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Have you participated in a bike tour that you would like to review and make available for others interested in joining the tour? Here is your chance to let others know what you thought of the tour. READER'S REVIEWS Brendan and Veronica Sweeney's 2025 Self Guided Tour across Mallorca, Spain. In early 2025 we departed from our home in Donegal, Ireland, for our fourth self guided cycling trip to Mallorca, Spain to escape our winter and based ourselves in the Platja de Muro area (in the north of the island). The reason we keep coming back to this part of the island, is because of the numerous bike rental shops in the area, but also because it’s where, in my view, the best cycling roads are. We decided to go to the Cap de Formentor lighthouse, as the weather was so nice (this is a 70km spin with almost 1,000m of climbing). This is one of the most iconic routes on the island and must be one of the most scenic routes there is. The climbs are not too steep (6 or 7% on average) and the sea views are breathtaking. Unfortunately, we encountered two road accidents along the way, one involving a cyclist and a car and the other was a lorry that lost control on one of the many hairpin corners enroute and hit a wall. No serious injuries thankfully, but it made us more aware of the traffic around us for the rest of the trip. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped for a well-deserved gelato by the sea side in Port de Pollenca. It was just heaven. Our second day took us on quieter roads (locally called Cami’s) through Campanet, Inca, Sineu and Petra before returning back to Platja de Muro. As with the first day, the weather was just perfect. We had a nice lunch in Sineu and decided to go for a lap or two in the local outdoor velodrome, before getting back on our road home. The Cami’s are just a dream to cycle on as the roads are less busy and most are well paved. They can be a little hilly, but it just makes you go a little slower and enjoy the sounds of nature and the birds singing. This route was 90km long with 750m of climbing. Day three was a recovery cycle for us as we were saving ourselves for the last day. The weather took a bit of a turn for the worse and we got caught in a shower. It didn’t last long though and we dried out again quickly enough. As with our second day, we cycled as many Cami roads as we could doing a loop from Platja de Muro, Can Picafort, Santa Margalida, Sineu and back to Pollenca. It was just over 80km with 600m of climbing.  Our last day was the one we had been building up to. We did two amazing climbs (Coll de Sa Batalla – 7.88km and 400m of climbing and the famous Sa Calobra – Colls dels Reis – 9.41km and 660m of climbing). The first one took us up a beautiful winding road through a forest and the second one took us down the port at Sa Calobra and then climb back up it again. Once we got to the top, we stopped off for a bite to eat at the viaduct café which was just perfect. The descent back to Port de Pollenca was an amazing end to the day and our tip to Mallorca for this year. So, day four was 115km altogether with 2,000m of climbing. Mallorca lived up to our expectations once again and we are looking forward to going back there probably around the same time next year. We were very lucky with the weather as we hadn’t cycled so early in the year there before, normally we go during the month of May. At the end of April each year, a major cycle event is run called the 312. This attracts in the region of 10,000 cyclists each year and starts around 7am covering three distances over closed roads (167km, 225km and 312km). Something to take note of, if booking a trip to the island if you want to avoid it, as the roads can get pretty busy before and after the event. The summer gets really hot and isn’t really suitable for cycling unless you go first thing in the morning. The peak season for cycling is March / April / May and then September / October. As I mentioned at the beginning, the area around Platja de Muro / Alcudia / Port de Pollenca, have an abundance of bike rental shops to cater for everyone, normal road bikes, e-bikes etc… Most hotels in the area are well set up to cater for cyclists with locked up bike sheds so you don’t have to keep them in your room. Tour of Mallorca based between Platja de Muro and Alcudia, Mallorca,Balearic Islands, Spain submitted by: Brendan Sweeney from County Donegal, Ireland. May 2023 Brendan and Veronica Sweeney with Steve, Derry, Northern Ireland 2023 Tour Length: One week with 5 consecutive days cycling. Type of Event – This