Answering YOUR BIKEPACKING ACROSS EUROPE Questions! What we spent? Worst parts? What’s next?

Рет қаралды 2,546

Ай бұрын

We do a q&a answering your questions about our bikepacking across Europe trip from London to Istanbul. We discuss the total cost of the 11 week trip, best and worst parts, our bikes, how we could have prevented our disastrous ending and more! We also give you a life update!
#bikepacking #biketour #europetravel
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Liz & Alex
About us: We are Liz and Alex, a married couple that makes outdoor adventure and travel videos. We strongly believe that dreams are meant to be pursued, and we hope to motivate others to get outside their comfort zones and do the same. We are full-time nomads and divide up our time between traveling abroad and the other part of the time in our self converted van all the while fitting in loads of outdoor-based adventure along the way! Our goal is to show you amazing places and inspire you to get outside your comfort zone and pursue your dreams...whatever they may be.

Пікірлер: 39

@DarronSpeck 26 күн бұрын

I did a route from Nordkapp (Norway) to Malta. It took about three months, and I spent about £1000 (about $1300). I did wild camp alot, and even foraged in some places. I would never do a long tour with tubeless. On the above tour I had 2 punctures. A tube is easy to fix and a spare tube is easy to carry. I always get my bike serviced and put new cables, brake pads, and new tyres on before a long tour. P.s. I loved watching your journey. It showed the highs and lows that come with all bike tours.

@roddymckechnie6710 29 күн бұрын

Hi I haven't watched all the videos but really enjoyed those I have and will catch up with the rest over time. From a Scottish point of view I think your costs sound very reasonable and definitely encourage me to give something like this a try. The mixture of accommodation was very sensible, I wouldn't wild camp either, and the fact that you tried local foods is definitely a part of the experience. It sounds like you were almost disappointed by the overall cost but really I cant think of a cheaper and more authentic way to spend three months in Europe. Excellent editing and very entertaining ,well done.

@obrienliam Ай бұрын

Your budget is completely reasonable! Just over $1k/person/month. Your videos have been great, as I'm planning to bike from Copenhagen to Spain starting this fall.

@PursuingMountains Ай бұрын

Oh wow that sounds like a great trip! We’ve heard great things about the bikepacking in Spain.

@frankk6262 Ай бұрын

Well done. Thank you. You satisfy, albeit vicariously, a large proportion of my interest in travelling. Love your storytelling style too.

@PursuingMountains Ай бұрын

Thank you! So glad it helps satisfy your interest in travel! ☺️

@jodyssey9921 Ай бұрын

I'm a big fan of bikes with nothing special on them. Standard size tires, no fancy shifters, 21 speed that you can take a cassette off a Walmart bike to fix it in a pinch. Cool fancy parts are great until they break in the middle of nowhere. I spent about $15k Canadian in 6 weeks in Japan, you guys did great.😂 I stayed in hotels nearly every night though, only camped 3 times.😂

@Luigi13 Ай бұрын

The experiences you both gained in your travels are priceless, the best assets you both have is your age and health, anything else can be improved modified and upgraded. When you look back after your middle ages you won't remember difficult issues but you will remember the times you both enjoyed what you wanted to do. Live it to the max! 👌👌

@PursuingMountains Ай бұрын

Thank you! So true! Wouldn’t trade our travel and memories for anything :)

@Naufrago_Sur Ай бұрын

Great information, Thank you

@jcmuellner Ай бұрын

The Rohloff is so good. Mine is chain driven, and after many tours including GDMBR and Baja Divide I'm totally sold on reliability and also the reduced required cleaning and maintenance. You're welcome to come test it out on my Tumbleweed Prospector now that you're in WA!

@PursuingMountains Ай бұрын

Aww thanks! That’s good to hear about the Rohloff. Have you had any issues with it so far?

@jcmuellner Ай бұрын

@@PursuingMountains None. Have changed the oil and chain once in over 5000+mi, but that's all. The belt option may even be less effort, though the initial investment and proprietary elements are challenging. I put wax lube on the chain about once or twice a week while touring.

@Scor-ah Ай бұрын

I have the Pinion belt drive 18 speed, it is so awesome. No oil, no derailleur, easy shifting from 1-18 in a second. Just remember to carry a spare belt just incase, but Pinion will send you parts where ever you are in the world right away.

@glen2549 Ай бұрын

Another informative video. We are heading off for our European bike tour in three days and have taken on board many of your experiences and tips so thank you for the many posts over the last 6 months. I hope you can find the time to travel more and document your experiences for us less experienced and adventurous types they are great infotainment. Many thanks.

@PursuingMountains Ай бұрын

Aww thanks so much for commenting ☺️Seeing comments like yours is what helps keep us motivated to create these videos! Where do you plan to go on your European bike tour?

@88happytrails Ай бұрын

We thought your total spend would surpass that by a LOT! Especially with some of the costs in Western Europe! So well done! 🙌

@PursuingMountains Ай бұрын

Thanks!!!

