At 2,050km and 35,500 meters of elevation gain, the Silk Road Mountain Race is this year’s longest edition and also has the most elevation gain. A total of 229 participants lined up at the start, which was once again in Talas this year. Talas and My SRMR And this starting location brings back a lot…
This year marks the fourth edition of The Bright Midnight, a bikepacking race that covers 1,100km and 20,000m of elevation gain through the impressive landscape of Norway. Organizer Justinas aka King of Chaos is himself a very successful ultra-racer and has packed the route with a lot of love and challenge. And if you believe…
Since 2020, you can find a deep analysis of the bikes and equipment of the major ultra-bikepacking races like the Atlas or Silk Road Mountain Race in my Bikeanalytics. The basis for these evaluations are the “Rigs of…” posts by Bikepacking.com. At this point, many thanks for your work on this and the careful gathering…
For several years now, I have been presenting interesting and inspiring bicycles at the end of the year. Of course, I am continuing this tradition and have found eight bikes for bikepacking and cycling trips that I would like to share with you. This time, these are bikes you wouldn’t necessarily come across when looking…
Why it was time for a new bike For more than a year, I had been searching for a bicycle for myself that would succeed the Salsa Fargo. The Salsa Fargo is a wonderful bike, absolutely designed for long distances. As a result, its geometry is more upright, and I often refer to it as…
TL;DR – Summary The new gravel bikes from Trek, Rose, and Canyon show how strongly the segment is evolving toward adventure and bikepacking. More suspension, greater tire clearance, integrated power supply, and specialized geometries are making gravel bikes technically more complex—and bringing them closer to mountain bikes. The Trek CheckOUT introduces full suspension and luggage…
Note: Tout Terrain provided me with the bike for testing upon my request. Do you know that feeling when you get on a new bike, ride the first few meters, and think you’ve never gone so fast, so effortlessly, so well before? I test a lot of bikes, so I often get to experience this…
On Friday, the fourth edition of the Trans Balkan Race (TBR) started: 1,380km with around 30,000 metres of climbing await the participants. I have a bitter-sweet past with the TBR: I failed in the race itself and injured my hand nerve, which is still with me today. But I was also physically and mentally not…
Yesterday at 6 pm it was that time again and more than 250 participants started the Atlas Mountain Race 2025 in Marrakesh. The race has become one of the most popular in the ‘scene’, which has led to a real rush of registrations. As a result, many applicants received cancellations or were only able to…
It’s always good to start the new year with positive things. With nice bikes, for example. And as I do every year, I have found a few bikes that I think are very interesting and beautiful for bikepacking and cycle touring that I would like to introduce to you. Veloheld Iron Last year, I was…
First of all, I would like to thank you for your active participation, without which this survey would not have turned out so well. 518 people took part, providing some very interesting insights and information. Thank you also for the many motivating comments! It makes me very happy to provide inspiration and support with my…
I’m sure many of you have seen pictures of Bespoked in Dresden in your Instagram timelines over the last few days. And that these may also have generated Fomo (Fear of Missing Out). Let me tell you: rightly so! I’m a rather sceptical person when it comes to bike fairs. There are usually too few…
Since this morning, more than 170 participants are once again on their way to cycle through Kyrgyzstan from Bishkek. This year’s Silk Road Mountain Race is even longer and goes even higher. There are almost 2,000 km to cover and around 30,000 metres of altitude to climb. With around 1,548 metres of elevation gain over…
The second Hellenic Mountain Race started a few hours ago, a bikepacking race through the Greek mountains that has it all: over just 883 kilometres, 27,800 metres in altitude have to be overcome. That means 3,148 metres of elevation gain over 100 km. A “tough board”. Just like last year, I took a look at…
As some of you may have noticed when reading this blog, I was looking for an MTB as a new, additional bike for me. And I initially put you and myself on the wrong track when I presented my 10 XC MTBs from which the new bike was to come. And I actually had the…