Why don’t all bikepackers use a dynamo? Not only are they a source of unlimited free power but they place a big bold tick in the important box marked ‘self-sufficient’. They’ll run your lights, charge batteries and keep any number of electronic gadgets from becoming little more than excess baggage. Sounds good doesn’t it … […]
Those of you of a certain age can hopefully remember a time when your bicycle light attached to a (generally rusty) bracket on your forks. Most of the time it never worked because the batteries to make it work cost more than the light did, and on the odd occasion it did glimmer, it was […]
Lots of people now carry ‘battery packs’ during their bikepacking endeavours but not so very long ago, no one did. We didn’t carry battery packs because there was simply no need. No phones or gps, no tablets and no usb. Don’t worry, I’m not about to bang-on about the good ol’ days when you went […]
‘Race’, from a marketing perspective it’s often pure magic sprinkled with gold dust – many people don’t want to go racing but they like the imagery and enjoy the association. Obviously, then there’s the rest of us, the ones for whom racing holds less than limited appeal and appears to be a pastime that gets […]
I’ve travelled down the highway of alternative bars many times. Occasionally and sometimes to my surprise, I arrive in Weirdsville on carnival day but generally I arrive after dark only to find the pub’s shut and the chippy served its last battered sausage an hour ago … it can be a disappointing journey. Funny shaped […]
Me, I’m a fan of simple. The unkind amongst you are now likely thinking, ‘simple is as simple does’ and who knows, maybe you’re right but in my mind, simplicity is the key to both form and function. It’s why I like rigid bikes – what could be simpler than two triangles welded together and […]
The weakest part of any sectioned pole will always be the spigot where the sections join. On a well designed pole used correctly, it doesn’t cause a problem. Poles are very strong when subjected to compression forces but what about those stresses applied when subjected to bending forces which might occur if the pole is […]
Food glorious food, don’t care what it looks like, burnt, underdone, crude … did you know Oliver Twist was a hardened bikepacker? Given the right set of conditions, many of us will eat practically anything. Food becomes no more than fuel and as long as we keep stuffing it in, we can hopefully keep turning […]
Orders are now being taken for the latest batch of Bear Bones jerseys and gilets. Jerseys are available in both long and short sleeve versions while the gilets obviously have none. This is a ladies version. You can tell because it features a smaller bear … yours may fit differently. You’ll find full details over […]
What tyre for? A question that’s usually asked with a big dollop of genuine enthusiasm and a splash of expectation. It’s an innocent enough question of a straightforward nature, so why more often than not, does it result in ridicule? I can only guess at the answer … which is something I’ll probably have to […]