Some of you may recall a post (https://fat-bike.com/2022/12/fatbike-to-the-cottage/) and video that I posted back in the winter of me riding to a mountain cottage I use. Well this time I made my way there in summer conditions and by a different route. The weather here in the UK has been a bit below par these […]
Archive | Bikepacking
2024 Salsa Cycles Fat-Bike Announcement
The marketing department at Salsa Cycles HQ have just released details of their 2024 Fat-Bike line up and if you didn’t know, there’s some big news… We’ve got new spec, new colors, and a new name! Beargrease The Beargrease was inspired in part by John Beargrease, the son of an Anishinaabe chief, who carried mail […]
Old Man Mountain Racks Reveals New Prototypes – by Greg Gentle
Old Man Mountain Racks is showing off two new prototypes at Eurobike that they say are almost ready for production. First is what they are calling the Axle Pack. The Axle Pack mounts to their Fit Kits to add 3-pack mounts to any fork. If you’ve tried the old zip-tie or clamp system on a […]
Solstice Bivvy
I’ve had a few weeks off the bike recently and with the recent summer solstice falling midweek during a decent spell of weather, it was a good excuse to get back out. After finishing a work conference I made the 2 hour drive to the heart of Eryri (formally known as Snowdonia) where I would […]
Book review, Bikepacking Scotland by Markus Stitz
Back in 2015, Markus set off from the UK and headed east on his singlespeed Surly Ogre and nearly 12 months later became the first person to cycle singlespeed around the world. So with that, you could say he knows how to plot a route! Since his return, Markus has been busy riding the lesser-known […]
Remote Scotland (100th Film!)
Back in 2019 I set off from home on what I had hoped to be a 10 hour drive to a destination I wanted to ride, Sandwood Bay in the far north west of Scotland. Unfortunately after a few hours driving my vehicle decided it wasn’t to be, so the plan was put on hold. […]
Sea to Summit Compression Sack Review By Trevor (Allroy) Hughes
Some time ago Gomez did a gear roundup on the Sea to Summit Stretch Loc straps. After reading the review, I purchased a multi-pack of various lengths of Stretch Loc straps and a 2-pack of equal-length Stretch Loc straps for an upcoming bike pack trip. On a previous bike-packing trip, I discovered that although the trip was […]
Fatbike to the cottage
Some of you may have seen a few of my previous trips to this little cottage in the heart of Snowdonia in Wales before. I had intended on using it again for last weekend’s Global Fat Bike Day but unfortunately, it was already booked so I got to have it for the following weekend. Luckily […]
Kona Unit Singlespeed 29(+)
In an effort to keep things weird and one’derful, we tracked down the deets on the latest release of the Kona Unit from Kona! I’m a huge sucker for metal singlespeed mountain bikes and the new Kona Unit is a real ‘looker’! The ’23 Unit comes in a Gloss Metallic Grey w/ Chocolate & Tan […]
aeroe spider FAT rack – Backpack any Bike
Mi gnomefest primo, Dustin, and myself, have been giving the new Aero Spider Fat Racks a try for the last few weeks and today Aeroe announced the official release of the new (wider) Fat rear rack that works seamlessly with their handlebar cradle and extra-heavy-duty dry bags that allow even full suspension fat bikes to […]
Old Man Mountain Elkhorn Rack Review – by Greg Gentle
Old Man Mountain Elkhorn Rack $148 The first cargo rack I put on a bike was a rear Blackburn rack on my 1984 Trek touring bike. And yes—It was 1984. A couple of years before that Specialized Bikes released its first production mountain bike. Growing up a BMX bandit in the early 1980s, I knew […]
Allroy and Allroy Jr Explore the G2G Trail
Having biked on the G2G trail from Guelph to Blyth (Ontario) the previous summer on my first bike pack trip, I was curious to complete the final leg of the G2G trail between Blyth and Goderich. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to introduce my son to bike packing. I took my son […]
Burley Bark Ranger by Thumbelena
Burley Bark Ranger The Bark Ranger is a trailer designed specifically for your dearest companion. Just like how they make trailers for parents wanting to include their small children on their two-wheeled adventures; Burley makes trailers for pet parents wanting to do the same with their fur babies! If you find yourself daydreaming about including […]
Fezzari Kings Peak Field Test
Back in June, I started field testing the Fezzari Kings Peak carbon fiber fat bike. We published a first look at the bike before it got dirty (like in the photo above). Today’s journey is going to be all about how much fun we had putting this bike through six weeks of Summer riding! A […]
Bucksaw Bikepacking
My bivvy a month campaign is going well this year with some pretty fine camps. This one was up there with the best! The only way is up! Again on familiar territory within the Snowdonia National Park in north Wales, I headed up the second highest mountain in Wales & England. At 3490 feet Carnedd […]
The Dose of Fat – Summer 2022
It’s Summer cats and kitties! Have you ridden your bike to a large body of water and then gone swimming? Time to do a cannonball into the deep end!