tour was self-guided and self-booked (flights, accommodation and bike hire) by individual members of our cycle club with routes decided beforehand for each of the five days of the trip. Because this was our club's third trip to Mallorca, we had a reasonably good knowledge of the routes we wanted to do. Our cycling club trip to Mallorca this year was very much looked forward to by the eight of us that took part. This was our third time to visit this cycling paradise in the Mediterranean and won't be our last. We booked our usual hotel (Gruphotel Maritimo in Alcudia) and we weren't disappointed. The hotel is four star and everything about is just right for us. The location is in the north east corner of the island close to many classic cycling routes such as the climbs of Sa Colobra and Cap Formentor, but also loads of flatter roads as well. We created routes on Strava and downloaded them before we arrived there. The best time of year to travel to Mallorca is probably from March to May and from September to October as the roads are less busy and the weather is not too hot. We dealt with a german company called Huerzeler that rents out bikes and does guided tours. Their company link is: https://www.huerzeler.com/en . They hire all kinds of bikes including e road bikes from one of their cycle stations on Mallorca and they are great to deal with. This would be perfect for anyone new to the island. Here is the first reader review that I received from Ray Cameron in 2021 , who wrote: "My wife and I were impressed with Steve's Canberra Pedal Power article in the Spring Edition 2021 magazine, #277. We are both now in our 70s and are fortunate to have stumbled on a cycling holiday system when we started in 2006 and it has worked really well for us, until COVID. We want to encourage your readers to consider trying some of our tours themselves. Our first adventure was in the Loire Valley in 2006, where we booked two bikes and panniers and planned our own tour. The panniers provided were very small "shopping panniers", yet we realised that we could each get by with less. We planned a circular tour over 10 nights, returning to the same hotel in Blois, and they were happy to store our bags until our return. Blois is the centre of one of the highest density of castles in Europe and the Tourist Information Centre had a very useful map of the local rides on specified routes to the castles. We subsequently have had 13 years of most satisfying and enjoyable self-guided 3-4 weeks cycling holidays. We packed very little, my travel bag fitted into my wife's bag for storage at our first b&b in the town where we hired the bikes, panniers and helmets. As a result we booked the first and last 2 night's b&b accommodation at the town with the bike shop for each subsequent tour. Our 14 self-guided trips were in France (3), Netherlands (2) and England (9), cycling a total of around 16,500 kms.

A collection of reviews covering road bike tours, bikes and accessories written and provided by the site author, Steve plus tour and bike reviews from site readers. Reviews I started this website in 2020 with a series of one paragraph reviews covering the various longer cycle tours I had joined in Europe and the USA over the previous ten years. I had tried to cover topics that seem to elicit interest when discussing our tours with family, friends and people we meet during our rides. The reviews web page therefore contains two sections, the first devoted to my reviews and the other includes reviews submitted directly to this site using the Template provided at the bottom of the Contact Me page. After looking at the feedback I had received, I added reviews of one day and partial day events as these are often the means by which potential cycle tourists get to experience the joys of cycling. Please also use the Contact Me page to suggest improvements or to identify data that needs to be collected but hasn't been so far. Throughout the website I have made references to cycle tour companies (see Tips 4 Touring for details of the companies I have used), operators, guides, etc. Usually positive, but not always so, but please remember that these are my views and may not accord with your experience or the experience of others that you talk too. Cycle tourists can spend a lot of money to do bike tours and, accordingly, we need as much information as possible to make important expenditure decisions, even if this means having to weigh up competing opinions and make a personal decision. So, please, have a read, make a decision and then spend whatever time is required getting ready to ride!

