When carrying our luggage on the bike, fork loading is undoubtedly a very sensitive issue because the fork itself is an extremely delicate element of our bike. To exploit it in this sense, there are numerous supports on the market to be fixed to the fork to carry bikepacking waterproof bags, the famous Gorilla cage, also more generically called Cargo cage. Today I want to tell you about my experience with one of the best-known products belonging to this family of small fork racks, the Anything Cage HD by Salsa, which I have been owning and happily using for a couple of years now.
What are the best gravel bikes of 2021? If you are reading this article it is because, most likely, you are deciding to face the big step and buy a gravel bicycle. I will not dwell on what a gravel bike is or why you made this decision because these elements, although worthy of being treated, are not of interest to those like you who have to decide which gravel bike to buy.
Just know that in recent years more and more people have decided to marry this "philosophy" and try an intermediate vehicle between a racing bike and a mountain bike, for travelling or for day trips on the white roads near home. So I decided to do a short (and certainly not exhaustive) research, trying to understand which are the most popular gravel bikes and those that are used with more satisfaction by lovers of dirt roads. Then I recommend the best ten gravel bike models of 2021.
There is only one concept: gravel! And when we talk about this world, we cannot fail to mention one of the main components of this type of bike that is increasingly gaining ground in the cycling and cycle tourism environment: I'm talking about gravel handlebars, in their many shapes and facets. For this reason, below I will try to explain how to choose the best gravel handlebar for your adventures.
Buying a touring bicycle is always challenging, especially because we usually travel once or twice a year and it's not easy to face a purchase - besides, expensive - for an item that will mostly live in our basement. Luckily during these last years, the concept itself of bicycle tour has been changing, and along with it, the bikes evolved as well, becoming everyday things.
This allows us to make a more thoughtful choice, and maybe pledge a higher budget for this mixed-use means of transportation. This year too I decided to do a short (and surely not exhaustive) research, trying to understand which are the most popular travel bikes (touring bikes) and which are used with more satisfaction by bike travellers. See below the 15 best touring bikes of 2021.
How can I choose the right cycling shoes? A simple question that requires such a complex answer! Especially because talking about cycling shoes is as reductive as speaking about bicycles in general! There are so many disciplines in our cycling world, that we'll have to evaluate in a deeper way how to choose between the different cycling shoes compatible with your use.
Salsa bikes universe broadens in a very wide range of models, from the fast road bikes to the huge tyres of fat bikes, from the agile gravel bikes to the trustworthy and versatile adventure bicycles. In this article we'll be diving into these last two categories, focusing on new Salsa touring bikes available in 2021.
By now using a GPS for bicycle, outdoor activities or trekking has become very important, let me say essential. We have been using it for 15 years now. We started with a non-cartographic GPS together with paper maps, in order to track our routes, to then switch to a cartographic GPS more similar to a cyclo-computer. Now we are using a more generic one, more outdoor-oriented than bicycle oriented. Enough talking: let's see which are the best bicycle GPS in 2021 in my personal opinion and online research.
At Decathlon Headquarters it's bicycle touring time: the French brand renovates its line by redesigning its Riverside models and getting into the bikepacking market. Today, the brand new Riverside Touring 920 came to light, very interesting from features to pricing. Let's take a look at it in detail.
Are you a daily urban commuter, or a weekend bikepacker, or maybe a world bike tourer? Brooks England released Scape bikepacking bags: a new and elegant line of bags and panniers. Let's take a quick look!
Maybe you've noticed... or maybe not. Anyway, starting from this year, Vero and I will be cruising a Trek bicycle. We're hoping - taking the current pandemic situation into consideration - to ride our new Trek 920 the furthest possible... but for now we've tested them around the corner and we're more than satisfied! Waiting for the real test of the Trek 920, in this article I'm listing 2021 Trek bicycles, in particular their touring models.
Until a few months ago, Veronica was a happy owner of a Genesis bicycle.
Being one of the most active brands producing touring and adventure models, Genesis and its new 2021 bicycles will be the focus of this article.
The front region is definitely one of the most important areas to carry objects when cycling. This is valid also when bikepacking: you can find so many handlebar bags. Depending on the type of bicycle traveller you are, you'll need more or less space, a different hooking system, different materials... In this article I'll be analyzing all the features to be considered before purchasing a bikepacking handlebar bag, then I'll list and compare 17 of them.
Gorilla Cages, Anything Cages, Cargo Cages, Fork Cages... you can call them as you want, but none of them can give a clue about what these things are... It's some sort of cages, made of different materials, bigger than a usual bottle cage but smaller than a rack, to be mounted on the bicycle fork. They are used mainly to carry (on the fork) smaller bags (from 1 to 5 litres) in a bikepacking setup, but we're allowed to mount them on an MTB or a gravel bike... In this article, we're going to analyze the main features and functions of these Gorilla Cages, then I'm listing the 11 best in my opinion.
There are many types of front rack for bike, different in the hold they can carry, the bicycle they can be mounted on and mostly in the use you are going to do with them. In this article, we'll analyze some types and then we are focusing on some bicycle touring front racks.
Which are the best foldable solar panels for bicycle touring? In the XXI century, let whoever can do without technology during a bicycle trip throw the first stone!
Nowadays, for better or for worse, technology surrounds us and we can hardly do without it, even in bicycle touring. In order to be able to travel in wildlands far from civilization for some days, it is necessary to find an alternative to electricity, to recharge our devices such as smartphones, GPSs, tablets, PCs... One of those alternatives is power banks or, better, foldable solar panels for bicycle touring: let's see how they work and most importantly how many alternatives we have on the market, in order to choose wisely depending on our needs.
We cannot hide behind our finger... in XXI century technology surrounds us and even us, bicycle travellers, have to deal with it. Even the most extreme and savage bicycle traveller has the need to be connected, everywhere and always. Other than the ethical question I'm not going to analyze here, this need is also practical: which are the alternatives to the electricity that can be used when this isn't available? In this article, we list some of the most common alternatives, like the dynamo hub connected to the lights system or, thanks to specific chargers, to your electronic devices, in order to charge them.
One of the components capable of making the difference when riding for many hours is the touring bike saddle: choosing the right one can change your comfort during long excursions or short trips. These last years I've seen a lot of people with many types of touring bicycle seats, and I had the possibility to try most of them. Unfortunately, as usually happens, there isn't a universally perfect saddle for every one of us. There are some factors influencing our comfort, so the choice must be made carefully. Following you will find some advice in order to understand which factors to consider when choosing your seat, then a list of the best touring bike saddles.
