Gravel/Bikepack nerds enter...

[chaka]

Jamal - good to see that Kona reco. I thought they went under.

[jamal]

Yeah the original owners wound up buying it back and they are actually building some new bikes. updated process 134 and 153, have a new hei hei being released any day now, the ourobouros actually exists, some changes to the libre.

I've been riding a hei hei for uh, going on 5 seasons now. still like it. before that i had a king kahuna. And then a major jake until last year when i replaced it with an orbea terra. the orbea is pretty good- official clearance is for a measured 48. Kind of a racier bike though, doesn't have a lot of provisions for mounting stuff and the seatpost wedge system has been a bit of annoyance.

[chaka]

^^^ Great to hear! The first bike I really fell in love with was a Kona Major One... ss, Scandium, root beer paint. wonderful bike.

[Peruvian]

I reached out to Kona about a 2025 model and even the customer svc rep said they were happy to be out from under the corporate thumb.

[doebedoe]

Ski season has been rough with a toddler who doesn't sleep, an exhausted wife, and some medical shit of my own. To make up for it I sold a few vintage bikes I wasn't riding and just pulled trigger on my first modern gravel bike. New Lynskey with Rival/GX AXS mullet build headed my way in the next month.

[waveshello]

Ski season has been rough with a toddler who doesn't sleep, an exhausted wife, and some medical shit of my own. To make up for it I sold a few vintage bikes I wasn't riding and just pulled trigger on my first modern gravel bike. New Lynskey with Rival/GX AXS mullet build headed my way in the next month.

Congrats on the new ride! I thought the gravel trend was kind of dumb for a while and I guess I still do think elenents of it are, but the bikes are seriously fun. Mobbing through the city, singletrack, and yes... some gravel on the same bike, same ride, is awesome. For me, it makes off-season riding in Seattle fun again.

My 1x11 GRX group is a little jealous of the range on your AXS build. Hope you love it.

[chaka]

Right on doebedoe, enjoy the new rig!

waveshello 1x11 GRX is perfect range for greater seattle, resist the jealousy

[waveshello]

Right on doebedoe, enjoy the new rig!

waveshello 1x11 GRX is perfect range for greater seattle, resist the jealousy

I must resist. You're right, I've rarely felt under geared here--only on steeper climbs and most of the ones around here are short enough to power up in a taller gear. I guess if I want to stretch it out at all, I could put an xdr driver/cassette on there.

[doebedoe]

<p>

Congrats on the new ride! I thought the gravel trend was kind of dumb for a while and I guess I still do think elenents of it are, but the bikes are seriously fun. Mobbing through the city, singletrack, and yes... some gravel on the same bike, same ride, is awesome. For me, it makes off-season riding in Seattle fun again. My 1x11 GRX group is a little jealous of the range on your AXS build. Hope you love it.

&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Yeah -- the whole gravel race thing isn&#39;t really my jam. I&#39;ve never really had a dedicated road bike outside touring bikes. My current main &quot;long ride&quot; whip is a Surly Travel Check setup with Jones bars. And while its supremely capable for what it is at the end of the day it&#39;s a pretty heavy build, no disc brakes, etc.&nbsp; Wanted something a bit lighter and a bit more focused on spirited rides while still able to be at home on gravel and easy singletrack.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
Eventually I&#39;d like to get a second set of wheels for it so I can leave one setup with 45s+ and an 10-52 cassette for heavier gravel/bikepacking and another with 35s and an 10-44 cassette for mostly road.&nbsp;</p>

[grrrmountainman]

Anyone bikepack through Japan? Just booked last minute and will be there April 2- May 5. The only plan I have so far is to ride out from Narita Airport.

Route suggestions? Gpx files? Info on camping seems to be mixed so if any of you have some beta on that it’d be great

Thanks


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[mntlion]

have you been to Japan before? or jsut need the bike info?

We did 1 trip in Oct, 18 months ago.

Did hotels (as they are under $100 CND / night) , and stayed a few nights to explore an area. We rode in the Kasumigaura Bay for a week

the kiyoto for a week, mostly walking / urban

then Setonaikai National Park and the shimanami islands (out and back) This was AMAZING. really worth checking out and doing a bunch of side quests around all the small islands too.



Camping seemed doable, but be stealthy. Not many campgrounds that we saw? Odds are JP people are too polite to ask you to move on, but not sure on "rules"

[babybear]

We did 1 trip in Oct, 18 months ago.

Did hotels (as they are under $100 CND / night) , and stayed a few nights to explore an area. We rode in the Kasumigaura Bay for a week

the kiyoto for a week, mostly walking / urban

then Setonaikai National Park and the shimanami islands (out and back) This was AMAZING. really worth checking out and doing a bunch of side quests around all the small

That sounds fun. I demand a TR [emoji1]

[grrrmountainman]

Skied in Hakuba previously and got to
Explore Tokyo a bit so more just the biking stuff and cool routes.

I know of the Japanese Odyssey so have been looking into their routes on RwGPS and ideally find the cool quiet roads and off the beaten path stuff.

I’ll be celebrating turning 40 there and that calls for an evening of Japanese whisky.


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[mntlion]

also need to buy a special bag to keep your bike in, while on train/buses.

Forget the name, but maybe buy before you get to japan so you have it

[mntlion]

https://visitshimanami.com/ so amazing.

[chaka]

grrrrrrrrrmountainman - check this series out. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/cycle/

[mntlion]

<p>
The videos where very nice:&nbsp; (very staged) but gave a good overview of the feel of some areas</p>

[jhyatt]

If you fly somewhere for a bikepacking trip and bring your bike in a case, what do you do with the case during the trip?

