers, ask yourself how long you will be gone (longer trips can require more equipment, for reasons for comfort, budgeting and self-reliance), whether or not there will be bike shops nearby and what kind of weather you’re likely to read more...
MSR Whisperlite Internationale
Every long bicycle trip needs a good campstove and for our journey we bought the MSR Whisperlite International (). It was an excellent choice. What we like: It runs on many fuels. You can burn Coleman Gas (White Gas) and unleaded petrol for cars as well as a variety of other fuels. With so many options, we knew read more...
9 Things We Wouldn’t Bike Tour Without
Every cycle tourist has their prized possessions, things they wouldn’t dream of leaving home without. Among the many products vying for your attention, we proudly present our all-star list. Each one has withstood repeated daily use and been worth every penny. 1. Hilleberg Nallo 3GT Tent – Your tent is going to be your home on the read more...
Bike Security & Locks
A lot of people are concerned about having their bike stolen while on tour but it’s really not much to worry about. “Not much to worry about???” we hear you cry, while imagining every cycle tourist’s worst nightmare – a holiday spent in a police station filing reports, rather than enjoying the open road. Yes, true, you read more...
Schwalbe Marathon XR Tires
Schwalbe’s Marathon XR tire has become the tire of choice for expedition tourers in recent years. Unfortunately, Schwalbe have now discontinued the Marathon XR. Unless you can find some remaining stock in a bike shop, you’ll have to choose another tire. Learn more about the Best Tires for Bike Touring currently on the market, as recommended read more...
Cycling Shoes For Bike Touring
It’s important to choose the right shoes for your bicycle trip. Sure, you can hit the road in any old pair of sneakers, but their soles are flexible and won’t provide the right support for your feet and ankles. To see this, pick up a normal sneaker and try to bend it. Now pick up a read more...
Sunglasses and Why You Need Them
Sunglasses are one of those things we can’t imagine bike touring without. Before we started cycling, we hardly ever wore sunglasses and didn’t realise how much we would come to love them. Now, our prescription sunglasses from UK-based Optilabs are one of our most treasured possessions, right up there along with the bikes themselves. Here’s why we read more...
Ortlieb folding bowl
It’s hard to separate the important accessories from the frivolous ones when choosing what to take on a tour. For a long time we put Ortlieb’s 10 litre folding bowl () in the second category. We couldn’t imagine why we needed one. It wasn’t until we met a couple with not one but two folding bowls read more...
Camelbak Unbottle 70
Water bottles mounted to your bike frame are fine for shorter journeys but you need to carry far more water than your bottles will hold when wild camping or crossing isolated landscapes. That’s where the Camelbak Unbottle 70 () comes in handy. It holds 2 litres of water and weighs about 340 grams. We actually didn’t start read more...
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