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    Inspired by this guy bikepacking/touring on a $44 basic bike with a lot of DIY gear on it


    (sorry, wrong vid on previous post).

    I'm not this guy, I promise. Not trying to sell anything. Just thought this was an inspiring video. If I were to do this trip, I'd probably have $2-4k in bike + gear with me. But I enjoy seeing people do it on a more shoestring budget. I'm a bit guilty (like many of us) of collecting gear but not using it as much as I could. So I love seeing people who are winging it more.

    Inspired by this guy bikepacking/touring on a $44 basic bike with a lot of DIY gear on it
    byu/vistocycling inbikepacking



    by vistocycling

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    21 Comments

    4. vf_duck on

      I am just a hiker/backpacker, but I see for me a similar trend, and I have to say it does come with experience. Getting the thing everyone uses or something that is ‘approved’ by a large number of users comes with a certain peace of mind. Where the DIYer meets the back/bikepacker is a place of great experience. Knowing what really matters and being able to choose the things that are good enough for the purpose and be prepared to find workarounds or be able to endure the consequences.

    6. wiggleforlife on

      lmao i love “Not trying to sell anything.” what would you sell, your tires-from-the-side-of-the-road collection? /s

      this is sick

    7. pdx503 on

      He did start this trip with an actual bike packing bike. But I think the issue was that by the time he was around the start of China maybe earlier, it was getting worn out and hard to find parts for. So it went back to the States with a friend he was riding with up until that point and continued on this $44 bike.

    8. Chew-Magna on

      As someone who’s lived at the poverty level most of their lives but also has a ASD/ADHD brain that collects hobbies to a crazy degree, I learned a very long time ago that most things can be done without a lot of money or fancy gear, and also knows well that budget gear isn’t bad (far from it most of the time). You’d be amazed at how often a price has nothing to do with how good something is.

    9. Jean_Paul_Magno on

      Imagine going downhill and those contraptions falling apart, all your Temu shit flying everywhere in the middle of nowhere.

      You’ll sure have fun.

    10. backlikeclap on

      I’m loving following this guy but holy shit this tour would be nightmare fuel. He’s stopping in at a bike shop or doing on-the-road repairs in almost every video – trueing wheels, replacing spokes, replacing derailleur, shifter, chainring, crank, cassette, etc. I know enough about myself to say that would NOT be a fun time (for me).

      I do wonder what his plan is when he hits the really remote parts of central Asia. He’s doing fine in Vietnam and Laos where every village has a bike shop, but what’s going to happen when he’s in Kazakhstan where the bike shops can be 300+ miles apart?

      I also wonder when he will have spent more on parts and shop labor than a new or well maintained used bike would have cost him…

    12. Tom_Mangold on

      Why always these click bait headlines? This bike never cost 44$. He bought it for this price, but that’s not the initial value/price of the bike, is it? Of course a bike will cost 2-4k which will make a journey a nice experience and not a curse.

    13. ClubChaos on

      definitely a bit of a highbrow hipster humble brag but still cool none the less.

      peoples brains seem to break these days when you tell them you can literally just go for a bike or a walk without prepping with $5000 of gear that must be purchased from REI or w.e equivalent lmao.

      like i’ll throw on my 20 year old hikers and just go for a 30KM hike and ppl are like “you can’t do that!”

    14. bryanjames1977 on

      It’s great. Hes doing his thing, and in all this consumer bull shit , ges the one out there experiencing, learning and enjoying on a shoestring.
      I spend months touring Finland, with my bike , my gear my spares and doing it for me , for the joy of it.
      Good on him , and two fingers to the consumerism

    15. too_much_covfefe_man on

      This is the car camping problem. Some people are convinced they need a built Tacoma with $30,000 worth of tent and molle panels to go camping. Meanwhile the next folks further up the trail are in a blue 2005 Toyota Matrix, you’ve seen the one, you know what I’m talking about.

    17. imdecaffeinated on

      Love the grit, but I did this on my bike tour through the states and the bike wasn’t built for it. To be fair, my actual touring bike was stolen so it was a replacement. Regardless, ended up with chondromalacia patellae (basically my knees could no longer bend) and the doc told me I needed to stop or I’d never walk again.

    18. OutsideYourWorld on

      It’s pretty neat and impressive, but i’d also hate to be constantly repairing and trying to source parts as I go along. Especially in more remote areas. But as long as he’s having fun, that’s the goal!

    19. One-Avocado2141 on

      is it the bike that refuses to quit, or him!? legend for pushing through all of those inconveniences. I saw the visa expiration days on his instagram Really cool to follow

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