Solstice Bucksaw Bivvy
Summer solstice, the fattest day of the year! As part of my bivvy a month challenge, the month of June was slowly nearing its end. With other plans covering the weekend (FatFOD), my only chance of getting a bivvy done in June was going to have to be a midweek getaway after work and try […]
S240 – Fat Bike Freedom
The Sub 24 Hour Overnite or S24O is, yet another, sterling example of bicycle freedom and potentially another excuse to ride your fat bike. I’m quite fond of the S24O. I’ve recently taken a couple of S24O trips to two local remote campsites with different set-ups, just to keep things interesting. My old Surly back […]
Lad and Dad in Scotland
We all love making plans of future bikepacking trips, don’t we? Back in October 2019, I set off with a plan of heading up to the Assynt which is in the far north of Scotland for a few days bikepacking. However, after 5 hours of driving, an engine warning light decided to throw those plans […]
2022 Sea Otter Bike Expo (Part 2)
We’re back with part 2 of our coverage of the 2022 Life Time Sea Otter Classic presented by Continental. Let’s get right back to the parade of cool bike schwag. Our friends from Corvus Cycles made the trip down the coast to Sea Otter to show their wares. I got to ride the new Ti […]
2022 Sea Otter Classic Bike Expo (Part 1)
The 2022 Life Time Sea Otter Classic presented by Continental was last week. Racers, fans, and our favorite brands gathered at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey California! I walked the aisles of the expo to bring you the latest and greatest products coming to the US market from all of the best companies. It […]
Fat (video) Tuesday – Extrawheeling
Today we’ve got a feature-length foreign film about a solo winter bikepacking trip in Finland. The film features the Extrawheel Mate trailer and Extrawheel’s excellent waterproof bags. I’ve had the pleasure of doing some Exrtrawheel enhanced overnighters so I put this one up on the big screen at home and loved it. Check out more […]
Bontrager Adventure Bags
Bontrager Introduces New Line of Adventure Bags Adventure comes in all shapes and sizes. Day tripping, gravel races, overnighters to your favorite spot, or multi-day bike trips to disconnect and unplug from life’s daily grind. Earlier this fall Bontrager introduced a new set of adventure bike bags for rides when you need to get back […]
Remembrance Day Bivvy
Last winter I made a great winter bivvy spot at an old slate mine in one of my favorite spots here in Snowdonia, North Wales. By rigging a tarp over the remnants of an old slate workers’ hut, I had managed to have a great retreat during the colder nights. It helped having a fireplace/chimney […]
Burley Coho XC Review by Thumbelena
As a brand, Burley is committed to making it easier for people to get outside and do more by bike. Whether that’s getting some fresh air with your little one around the neighborhood, or touring for days, they have designed equipment for it all. There are so many different cycling disciplines and I cannot wait […]
Old Man Mountain Fat Divide Rack Review
I’ve been rocking an Old Man Mountain (OMM) Divide Fat Rack on my fat-bike, Ten Beers, since late last Summer. We shared a product spotlight about this newest generation of racks from OMM. In that article, I tried to share what the new rack looked like and share some of the details. For those that […]
CABDA Midwest Report
It’s been a long time since I’ve walked the floors of a convention center filled with the latest and greatest products from the bicycle industry, but earlier this week, I laced up a pair of comfortable shoes and drove down to Schaumburg, Illinois to explore the aisles of the CABDA show. CABDA isn’t open to […]
Old Man Mountain Divide & Divide Fat Racks
Cargo bike rack company celebrates 25 years with the debut of most versatile rack design yet
Ogwen Revisited
A few weeks back I had my first bout of sciatica which had me bail my bikepacking ride. I posted about it here: https://fat-bike.com/2021/08/bad-back-bikepacking/ I honestly thought I’d be out of action for quite some time as the days following were very painful. However, after getting some meds from the Drs, I was soon moving […]
Bad back bikepacking!
