10 Essential Cycling Gear Tips for Long-Distance Tours

Heading out on a long-distance cycling tour and wondering what essential cycling gear to bring along? We spent 45 days in the saddle, covering 2,500 km across Europe, and we’re happy to share our experience — what you should definitely pack and what’s better left at home.

1) Cycling Multi-Tool

You might think this is an obvious tip. Who’d set off on a long tour without tools for bike repairs? The trick is that we specifically recommend a CYCLING multi-tool. Don’t make the same mistake we did — leave all those separate screwdrivers, Allen keys, and spanners at home. Get yourself a compact cycling multi-tool and you won’t need anything else. Don’t forget a mini pump, at least two puncture repair kits (the glue in one might dry out), a spare chain, a spare inner tube, and if you’re confident enough, a brake bleed kit. We’d also count a bike lock as essential cycling gear — besides its main purpose, it comes in handy for all sorts of other tasks. Extra tip: Check that your bike doesn’t have any non-standard nut bolts. This is particularly common on e-bikes, where you may need a special wrench to remove the rear wheel.

2) Proper Cycling Clothing

• Padded Cycling Shorts

Everyone told us the first three days would be the worst because of saddle soreness. Our advice? Invest in padded cycling shorts and you might avoid the pain altogether. Sure, plenty of seasoned cyclists will tell you that you’ll get used to it even without special shorts. But… why suffer unnecessarily? We got ourselves a pair and can honestly say we had no major issues. Any mild chafing we treated with beeswax cream, and by morning the soreness was gone.

• Silver-Infused Clothing

We changed our socks once every three to four days. That might sound shocking given that we were cycling 10 hours a day in temperatures of 34–38°C. Thanks to the silver fibres woven into our jerseys, T-shirts, and underwear, we didn’t start smelling awful on day one. The silver took care of most sweat-causing bacteria, and the next day the clothes smelled almost freshly laundered — provided they dried properly overnight. TIP: Don’t forget to round out your outfit with Five Ten mountain bike shoes — they can handle just about anything.

3) Beeswax Cream for Saddle Soreness

Saddle soreness is every beginner cyclist’s biggest fear. We carried beeswax balm with us and applied it to any mild chafing. It worked like a charm every time.

4) Touring in Europe? Don’t Overpack on Food

One of the most common pieces of advice cyclists get is “pack loads of food — you’ll be starving!” While that might apply to remote wilderness trails, it’s overkill for a European tour. If you’re riding through Europe, forget about tins, dehydrated meal pouches, and similar bulk. You’ll find a supermarket or a restaurant around every corner, and your legs will thank you for those saved kilograms. If you don’t mind popping into a shop every other day (we certainly didn’t), just carry food for one to two days. The exception is porridge ingredients for breakfast — we always kept plenty of those on hand.

5) Spices

One thing you should definitely pack is a basic spice kit — that is, if you plan on cooking along the way. Salt, pepper, and a vegetable stock cube combined with fresh veg can put a smile on any tired cyclist’s face. A few small sachets of spices weigh next to nothing, and they can be surprisingly pricey abroad.

6) Cycling First Aid Kit

Drivers are required to carry a first aid kit, but what about cyclists? We strongly recommend one. You’re just one tumble away from scrapes, bruises, or an open wound — and trust us, you can fall off your bike even when you’re not riding it. Try this compact cycling first aid kit.

7) Portable Coffee Maker

Love your coffee? If so, you probably won’t be satisfied with a sachet of instant (and if you are, skip this section). An Aeropress, or even better a Nanopresso, are ideal travel companions. With a Nanopresso you can make a brilliant espresso anywhere you have access to hot water. It’s genuinely tiny — it practically disappears inside a pannier. And what better way to start an early morning in your tent than with a proper hot coffee?

8) Packable Daypack

Pannier space is always at a premium, and lugging around a full-sized backpack for those off-bike moments just isn’t realistic. Thankfully, outdoor brands came up with the perfect solution: a packable daypack. This clever bit of cycling gear folds down small enough to fit in your pocket!

9) Smart Helmets with Built-In Speakers

Love listening to podcasts? Music? Audiobooks? Then you’ve probably been frustrated that it’s not really practical on a bike — wearing earbuds means you can’t hear passing cars or your riding partner calling out. With smart helmets like these (by Livall), you can have both. They have built-in speakers that sit just above your ears, so you hear your audio and your surroundings at the same time. They also come with a handlebar remote, and at the press of a button the helmet flashes to signal turns — much like car indicators. This is particularly useful at dusk or at night when hand signals are practically invisible. The helmets pair with your phone, so you can take calls on the go. We even used them for occasional work calls mid-ride. We thought we’d get good use out of the walkie-talkie feature too, but it turned out to be fairly useless — it requires a constant internet connection. Perhaps once unlimited data becomes the norm, it’ll be more practical.

10) Camping Gear

• A Proper Tent

A touring cyclist’s worst nightmare is persistent rain that makes drying anything impossible. Once you get soaked, everything stays damp for days. A tent made from quality waterproof material is a crucial piece of cycling gear. It not only determines how comfortably you’ll spend eight hours a day, but also protects your electronics. We recommend the Marmot Tungsten UL 3P, which we own ourselves. It’s technically a three-person tent, but it fits just right for the two of us plus all our gear.

• Inflatable Sleeping Pad

After a full day in the saddle, your back will thank you for something softer than a basic foam mat. An inflatable sleeping pad packs down easily into a pannier, and if you choose one with a built-in foot pump, you’ll have it inflated in two minutes.

• Mini Camping Stove

Unless you’re planning to cook a three-course meal, a lightweight tripod stove will do the job perfectly. We recommend the one by Pinguin. It’s feather-light and folds down into a compact case that fits into any pocket.

• Fire Steel

Leave the matches at home. They get damp incredibly easily and then they’re useless. With a fire steel, you can start a fire come rain or shine! [visual-link-preview encoded=”eyJ0eXBlIjoiaW50ZXJuYWwiLCJwb3N0Ijo1MjQwOCwicG9zdF9sYWJlbCI6IlDFmcOtc3DEm3ZlayA1MjQwOCAtIETDoWxrb3bDoSBjeWtsaXN0aWthOiBOYSBlbGVrdHJva29sZWNoIHBvIEV2cm9wxJsgMjAxOCIsInVybCI6IiIsImltYWdlX2lkIjo1MjQyMSwiaW1hZ2VfdXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9sb3VkYXZ5bWtyb2tlbS5jei93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvMjAxOC8wNy9sb3VkYXZ5bS1rcm9rZW0ta29sYS0zNzB4MjMwLmpwZyIsInRpdGxlIjoiRMOhbGtvdsOhIGN5a2xpc3Rpa2E6IE5hIGVsZWt0cm9rb2xlY2ggcG8gRXZyb3DEmyAyMDE4Iiwic3VtbWFyeSI6IiIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoidXNlX2RlZmF1bHRfZnJvbV9zZXR0aW5ncyJ9″] [visual-link-preview encoded=”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″]