In recent years, traveling has become expensive. The price of transport has rocketed up, accommodation is through the roof, and even food is often at a premium price. Holidays are not as cheap as they used to be, and even traveling by bike can be expensive. Not with our top tips for budget bikepacking.

Although bikepacking is a great way to travel cheaply, the price can soon stack up if you let it. When I first started bikepacking, I was on a shoestring budget, and I had to be careful to ensure I had enough to complete my trips. I always wanted to spread money to get as far as possible.

My name’s Robbie Ferri, and in this article, I want to tell you everything I learned about how to bikepack on a budget and keep the cost down so I could have more adventures and make my money go a lot further. Here are my top ten tips!

Keep The Bike Basic 

It’s really easy to assume when going on a bikepacking adventure you need an all-singing and all-dancing professional bike when you don’t. You can actually get away with a very basic bike, and I have always told new bikepackers just to keep it simple.

A budget bike is going to be heavier and might be a little less comfortable, but it’s still going to do the job. It might not be as quick, but it can still take you where you need to go. Many people go bikepacking on $200 secondhand bikes and still have as much fun covering similar distances. 

Using a budget bike actually comes with some big advantages. They are typically very resilient, parts are incredibly cheap, they can be very easily fixed with basic tools, and it saves you a fortune when buying it outright. 

I currently have some amazing bikes, but I still use a cheap $100 fixed-up mountain bike for many mountain biking adventures because it keeps it simple, and I love doing adventures on a budget. I highly recommend it if you are new to bikepacking to keep the bike simple. 

Keep Components Simple

Next, we have keep components simple. It can be very tempting to want to use high-end parts and components for the best experience, but that does come at a big cost. I personally have a 10% rule. Take the total cost of your bike and all the parts and allow at least 10% to keep it maintained each year. 

Electronic high-end groupsets, tubeless performance tires, and lightweight carbon wheels will make the work easier, and you cycle quicker. When you’re bikepacking, if you’re not in a rush, then why use performance components? Bicycle touring and bikepacking isn’t about going everywhere quickly.

Going with more basic components, such as 9-speed gearing instead of 12-speed gearing, will save you a fortune and, although it might not add to the adventure experience, could give you an extra trip or two each year. A bikepacking setup doesn’t have to be complicated, simple is always best.

Invest Secondhand

When it comes to buying bikepacking bikes and bikepacking gear, we highly recommend taking a look at the secondhand market. Bikes are half the price to buy, and you can get some incredible bargains on places such as Facebook marketplace, eBay, and even Gumtree. 

You will also find that a used bikepacking kit (Carry gear) is much cheaper. Top branded kit can be found, and a lot of the time, it has only been used a handful of times. I have purchased many great bikepacking bikes on eBay and fully kitted them with secondhand kit.

Cheap bikepacking bags such as a handlebar bag, frame bag, top tube bag, and saddle bag (Seat post bag) are much cheaper secondhand. Going for good brands goes a long way to get better quality. You could always consider using a rear rack with a bag system on to avoid cheap seat bag that cause bag sway. Providing you have enough storage space

This is an excellent way to save money, and also, when you come to sell it later, you lose a lot less money than if you were to buy new ones and then try to sell it again. There’s a possibility you might even make money sometimes when selling budget bikepacking bags.

Check out the Ultimate Guide To Bikepacking Bags here!

Adventure Close To Home If You Can

Bikepacking can get very expensive if you go far afield. I personally live in the UK and have always got on a plane to travel lands far away or hit the ferry across into Europe. This is where bikepacking can get expensive got expensive for me. 

I started to explore closer to home when I was trying to save money, and I found so many hidden gems close to me I never knew were available. I still, to this day, opt for adventure close to home to save money. It can also take the pressure off if anything goes wrong.

Flights to another country with a bike can add to the cost of a trip, and the same goes for ferries and trains. There are also a lot of hidden costs in getting to an airport, and in general, traveling has gotten more and more expensive in the past decade. 

Adventure In Cheap Places

One very interesting thing I have found in the past decade of bikepacking is that heading somewhere cheaper to travel makes all the difference if you want to go on a budget. Places like South America and Eastern Europe are great for cycling and much cheaper. 