I was looking at Iceland this summer. Looks cool. so punny.

[mntlion]

We have left bikes at the hotel use use for flying into/out of before? Both in japan (last fall) and France (this past fall)

Or if its a one way trip (tour divide) just use carboard, it will be fine

[evdog]

In Iceland we were able to store bike cases at our AirBnB while we were out riding. We had it booked both before and after the bike tour and it had a storage area separate from the living space, so YMMV. Had we needed it, the tour company (Ice Bike) could have stored them at their location as well.

[Tailwind]

I have used the bounce app with great success. It is typically local businesses who open up a back room to store baggage. You can read reviews of each storage space and see the hours they are open. You get to pre book which is nice because you do not have to worry about asking for a favor once you have arrived.

[jhyatt]

In Iceland we were able to store bike cases at our AirBnB while we were out riding. We had it booked both before and after the bike tour and it had a storage area separate from the living space, so YMMV. Had we needed it, the tour company (Ice Bike) could have stored them at their location as well.

Oh nice we are looking at Iceland. Which tour did you do? We are thinking of doing it without a tour company. Seem reasonable?

[jhyatt]

cool thanks! I have never heard of that before!

I have used the bounce app with great success. It is typically local businesses who open up a back room to store baggage. You can read reviews of each storage space and see the hours they are open. You get to pre book which is nice because you do not have to worry about asking for a favor once you have arrived.

[evdog]

Oh nice we are looking at Iceland. Which tour did you do? We are thinking of doing it without a tour company. Seem reasonable?

Maybe

We used Icebike. Our tour was similar to their Raven tour which was 6 days of trail riding including 4 days in the highlands on parts of the Laugavegur trail (a hiking route) and connecting trails. TR: https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...mp-MTB-Iceland

Most riding outside the highlands would be pretty easy to do on your own since there is usually pavement nearby so access is good. You could do day rides or touring/bikepacking. In the highlands river crossings and rough roads make access tough. Most of the rides we did were point to point, cherry picked by combining sections of Laugavegur with other trails. If you tried to self-shuttle you may be able to get to one trailhead with a standard 4x4 but driving to the other end of the ride might require a super jeep to go the most direct way, or a very long drive around. And you would need a vehicle set up to carry bikes (two vehicles unless you have a driver or do odd-man-out). There are probably some loop rides you could do without a shuttle but they might not be as bike optimized as the rides we did (and even these were tough with lots of hike a bike). There is a lot more info online now for biking but local knowledge is still pretty key.

Bikepacking might be the most realistic way to ride in the highlands since no vehicle access is required. That would have challenges too because some river crossings can run high with snow melt. On your own you might have to camp and wait for water to recede overnight or hope that a super jeep comes along that can give you a ride across. Weather and lack of resupply could also be issues. There are plenty of huts and cabins you can stay at, but youd have to research reservations/price/services/etc. Some huts offer food (maybe food to go?) Doing a bikepacking route youd probably miss some of the better trails that are nearby but not on your route unless you basecamp for a couple days and ride from there. Basically, youd have to do a ton more planning and youd be on your own if the weather sucks.

Ive seen more trip reports lately from riders doing their own thing, so bikepacking can definitely be done. Lots of stuff on youtube now.

FWIW, Icebike intentionally sets its day rides shorter than you would expect because they dont want guests stuck riding in a storm for hours because theyve committed to a ride with no vehicle access for long distances.

[jhyatt]

Maybe

We used Icebike. Our tour was similar to their Raven tour which was 6 days of trail riding including 4 days in the highlands on parts of the Laugavegur trail (a hiking route) and connecting trails. TR: https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...mp-MTB-Iceland

Most riding outside the highlands would be pretty easy to do on your own since there is usually pavement nearby so access is good. You could do day rides or touring/bikepacking. In the highlands river crossings and rough roads make access tough. Most of the rides we did were point to point, cherry picked by combining sections of Laugavegur with other trails. If you tried to self-shuttle you may be able to get to one trailhead with a standard 4x4 but driving to the other end of the ride might require a super jeep to go the most direct way, or a very long drive around. And you would need a vehicle set up to carry bikes (two vehicles unless you have a driver or do odd-man-out). There are probably some loop rides you could do without a shuttle but they might not be as bike optimized as the rides we did (and even these were tough with lots of hike a bike). There is a lot more info online now for biking but local knowledge is still pretty key.

Bikepacking might be the most realistic way to ride in the highlands since no vehicle access is required. That would have challenges too because some river crossings can run high with snow melt. On your own you might have to camp and wait for water to recede overnight or hope that a super jeep comes along that can give you a ride across. Weather and lack of resupply could also be issues. There are plenty of huts and cabins you can stay at, but youd have to research reservations/price/services/etc. Some huts offer food (maybe food to go?) Doing a bikepacking route youd probably miss some of the better trails that are nearby but not on your route unless you basecamp for a couple days and ride from there. Basically, youd have to do a ton more planning and youd be on your own if the weather sucks.

Ive seen more trip reports lately from riders doing their own thing, so bikepacking can definitely be done. Lots of stuff on youtube now.

FWIW, Icebike intentionally sets its day rides shorter than you would expect because they dont want guests stuck riding in a storm for hours because theyve committed to a ride with no vehicle access for long distances.

Ok thanks that's helpful. We are looking at more gravel bike packing. Dirt roads.
Your trip looks amazing