Trainer bikes - what are they, how do they work and should you be considering one for when riding on the road is not an option? Trainer Bikes For the last three years I have been using an Elite Direto XR smart trainer to which I attached my old Specialized Roubaix road bike. The results have been fabulous and provide a useful alternative to road riding when the weather is foul or injuries keep you off a regular bike. There are many types of trainers on the market ranging from roller type trainers which involve you placing your bike on rollers to simulate being on the road through to devices that allow you to attach your bike's rear wheel onto a hub that can be set to provide various levels of resistance and right up to smart trainers that can connect to apps like FulGaz or Rouvy so that the app controls the ride based on the terrain being ridden across as seen on a computer or TV screen. In early 2025, Fulham announced it had been purchased by Rouvy and it expects that FulGaz will be fully integrated into Rouvy during the next six months. It will be interesting to see if the integration improves or worsens the experience? I've been enjoying using FulGaz, an app that allows me to participate in rides that have been filmed by other riders with the result that it feels just like you are doing the same ride. The Direto can be set up so that the resistance you feel when riding approximates the feel you have on the road. I have found this useful as I can approximate the various levels of support I get on the road when. on my e road bike. There is no ability to coast along on down hill FulGaz segments and there is no give in the seat post so a 30km ride on the trainer can end up feeling like a 50km ride on the road, but you get used to it and scenery all around the world can be fabulous to look at. Elite Direto XR Trainer

A site that contains data and reviews of bike tours, bike companies, as well as providing data on bikes and accessories all aimed at riders - actual or potential - in their mature years. Getting There Cycle Holiday Destinations: With a little internet browsing, it's usually possible to find a range of tour providers in just about any country. As we wanted to cycle in Europe when we first started touring, I found that the Viennese travel firm, Rad & Reisen, had an outstanding range of touring options across Europe. Their website is easy to search and you can filter your search so that you are able to identify options that suit the dates you wish to travel, countries of choice, types of tour, guided or unguided etc. Over the years I have added companies such as Saddle Skedaddle from the UK, Girolibero from Italy and AllTrails from Australia to my searches in order to maximise my choice. In addition, if I get an idea of a new place we would like to tour by bike, I will conduct browser searches using key words such as the location, the type of tour that I'm interested in, the type of bike I want to ride, etc. It was the combination of location, price, on road riding on quality road bikes and small group tours that lead me to the 'Road Bike Tours Italy' website. We have ridden with this company three times now and were pleased to see that although the tours it offers are getting more difficult in terms of the amount of climbing, it has now added E Road Bikes to it's fleet of bikes to hire, thereby opening up the range of tours that are 'doable' for us. A similar situation occurred with tours offered by French Cycling Holidays with whom we have also ridden three times. In both cases we we have tried some of their more challenging tours in Italy and France respectively and thoroughly enjoyed them. And then there are Italian Bike Hotels. There are about 30 hotels across Italy that are set up to offer support for various types of cycling holidays. We have twice stayed at the Lake Garda Bike Hotel in Northern Italy and loved the experiences. They provide a range of short and medium term accommodation linked with meals and bike tours. Guests can bring their own bikes or rent Pinarello bikes from them and either make their own touring arrangements or join one of the daily tours that the hotel arranges. For our last visit we stayed six days in a nice hotel room, were provided with three meals a day including lunch which was served mid afternoon to allow riders to return from daily tours, we rented Pinarello Nytro e road bikes and did several bike tour with other guests including one that involved climbing and descending Monte Baldi as part of a 95km ride. A good bike hotel is the equivalent of a bike and barge tour in that you unpack once and know where your morning and evening meals will be taken. An added bonus with the Lake Garda Bike Hotel was that your cycle clothing could be placed in the laundry basket before 7pm each day and would be wasted, dried and waiting outside your door the next morning - a fabulous service! Costs: The cost of cycle touring can vary dramatically depending on the inclusions and the country of origin of the company you book through. As an Australian I have found that booking through US companies can double the cost compared to British and Italian companies. As mentioned earlier, you need to be careful to know what currency is being used to quote the price on the browser. European sites tend to quote euros, but some ostensibly European sites turn out to be British and quote in pounds. Likewise as an Australian I have to be careful when I see prices in dollars to check whether it's US or Aus dollars as quotes in US dollars can seem quite reasonable till you see the converted amount. If you travel with Trek Travel, for example, all their quotes are in US dollars and they tend to offer two levels of touring (Luxury and Explorer) which can also be confusing. Their Luxury Tours are brilliant (we did their Puglia luxury tour and thoroughly enjoyed the experience) and they cost considerably more than their equivalent Explorer Tours which visit the same destinations, but use lower rated hotels and provide good but lesser quality meals. When thinking about cycle