- Travelling with your bike is amazing
but it's not without it's stresses and expenses.
So today I'm gonna run you through some hacks
and some good old tips for making your life travelling
with a bike as easy and as cheap as possible.
(whooshing)
(upbeat music)
Let's start off with some packing your bike tips.
So first thing of course is make sure
you get yourself a good bike bag to make sure
your bike's protected but then I'd really start researching.
Look at where you're going,
if you know there's gonna be some bike shops
near that place you're going,
because what you really wanna do is take the essentials
but not too much 'cause if your bike bag weighs too much,
so anything over 32 kilos, you won't actually carry it,
but still below that you could still get charged
an awful lot for excess baggage.
So I try and take essentials but nothing too much.
Things like a couple of spare tubes,
but not again too extravagant with the number.
Also, tyres.
If I know there's gonna be a bike shop near there
I don't intend to take a spare one
because you may only need that in an emergency
and they can be quite heavy.
A couple things I make sure that are always in my bike bag,
so I take a rag so for cleaning my bike,
sort my chain out, whatever.
I'll stuff that in my bag,
just good extra little bit of protection over my bike.
Also I always put my riding shoes in there
'cause they can be a bit dirty
but it saves you that bit of space.
Then, so I'll take a riding pack,
so either backpack or bum bag like this,
and I actually stuff my tools into there.
That's another thing.
I try to make sure I'm just taking some of the tools
that I do need and nothing extravagant,
so I've got a decent size mini pump
that will help seal tubeless tyres
but definitely not a track pump.
It's nice and light but got loads of power.
I've got one of these Topeak Ninja Tools,
so absolutely loads on here, even splits,
so that pretty much covers all bases.
Make sure you've got a chain tool.
I've got one in there,
and I've actually got one in that multi-tool as well.
What I do like to carry is
a big full size eight mil Allen Key
just for taking off pedals.
You might find that you actually need the leverage
of one of these and the multi-tool might not do it.
So I always carry one of those.
I've got a pressure gauge for my tyres.
Again that's one of those new Topeak ones.
That will work alone by itself
or with a pump as well, super helpful.
Shop pump, a few more essential spares.
I've always got a spare mech hanger
'cause that's something you never know if you'll
be able to get that.
Even if you go somewhere like Squamish or Whistler
where there's loads of bike shops.
There's a Canyon Mech Hanger.
Got one in my bag.
Just a couple of other spares.
Iv'e got a Quick Link 12 Speed and a set of brake pads.
Of course I can probably find those here,
but it's nice to have a set just in case.
So I'm using this Douchebags Bike Bag.
It's really well designed.
You,ve got this metal frame in here.
So it actually makes it really simple.
I leave my disc rotors on
and I actually leave my rear mech on,
because it can't get crushed.
So there's no way those things can get damaged.
If you've got a soft bike bag or a box,
you need to make sure that if things get squashed
they don't get damaged.
So in that case I would definitely take off the rear mech
and try and wrap it around the back of your bike.
Using a rag or some bubble wrap and all that.
Take your rotors off cause when the bike bag gets squashed
they will get bent.
Another thing I do is put my bottles in the cages as well.
Just cause they won't roll around.
Again those bottle cages aren't gonna get squashed.
It's worth thinking about your type of
bike bag or box you've got and then really
making sure that anything is gonna be protected.
There's nothing rolling around inside that bike bag
that can damage your bike.
You'll need to take the bars or the bar and stem off to
get the bike to fit in the bag,
but I always like to leave the stem on.
If you take the stem off then your head set will
rattle loose and your fork can rattle in there.
Potentially cause some damage so leave the stem on.
Then I take the bars out, again that is something you
really need to make sure is secure inside there,
cause they can roll around.
They are obviously right next to your fork stand
as well so that can cause damage.
Again with this bike bag, they slide into that thing
down there and then they're attached at the top.
So they just nicely sort of packed
with soft packaging and they can't move around.
One of my favourites is the old Goggle Bag Wallet.
So if I'm going for a ride and want me some money or a card,
I don't want to carry my wallet with my driver's
licence and all that.
Important stuff in there.
So, take out a card, take out a bit of cash,
stuff them into my little goggle bag, boom.
Stick that in your riding pocket, away you go.
Trying to find somewhere to wash your bike can
be a bit of a battle.
I would never recommend taking it into a room
and trying to do it in the bath.
It's gonna make a right mess.
Sometimes hotels will have a hose you can use.
If not, a Petro Station.
If all else fails, ask a local rider.
If you're in a hotel room and don't have any facilities,
get a bit of shampoo, get hot water,
hand wash your kit in the sink.
A nice little way to dry it out quick is
wring it out first as much as you can.
Then wrap it up in a towel.
It's gonna get the towel a bit dirty so
you might want to be careful about what towel you do it in.
Wrap it up and then give it another wring out.
This is what I learned from [Inaudible] and apparently
all the roadies use this stuff it's oil based sunscreen.
So this is the 30 SPF but its just
really really hard wear.
So stick this on in the morning and you don't really
need to reapply it.
Maybe if you're shirt's rubbing or something like that
you might have to do it but really this lasts
through all sorts of sweaty, swimming,
whatever you throw at it.
It seems to last all day long.
Also this one matches my retro t-shirt.
It's quite expensive but it's really good.
I always think that the safest place to put your helmet
is actually in your hold luggage rather than hand luggage.
Bashing it around getting in and out of aeroplanes .
But the way I do it is, get your helmet, stuff it full of
sort of pants and socks so you don't take up any space.
And then stick it in the bag but then surround it
with the rest of your kit.
Stuff that doesn't matter if it gets sort of
crumpled up a little bit.
Like riding jerseys, like shorts.
Stuff it in there nice and safe, shouldn't get damaged.
[Inaudible] sack keep all my essential technologies.
So cameras, obviously GoPros, got a [Inaudible] Camera,
got my Garmin, but you need some way to charge it.
So I always carry one of these battery packs
and one of these things.
It's so good.
It's like a multi dongle thing.
Got all sorts of the USBC, mini USB, micro SB, lightening.
So really handy, don't need to carry loads of cables.
So this is one that Blake Samson taught me.
I have one of these cables hanging around
in my cable drawer.
Don't tell me you haven't got a cable drawer.
Came with my Apple Keyboard.
Basically it's like a USB extender.
So often you go to hotels and they stick the plug socket
somewhere miles away, so you can't sit in bed
and do your Instagram.
So I've got a super long cable now.
Get in there, get scrolling.
Once you get to your destination
you need to start looking into where you're gonna ride.
And we're lucky to live in a digital age.
Lots of apps and various online
resources that you can use now.
To really find out the type of trails that are there
so you can ride the ones you wanna ride.
Things aren't too difficult and stuff that
you're really going to enjoy.
And also finding the trails in the first place.
So loads of apps list, Garmin Connect will show
you trails, it will even show you details such as
where the jumps are on that trail.
Komoot is great for finding trails that may be
off the beaten path a little bit.
People will put their highlights on there so you can
start linking together sections to really make that
trail really good.
You can also preview how hard things are gonna be.
How steep its gonna be, the type of surface there is there.
Trailforks is a great one for bike paths.
Finding all different trails and linking them together.
Also seeing information on things like the condition
of the track and how technical it is.
Also Strava uses heat maps to see where people are riding.
So there's a few of my travel tips and some hacks as well.
I'd love to hear yours so I can adopt them as well.
So leave them in the comments down below.
If you wanna see a skills video from
our time here in Squamish it's over there.
So click on that one.
Subscribe to GMBN of course and hit that thumbs up.
Right, I'm riding.