We all love making plans and love it even more when they work out for the good. However sometimes things don’t go as planned and that’s a real bummer! Last weekend saw me have a couple of spare days to go out bikepacking in some fine weather here in Snowdonia. I had a route in […]
Free to Ride the Country
Don’t let anyone tell you that you have to rough it to get your bike-fun merit badge. I’m here to tell you that it’s ok to go glamping or (gasp!) stay in a nice hotel and soak in the hot tub after a day in the saddle. I see a lot of press about riders […]
Fat (video) Tuesday – Jennride
On Saturday the 26th of June I found myself at the start line of the challenging #JENNRIDE two day Bike Packing event starting in Staveley in the Lake District, England. The #Jennride is a 100 mile off road bike packing charity event in memory of Jenn Hill organised by a well-known Lake District mountain biker […]
The Epic Cowbell Brewery Tour – by Trevor (Allroy) Hughes
After a couple of seasons of consideration and planning (along with the open calendar created by the covid pandemic ), I convinced two of my friends to join me on a bike pack adventure. Ever since buying my 2015 Norco Bigfoot I have been researching how to go about doing a bike pack trip. I […]
Bucksaw Bikepacking
The Salsa Bucksaw made an appearance for this local bikepacking trip under the gaze of Wales’s highest mountain, Snowdon.
Revelate Designs Framebag Review
I’ve been on somewhat of a quest over the past five years to seek out the best frame bag for my Fatback Corvus FLT named Ten Beers. This is the fourth frame bag that I’ve fitted to this bike. The last two bags have featured precise bolt-on attachments that led me to upgrade. I thought […]
BikeTribe News – Funduro ((Echo))
BikeTribe News – Do You Funduro? – Derby On!
Slate bivvy
I’ve had a busy few weeks getting some fine riding in and a few bivvies to make up for what I’ve missed doing the past few months. One of those bivvies was in my favourite place of Cwm Eigiau. Back in late March I posted a video https://fat-bike.com/2021/03/85-days/ of me checking out future over night […]
Revelate Nano Panniers
Revelate Nano Pannier Bikepacking has evolved over recent years from using panniers to strapping bags to various places on your bike. Panniers are still used but it’s mostly for touring as you can get away with filling them up and not worry too much about the weight. With that, there was a gap, a pannier […]
Fat Bike Bivvy in Wales. Yeah!
Balmy sunny days in the UK With parts of the US experiencing some cold times of late, the UK saw some near record temperatures at the end of March. So with ‘warm’ weather coupled with the start of 2 weeks off work, this was the perfect time to get one of my bivvies in again […]
Rider Profile – Damian Drobyk
Damian Drobyk is a paramedic from Poland. He’s ridden his bike and traveled across six continents (66 countries). His expeditions have covered 100,000 kilometers and he’s climbed over 1,000,000 meters. The highest elevation that he’s reached was when he rode over the 5805m Uturuncu volcano in Bolivia during a six-month trip through South America. Damian […]
GFBD 2020 in Snowdonia
GFBD UK Covid Edition The C word has put a downer on many things this year and sadly has caused pain and heartache to many. So this years Global Fat Bike Day ride was going to be a little different for many. You could say it went back to how it was in the early […]
Salsa EXP Series Anything Cradle system
A couple of months ago Salsa announced they were releasing an updated version of the EXP Series Anything Cradle and Anything Cage systems. Luckily for me the Anything Cradle system found its way to Wales for some use in the Autumnal Welsh mountains. Black is good The Anything Cradle is now compatible for both 35mm […]
The Slippery Peak of the Witch (Video)
A few weeks back I set off to do this bikepacking trip but bailed as I wasn’t in the ‘zone’. I was pretty gutted as the weather was perfect, no wind, no cloud and the chance of a great sunrise. Fast forward 4 weeks and I wasn’t going to let it go as I again […]
Return to the Slate
3 weeks after filming my SLATE video I made a return to the area as a friend of mine, Allen, really wanted to see the slate sights. So we quickly picked our date and was joined by John Climber. The 3 of us set off on a very humid Sunday afternoon which had plenty of […]