holiday touring you need to think about: the ease of and additional costs of getting to and from the tour location; any additional accommodation required before or after; the cost of the tour; are you happy with the standard level of accommodation offered and if there are alternative types of accommodation, how much extra does it cost: if you want to join a guided tour, what is the extra cost; hire rates for regular bikes and the additional premium if you can opt for an E Bike; helmet hire costs if not taking your own ( we always take our own as we know they will fit and we don't have to worry about hygiene issues); purchasing specialty cycling clothing if you don't have any, particularly padded knicks and gloves; insurance if you are not already covered - you will need both personal and bike insurance. Many tour operators offer insurance for both but its worth checking whether your travel insurance already covers you for both types of cover. Further if you belong to a local cycling support group, such as Pedal Power in the ACT, does your membership premium include insurance cover locally and overseas for your family group and/or your bikes; are you able to buy lunches on some or all days if you want to try the local cuisine; are drinks included with evening meals or will you be buying drinks for dinner and also after dinner when you mingle with the other guests; and almost last, but certainly not least, tips. A perennial problem that arises as the tour is coming to an end - should you tip and if so, how much. US based tours such as those run by Trek Travel suggest in the pre-tour blurb that tips should be calculated on the basis of 10% of the cost of the tour for each person. For those of us coming from optional or no tipping countries this can represent a major financial burden and if you are riding in a country other than the USA you will probably know of other tours where no or considerably less tips are given. Generally there are no hard and fast rules, but over the years we have often sat down with the other riders on our tours and digested any suggestions included in the tour information and then agreed on a tipping regime for all of us. For example a European land based tour conducted by a guide and a driver/mechanic over a week will usually result in us giving a single tip to cover both persons who looked after us, with an amount in the range of 200-300 euros. However, Americans who might be with us on the tour will often choose to calculate their tip based on what they would pay at home and pay the guide and driver 500-600 euros, if not more. In Japan where they don't accept tips we understood that the half day ride price included all costs and a tip was not sought, nor given. If choosing a European tour conducted by an American company using an American support crew it can come as a shock to non-American participants when towards the end of the tour participants start talking about the quantum of the tip per support crew member. Often the paperwork circulated by the operator prior to the tour will suggest that tipping is not mandatory, but appreciated and American paperwork will often suggest an amount of 10-15% of the tour price per support crew. When calculated and converted to your non-American currency the amount can sometimes exceed the full cost of an equivalent non-American operated tour. The other thing that pops up and for which there is no simple answer is how the participants handle the process of tipping. The usual options are either each participating person or couple can individually hand over their tips to those they wish to tip at a time of their choice or all the tips are collected in an envelope by one of the participants and at an agreed time the combined tip for the whole support crew is handed over to a representative of the crew, usually the guide if there is one. This can become a big issue on tours where the tipping amounts vary dramatically due to the national approach to tipping. We have found that the group tip approach works well in cases where all or most of the participants are of a like mind about tipping and the amount. This isn't the case when its clear that a minority of participants will not tip or provide a very small or very large tip, in which case you may opt to hand your tip for the crew directly to our guide. Clothes: There are no hard and fast rules about what clothes to wear when joining a cycle tour, other than you should wear what you find comfortable. In our experience, most riders wear cycle gear because it's both comfortable and easy to wash and dry (see laundry). Bicycle shorts (knicks) with padding can make the difference between being able to walk comfortably at the end of the day or needing to sit down. Many riders will wear padded bicycle pants as a minimum and then put on regular clothing to go with it. Depending on the nature of the tour and the experience of the riding group, riders may choose to wear trainers or riding shoes with cleats. Essentially, there are two types of shoes with cleats, road and mountain bike shoes. The former have pronounced cleats and can be difficult to walk on, whereas the latter tend to be recessed into the sole of the shoe and make walking fairly easy. Depending on the mountain bike shoe, it can be difficult for an observer to know you are wearing bike shoes and you can easily walk long distances. Mountain bike shoes are my choice in most circumstances, but if you are riding with a large, inexperienced group you may find that you need to be able to constantly put your feet down and not be inhibited by being clipped in. I opted for cleats while riding with a large group of predominantly novice riders in France in 2019 and sure enough, the rider in front stopped without warning and thank goodness we were riding slowly through a grassy park as over I went with my feet locked in. A few bumps and bruises and a reminder to expect the unexpected when riding with a group. Usually helmets are mandatory for guests but don't be surprised to find that your guide doesn't wear a helmet and that no