Although you might find the initial cost of the flight a little more when you get to places more off the beaten path and less visited by tourists, the price of everything drops right down. Hotels are half the price, food is much cheaper, and you can adventure longer.

When planning a bikepacking trip, I always feel it’s important to weigh up the cost of transport to the start and how much it will cost me to travel daily to a destination. I have done some amazing trips on a budget of as little as $30 daily, including hotels and hostels.

Avoid Tourist Places And Big Cities

If you want to save money and do some budget bikepacking, we highly recommend avoiding big cities and anywhere very touristy. I have always found bikepacking in cities much more expensive and carries more traffic risk. 

When it comes to touristy places, you seem to have to spend much more money. Accommodation is very expensive, and it’s common for locals to take full advantage of your hard-earned money. This was something I found in Western Europe more than anywhere.

Places such as Paris were very expensive to stay in, and although they had a lot to go and see, it wasn’t very good for riding bikes. When exploring rural France, I found it 25% of the cost each day, and the people and places were much more special, and the locals were so much nicer. 

Camping Over Hotels

Probably the most obvious money saver is to camp instead of using hotels. Camping is much cheaper even if you go down the route of a campsite over wild camping. Although you might get less quality sleep than you would in a hotel, it can save you at least $50 a night. 

Getting used to camping for me personally was quite challenging, but the empowerment it gives you and the money you save on a trip is incredible. Having good camping equipment goes a long way and really improves the experience of sleeping outside, it’s worth the initial investment. 

Just because you plan to camp doesn’t mean you have to avoid hotels altogether. I like to do one or two nights camping rough or at a campsite and then use a hotel every couple of days for a good night’s sleep in a bed and a warm shower. Budget camping gear will be goods such as dry bags, sleeping bag, camping mat, and a bivvy bag or a tent.

Travel With Friends

Bikepacking is great alone, but it’s even more fun when you do it with friends it’s even better. You get to experience an amazing experience with others, and they can help you through the tough times. I personally have found the best adventures come in pairs or groups. 

Another amazing benefit to traveling with friends is that you save a fortune. Hotels and campsites are half the cost, you can buy food in larger quantities to share, you don’t need as much duplicate equipment, and you can take fewer spares in some cases.

I highly recommend not just bikepacking with friends for extra enjoyment but also for extra safety and a huge cost-saving benefit. You can travel twice as far by traveling in groups or a pair on a budget. 

Choose Supermarkets 

It’s really easy to fall into the trap when bikepacking, ending up in cafes and restaurants all the time when this is an expensive way to go. If you are looking to go bikepacking on a budget, the best value for your money you are going to want to be shopping in supermarkets. 

Here, you will pay a huge amount less than a cafe or restaurant, and you can buy in much bigger bulk. Cheap, high carbohydrate-rich foods will fuel you for big miles, and high protein foods will help you recover. 

If you plan to go down this route, we highly recommend a very strong lock and to try and pick supermarkets where you can see your bike from the inside. This means you have an extra layer of security and can ensure your bike or kit doesn’t get taken. Many people take their frame bags, seat pack, any any valuable kit in with them.

Enjoy Cooking

If you decide to take some cooking supplies, such as a small gas canister and a pan, you can enjoy a much cheaper bikepacking experience. If I am on a very tight budget or want to enjoy lots of good food, I love to cook on my travels.

Going to a supermarket and buying the ingredients to make a meal on the campsite will save you money but it means you can make exactly what you want and it costs much less than ordering from a restaurant or buying pre-cooked. 

I highly recommend taking a cooking kit for very long tours so you don’t always need to eat basic, and you can save a lot of money in the long run. Getting to eat exactly how you want cooked fresh and warm is lovely after a long day riding.

A Final Note On Budget Bikepacking

In modern times, everything is getting more expensive. Getting away on holiday bikepacking can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. We hope you enjoyed our top tips and are now ready to tackle that bikepacking trip on a budget bikepacking setup at half the cost.

If you enjoyed this article you might like Long Distance Cycling Benefits, What Is Cadence In Cycling?, and Do You Need A Bikefit For Bikepacking?

Author

Authored by Robbie Ferri, a distinguished Ultra Cyclist hailing from the United Kingdom. With profound expertise not only in cycling but also in the art of bike construction and collaboration with prominent industry-leading brands.

www.ridingwithrobbie.com
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