Super-budget Setup – 3 Day Trip in South Wales

Just finished my weekend trip in South Wales. I've been wanting to do this for a long time now. Just me and my bike, no fuss.

Day 1: Chepstow to Brecon Beacons – 115km
Day 2: Brecon Beacons to Rhossili – 106km
Day 3: Rhossili to Pembrey – 50km (cut this one short and hopped on the train due to my knees giving in).

You will probably notice the bulk of my setup compared to what people post here. My main condition when doing this was spending as little money as possible. I always tend to jump into hobbies and spend big bucks at the start, but this one I thought I'd approach differently. It took me about 2 months to get everything I needed but in the end I only spent about £50 on gear and another £50 for supplies, camp sites and the train back.

Bike: Triban RC520 – mainly stock with 35mm tubeless tyres and custom bars. No changes made before the trip.

Handlebar bags: Rhinowalk 2Pcs – bought second hand for £15 on FB Marketplace. In the bigger bag I had all my clothes. The smaller front bag held all my snacks for the day, electronics and wallet.

Top tube bag: Restrap – previously owned. Held my phone and bag of haribos.

Stem bag: Riverside bag from Decathlon for £7

Saddle bag: Rhinowalk 10l – bought second hand for £10 again on FB Marketplace. Held my cheap and bulky Eurohike sleeping bag, an AliExpress inflatable sleeping pad and Planet-X branded gas stove.

Large 10l drybag: bought for £5 on AliExpress for my tent. The tent was a used Night Cat 2 person tent which was given to me for free by a friend who upgraded to an MSR.

Rear rack: Blackburn rack, not sure about the model. Taken off another bike I used to own. Didn't fit the Triban frame so I slightly bent it to make it wider.

Right side: Restrap Canister Bag 1.5l – previously owned. I normally use this as a handlebar bag as intended but in this case it sat on the rear rack mounted sideways. It kept all my spares and tools. Basically anything I needed to fix my bike on the side of the road.

Left side: Rhinowalk 7l panier bag. This packed my camp food and toiletries. All the bits I needed at camp.

At the top of the seat bag I kept a cable lock with a pad for when I wanted to stop in a town. At the rear a pair of old flip flops and a couple of Hiplock reusable zip ties.

In general the bike took some getting used to, especially in corners and offroad, but wasn't handling particularly bad. The route was mixed terrain, but mostly packed gravel/dirt or tarmac. On day 3 I even covered about 10km on single track with some more technical terrain and whilst it wasn't comfortable, I was able to get through it slowly. If anything I just wished I had wider tyres but the bike only allows up to 38mm. The bike was lacking a granny gear. It's a typical road bike set up and I will probably look to change the cassette or front rings to introduce some easier gearing before I go out next time. The longer climbs were quite challenging.

Camping went quite smooth apart from rain on the first morning which meant I had to pack a wet outer layer. As you can see on one of the pictures I strapped it using a guy line between the seat pack and the tent bag.

In terms of route, day 1 was a bit of a slog as 3/4 of it was along the Brecon canal which an easy ride but also a bit boring with endless bridges and some gates. If I was to do it again, I'd pick a different route.

Day 2 started in Brecon Beacons which was beautiful and then descending into Merthyr and towards Swansea… again on a canal towpath. Once I got to the coast the views made up for then journey though.

Day 3 started offroad on the coastal path and then just followed the roads and cycle paths into Pembrey.

Next time I go out, I will most likely plan shorter days but ensure they are more interesting to avoid 80km stretches on canal towpaths!

In terms of gear purchases, here's what I found:
1. Rhinowalk 2pc handlebar bags – £15 used from FB Marketplace. Bought of a guy who upgraded his bags. They looked brand new.
2. Rhinowalk 10l saddle bag – £10 used again from FB Marketplace. It was a bit scuffed visually but all good working condition.
3. Riverside stem bag £7 from Decathlon. Great for an additional bottle.
4. Drybag for the tent – generic £5 one from Ali. Surprisingly good quality. Nice thick material, not like the thin plasticky ones you sometimes get.
5. Inflatable sleeping mat from Temu – £6 with discounts.
6. Planet X 900 Cooking Stove £14.99
7. Knock off voile straps from Temu £4 again with new customer discount.
8. Night Cat 2 Person Backpacking tent – free from a friend.
9. Forclaz 10l packable pocket backpack – £1.99 from Decathlon. Packs into a tiny bag and fits in a jersey pocket. Useful for carrying groceries back to camp at the end of the day.
10. Eurohike generic sleeping bag that I had randomly lying in the storage cupboard. This was probably the worst part of all the gear. Super bulky and plasticky. It's taken up almost the entire saddle bag and was quite uncomfortable and not at all warm.

I am quite happy with all this for now and that I could prove to myself that I can do something without spending hundreds of pounds on gear. I do appreciate that I had some luck finding these and was also fortunate to already own a half decent bike and a couple of bags.