action is taken about guests who don't wear helmets even though the literature provided said wearing helmets is mandatory. Riders from countries such as the Netherlands don't wear helmets at home and often don't want to when they are touring. Insurance: Most cycle touring companies will offer an insurance product or ask you to produce details of the insurance you have separately purchased. We always take out Australian travel insurance when arranging our trips overseas and we provide policy details when asked. In addition, I belong to a local cycling organisation that includes annual world wide cycling insurance in the membership package. As a result, the latter covers us for cycling related injuries, etc, while the travel insurance covers costs associated with the tour such as cancellation or the cost of repairing a bike damaged as part of a riding incident. COVID-19 also demonstrated the value of taking out appropriate travel insurance as soon as you start purchasing flights, cycle tours and/or accommodation. To ensure we got onto the cycle tours we wanted to join in 2020, we started booking and paying in October 2019 and as a result we were able to cancel our arrangements once the overseas flights were cancelled and were able to successfully claim lost deposits and non-refundable accommodation payments. Friends who waited to book in February 2020 were not able to claim on travel insurance as they booked after the point beyond which claims would not be accepted. However, in some cases they had booked refundable arrangements and did eventually receive some refunds. COVID also caused insurers to look more seriously at local and national travel. As a result when we booked to join a week long cycle tour in Victoria we explored insurance options and ended up covering our tour with Travel Insurance Direct (TID). They did not cover COVID related costs such as a tour being cancelled due to COVID nor did they cover medical costs coved by the Australian Government's Medicare system. But they did cover cancellation due to the usual reasons plus the usual travel insurance coverage such as lost luggage and needing a hire car to return early. I had the misfortune of accidentally losing my Garmin computer over the side of the ferry we were on as part of our tour and my claim was upheld by TID less $100 excess and $17 depreciation as the unit was only three months old. When do you need to book a tour? There is no simple answer for this question. However, the demand for cycle holiday tours has been growing since COVID was brought under control and many tours have been getting booked out up to a year or two in advance. This seems to have been particularly true of bike tours involving barges or boats. In addition, before you book a tour, be sure you can easily travel to and from the start /finish of the tour. Often the start point is convenient to the route being followed, but is a long way from train stations or airports that you can get to directly. Booking well in advance can provide a number of benefits including locking in the type of accommodation you desire (bigger rooms book out fast) and providing you with time to develop your complete itinerary so that you can arrive and then you can get to the next part of your holiday on time. Sometimes your tour provider can assist you to get to and from the start of the tour. For our tour in Italy in mid 2024 our provider collected us from our accommodation and drove us to the initial tour hotel as well as back to our accommodation after the tour concluded. A fabulous service! Should I use a travel agent? It depends. The internet has opened up many opportunities to make your own bookings, and I certainly use it to make most of my bookings. However, if I am travelling overseas and the trip involves multiple destinations for arrival and departure, I use a travel agent for the long haul travel arrangements as they tend to have better access to carriers and flight options. Unlike when I first started travelling overseas and would use locally based travel agents, I now go online to find an agent providing the package I want. For the last six years I have used a company based in Adelaide, Australia and the service has been brilliant. When it comes to internal flights overseas, as well as hotels, airbnb, bike tours, hire cars, trains, etc, I do all the leg work over the net. Lots of 'comparison shopping' to find the best deal and then I make the booking. In this regard sometimes you can deal direct with the provider and sometimes you need to book through a third party provider. I recommend that you check out both options and compare costs/benefits of using each in cases where you can. Sometimes prices can be lower by dealing direct and other times the reverse will apply. Also, some third party bike tour providers might match the operators' price but offer additional incentives such as clothing, water bottles or a half day ride near the tour location before or after you complete the tour. Do tours get cancelled? Yes they do, unfortunately. Particularly if they are being offered by smaller operators who rely on booking numbers to make a tour profitable. Some operators, such as Road Bike Tours Italy, have provided us with guarantees that a tour would proceed even if we were the only ones to book. This was the case with our first tour with this company and we had a fabulous and very personalised tour. In 2019, however, we had booked with an Aus/US company to ride from Berlin to Krakow in June. In late March I was advised that the operator had not received enough bookings and the ride was cancelled. We received a full refund of our deposit, but the late advice made it very difficult to find an alternative tour given that we had already paid for flights to Berlin and from Krakow. I was able to find a tour in Croatia but this added flights and accommodation costs to our trip.. Some of the bigger providers and operators will indicate guaranteed tours on their webpage and this can be quite useful to avoid issues associated with pre-booked flights and accommodation.