@leapintothewild Ай бұрын

Hey, less than $100/day for two people is my own slow-travel budget and I think you did a great job with it! The mix of accommodations, outings and great food made for a rewarding trip without sacrificing much IMO, and you were able to handle the problems as they happened. Success! 😊

@PursuingMountains Ай бұрын

Thank you! Thats similar to our slow travel budget as well. We thought we might have been able to do an even lower budget for this trip but didn’t turn out that way 🙃

@steveredhawk8624 Ай бұрын

Life is full of adjustment I am not in the same mind set as I was 20 0r even 10 years ago Moving forward is the key ( change is good) Really enjoyed the trip can't wait to see more

@PursuingMountains Ай бұрын

Thank you! We are trying to embrace change at the moment. But we both have missed the road too. Still trying to find the right balance ⚖️

@3mekG Ай бұрын

I think I watched all your tour videos, they were great. Thanks for sharing that. But I was suffering seeing you use so big / knobbly tyres. That must have limited your daily range too. I don't agree with your tubeless conclusion :) - good bike-touring tyres, spare tubes and a patch kit would be my choice. Overall - I wish I had time to do a similar tour - I am sure you will have nice memories from it.

@sebastiengaudette9214 25 күн бұрын

Thanks for the video! I think the total amount is reasonnable, considering you did not wild camp. I just came back from a Zurich-Istanbul bike trip, I’m from Canada and I flew with Swiss air and Lufthansa, and they end up not charging anything for my bike box - I used the included 1 bagage allowance ! I think I am super lucky but I had 0 puncture in 3000km 🫣 (I have Marathon plus swalbe)

@Scor-ah Ай бұрын

When I go on long bike rides I take a liter of sealant and start with brand new tires.

@PursuingMountains Ай бұрын

Nice! How often do you add more sealant typically?

@Garfie1d73 Ай бұрын

After having made the experience I strongly suggest not getting a belt-driven bike. The belt is wonderful in combination with an e-bike but it is not made for only human powered bikes. The belt eats lots of the energy you put onto the pedal. I got so annoyed after my first tour through the french alpes that I exchanged the belt for a normal chain. Don't believe the marketing bulls*t, do not even trust other KZfaqrs who tell you how wonderful the belt allegedly is. You might take into consideration that it is easy to buy a chain anywhere in the world but not a belt. You would have to carry a spare. The Rohloff hub is a perfect choice and definitely better than a Pionion gear box. I have both and I think I know what I talk about. I disagree about tubeless: Better get Schwalbe Marathon tyres and normal inner tubes. Easy to replace, anywhere to get. I just went to the UK for three weeks and got not one puncture.

@PursuingMountains Ай бұрын

That’s good to know about the belt driven drive. We are leaning towards the Rohloff for a future really long tour for sure!

@joonaskekkonen5160 Ай бұрын

I too have several bikes with belt drives. My experience is quite the opposite. Belt feels different, but is as effective as chain. And it is much more durable, especially in harsh conditions. I would recommend belt drive, at least for longer distances and/or winter cycling.

@Patrick-hz7cz Күн бұрын

You made it and I didn't, so don't take this as criticism as much as outside observation after watching the whole series.. Wake up and get started earlier! Too much riding at night. It's also more time in the hottest part of the day Listen to your bodies and rest more, and actually rest. We make poor decisions when sleep deprived and exhausted. For example: continuing to ride while looking for a tent, after spending days in a hotel-- you could have had one sent to the hotel! Amazon or some other site. You may have had less delays had you taken a week break to properly address bike issues. Were you eating properly? Maybe not shown, but diet seemed to mostly be baked goods and fatty foods. Not eating enough while on the bikes for sure. Eat snacks while riding. Feed bag on the bars. Know when to "quit". There's no shame in changing the plan for your health or safety. Taking a bus or a train across truck congested borders. Riding on those highways near Istanbul was incredibly dangerous. I get it, you were so close and it feels like failure. It's missing the forest through the trees though. You rode across Europe to Turkey.

@GoranSmith Ай бұрын

$48/person/day is.not that high. Thanks for sharing.

@PursuingMountains Ай бұрын

Thanks!

@qwertz893 Ай бұрын

Claim that you couldn't find 29" tubeless ready tire in Zagreb s ridiculous. Zagreb has a local mountain and mtb scene is on the rise - and shops are well stocked.

@PursuingMountains Ай бұрын

Maybe you missed the part where I said I couldn’t find a 29 inch tubeless ready tire. I went to 3 different bike shops, and none of them carried a 29 inch by 2.25 tubeless ready tires. Our rims can’t take a more narrow tire. Maybe other bikes shops have them but not the ones I went to. I tried calling more bike shops and no one answered their phone.

@Scor-ah Ай бұрын

Wow calm down, this was their experience not yours. Nobody would lie about not being able to get tires.

@sashaantidot2444 12 күн бұрын

It’s not that Croatia is third world country. We are in EU 😂