A page devoted to letting readers gain an appreciation of how the site authors got involved in cycle touring and the impact of aging on the process. Fleet About Us I am updating this web page as I have moved into my 70's. My partner Mary and I (Steve) have been cycling together since 2010. Mary had never cycled before then and while I had cycled through my teens and early twenties, I had done so on very ordinary recreational bikes. Just over 15 years ago we hired hybrid bikes and went for a ride. We rode about 20km and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The combination of riding on good bike paths and modern technology made the ride easy and the experience was one we wanted to repeat. We were so impressed that we subsequently visited a bike shop and purchased Avanti hybrid bikes. For the next year we improved our riding skills and our rides became longer and more enjoyable. However, we also noticed that our bikes were heavy and relatively slow compared to people that were passing us on the bike paths. We therefore sold the hybrids and purchased Merida flat bar road bikes. We both suffer from osteoarthritis affecting our fingers/hands, plus I have had carpel tunnel operations on both wrists. This makes our hands and thumbs particularly vulnerable when it comes to pushing and pulling gear levers. The advantage of moving to flat bar road bikes was that the componetry improved, the bikes were much lighter and the tyres reduced from 32mm to 28mm leading to less friction. These changes resulted in quicker rides and the riding experience improved dramatically, not withstanding that the gear levers were still hard to operate the longer the ride session lasted. The next major change occurred in 2015 when I took the plunge and moved to a Specialized Roubaix, a full carbon road bike with disc brakes and paddle gears. At the same time my partner upgraded her flat bar road bike to an even lighter Specialized flat bar model, with further improved componetry including disc brakes. Both changes saw us dramatically improve our riding distances and speeds and opened up the world of amateur cycle rides such as the Gran Fondo in Victoria and the BUPA Challenge in South Australia which was run in conjunction with the Tour Down Under (insurance issues saw the Challenge cancelled in 2024). The change from lever to paddle gear controls was another improvement, but long rides were still tricky as my hands would stiffen up after long periods on the bike. By this time we were not only riding with friends, cycle groups and in events through out south eastern Australia, but we were also joining guided riding tours in Europe, England and the USA. In 2016 we joined a Trek Travel week long riding tour in Puglia, Italy. We always rent bikes from the tour operators and on this occasion Trek Travel provided us with Domane road bikes with Di 2 . The bikes were similar in look and fit out to my Specialized Roubaix road bike at home except these bikes had calliper brakes and electronic gears. For Mary these bikes represented a major riding change, but after thirty seconds of riding she was sold. And the reason - Di 2 ! The bike had been set up to suit her geometry and the Di 2 gears took away the scary element of having to learn how to use paddle gears, plus they allowed the rider to change gears as needed without having to think about your riding situation. The road gets steep and you need to change down gears, no problems, just do so. You are riding downhill and need a harder gear, just change and find one that suit's with just the tap of a finger. By the time the week was over we decided to look into Di 2 and upon our return home we upgraded my Specialized Roubaix by replacing the paddle gears with Di 2 (not possible on all paddle gear bikes, but fortunately it was for my Roubaix) and to replace my partner's flat bar road bike with the newly released Specialized Ruby which was developed for women and came with disc brakes and Di 2 . By 2018 we were fully sold on the joy of riding lightweight bikes with disc brakes and electronic gears. We broadened our riding experiences as a result and we loved taking our bikes to events such as the Cadel Evans ride near Geelong and the peoples' rides in association with the Tour Down Under. However, when we rode overseas. we still rented our bikes. While it was possible to take bikes with you overseas, our experience and the experience of other riders that we know is that the effort to take your bike is massive and is something that most would only do if they were only going to be riding their bikes while overseas. Having to drag a bike bag around with you in addition to your luggage can be very difficult and in our case we have chosen not to as we always combine cycle tours with other activities when we travel overseas. In 2019 we joined a boat and cycle tour off the coast of Croatia in the Southern Dalmatia region. Due to recent illness, my partner had opted to rent a Cube E hybrid bike for her week on the boat, while I opted for the regular Cube road hybrid bike. Other than an afternoon experience on city E Bikes in and around Rome, Italy, this was our first time experiencing E Bikes. On a day with major climbs on the mainland of Croatia I was able to swap my regular hybrid bike for an E hybrid bike and the experience was phenomenal. Instead of struggling with the climbs I was able to keep up with everyone and also to look around as I rode. My partner experienced this all week with her e hybrid bike and we departed Croatia wanting to experience the recent addition to the market, the E Road Bike. We took part in a test ride of the Turbo Creo SL Expert in and around Adelaide as part of the Tour Down Under promotions by Specialized in January 2020. They were brilliant and we subsequently purchased one each and have been riding them ever since. We continue to be mightily impressed and find that we are essentially riding E Road Bikes 95% of the time with minimal (Eco) or no electrical assistance, but when we need assistance it's there (Sport or Turbo) at the press of a button. As someone in their late-60's who is fit, but a little overweight, I am finding that my E Road Bike still requires me to work as hard as ever, but if I do so I am able to keep up with fitter/thinner riders in a group and I am getting more bang for my buck, particularly when climbs or strong head winds are part of my ride. For example, on a steep, long mountain climb located near where I live, on my Roubaix I would have had to stop up to six times to get my heart rate back down to acceptable levels, whereas my first time on my Creo I climbed to the top without stopping, but once at the top I needed several minutes to regain my breath, get my heart rate down and to drink lots of water. 2020 was going to be the year that Mary and I toured various parts of Europe on e road Bikes. With the pandemic, it was not to be but by 2021 we starting to plan national and international cycle tours. Since then we have not stopped cycling doing one or two cycle tours each year as can be seen in my reviews. Over the last 10 years we have progressed from cycle tours on hybrid bikes to flat bar road bikes to drop bar road bikes and now E Bikes. With each improvement we have been able to participate in far more enjoyable rides involving harder and harder climbs. At the time of writing this advice I am averaging about 160-200 km a week and absolutely love it. I ride with a veterans group each Thursday and initially got a fair amount of ribbing about riding an e road Bike, mainly because many riders think that the bike is motorised like an E Scooter. However, gradually members of my veterans group are also switching to various types of e bike. I hope that this website has offered you the advice that you were seeking and that in the months and years ahead you too will get to enjoy riding or touring as much as Mary and I do. Don't forget, if there is some information that you were looking for and could not find, please email me at tourdemature@ gmail.com and I will do my best to provide the information. Steve Ryan Destinations

Have you ever wondered what is involved in joining a road based cycle tour with a duration of several days? Tips 4 Touring endeavours to provide handy tips. Tips 4 Touring Getting There in the submenu provides some guidance on narrowing down the type of bike touring you would like to do. Which ever company you end up using, a few tips to help you are: Determine where their home base is. Make sure you know the currency the tour price is offered in. This can help to avoid price shock later on. e.g the $ symbol may be referring to US$, AUD or $CAN. If you want a guided tour, make sure that guided is offered for the tour(s) you are interested in, as well as the additional cost. Also make sure that you find out the additional costs of extras such as hiring regular or ebikes bikes, helmets and accommodation choice. And When You Do, What Next? i n the submenu covers a range of topics associated with preparing for your cycle tour, though to the mundane day to day activities of getting you lunch or buying a coffee. Cycle Tour Facilitators and/or Operators : The following logos belong to companies (facilitators) that we have enjoyed travelling with over the last 14 years (the addition of company logos is a work in progress). You can click on the logos and you will be taken to the Company's web page. Their sites are easy to navigate and you will probably find that you need to check multiple sites to get a real feel for the options available. Sometimes you will find that multiple sites will offer the same tour from a third party provider, albeit some of the sites may sometimes have their own particular name for the tour, albeit dates and locations match other offerings. In addition, some facilitators may have pre-booked a number of places on a tour with a third party provider leaving only a small number of unbooked places, so even if one facilitator says its booked out you may find places with another facilitator. Trek Travel Companies like Road Bike Tour Italy, French Cycling Holidays, Girolibero and Trek Travel are only, in my experience, operators, but some of them do allow other companies like Rad + Reisen to book places on their tours. It will give you a clue as to the make up of the group you might join. For example you should check on the languages that the tour guides will be using and the likely language make up of the tour group. If, say, you don't speak German and you will be the only English speaker you need to think about what this might mean for day to day communications, noting that many Europeans register with their native language and speak multiple languages including English.

Expanding horizons: to e-bike or not to e-bike. An article from the French Cycling,linguistics Holidays Website. In late 2025 I wad approached by Caitlin Smith from Creative Communication in Les Moulins, Bozel, France who had been employed by French Cycling Holidays (FCH) to write an article on e-biking. She had been given my name by FCH and she asked whether I could provide some ‘real life’ input, to help others decide whether or not an e-bike is for them within the context of joining cycle tours. Caitlin looked at this web site and sent me three questions and used my reply to prepare the newsletter article below which FCH published in early December 2025. The article contains links to both this website and to the FCH website and if you find the links useful please let me know using this site's contact me page. Also, I would appreciate it if you would mention to FCH the role this site played in any booking you might subsequently make. “People absolutely love e-bikes!” Our guides Susan and David are adamant that it’s a case of “once bitten, forever smitten” when it comes to choosing pedal assisted e-bikes. So let’s delve into the topic in a bit more detail to help you decide whether an e-bike is for you (or not yet, or not ever!) To begin at the beginning, when it comes to choosing a cycling tour, the first thought in everyone’s mind is capability: “Am I up to the riding, or not?” These are the questions we are most often asked: How hard are the hill climbs? Am I fit/experienced enough to cope with daily riding? Will I hold back the rest of the group? What happens if I get too tired and can’t finish the ride? The answer is, if you are feeling anxious about these questions, or holding back on committing to a cycle tour, then an e-bike could make all the difference to your enjoyment by smoothing over any niggles (whether that’s confidence, health or fitness) and allow you to fully enjoy your days on the bike, rather than feel overly challenged. If your objective is the challenge, then perhaps you would prefer to stick to a human-powered bike, but if you feel like you're nearly up for a bike tour, but not quite - do consider an e-bike. “Everyone can ride together” According to Susan, from our guests' perspective, e-bikes are overwhelmingly positive: "A huge plus is for couples or groups within a mixed tour who are worried about keeping the same pace. You should never feel pressure about “keeping up” on your cycling holiday, but e-bikes completely remove that anxiety. Everyone can ride together, enjoy the scenery, and relax.” Susan goes on to tell the story of a couple who had been travelling with French Cycling Holidays for several years, but – as age crept up on them – mentioned that they were probably on their final tour, the wife having gradually fallen out of love with riding. “We arranged an e-bike for her that same year, and the change was incredible. She enjoyed the holiday again, and he enjoyed seeing her happy. And five years later, he made the switch too. The truth is that e-bikes extend the cycling timeline for so many people. Guests who’ve had injuries, hip or knee replacements, have mobility issues, or simply fatigue earlier as they age, find themselves able to enjoy riding again.” Australian cycle tour adventurer Steve Ryan, from Tour de Mature , agrees, and shares his experience: “My wife Mary and I had been travelling to Europe for cycle tours from 2014 till 2019 when it became clear to us that whilst we were enjoying the tours we joined, we were struggling to keep up with our fellow riders who were either much younger and/or much fitter. It was as we climbed into a sag wagon on a big climb in Italy that we decided that the tour had morphed from an enjoyable ride to a physical challenge and there had to be a better way.” Expanding horizons: e-bikes can help you explore further afield Steve continues: “As we have gotten older, we recognised that riding regular bikes would mean we either join beginner tours or accept that most days we will finish well behind the rest of the group. E-bikes have meant that we have been able to select tours that we would otherwise have had to ignore. Riding e-bikes, we were able to ascend the 1325m Le Grand Ballon, something we would never have done otherwise. Likewise we have ridden rented e-road bikes up challenging climbs such as Monte Baldi near Lake Garda in Italy and up various climbs on the Italian Island of Elba. And the sights have been amazing!” Clearly, the opportunity to conquer climbs that were previously not on your radar are a huge bonus of pedal assist biking. E-bike uptake has been exponential in recent years and it is a joy to see people who you perhaps wouldn’t have seen out on a bike, enjoying the sunshine and getting fresh air and exercise, even on some of the challenging mountain roads of the Alps. And you shouldn’t think of e-biking as “giving up” on your old bike. Susan explains, “The two are definitely not mutually exclusive, it’s just a different tool for a different job. If you love road biking at home but fancy exploring some hillier terrain whilst on holiday, renting an e-bike for a tour gives you a perfect opportunity to try it out and see how you get on.” With an e-bike, mountain landscapes such as Lake Annecy become more accessible to more riders But which e-bike do I choose? Let’s get technical. Not all e-bikes are the same, and with ‘e’ versions of road bikes, hybrids, mountain bikes and city riders, there are loads of options and styles from the major bike producers as well as specialist e-bike brands. So much so, it could be a bit overwhelming! In which case, ask an expert. If you’re signing up for a cycling tour and want to explore e-bike rental, then the first stop is to ask the operator which they’d recommend for the terrain, and often they will already be in contact with rental stockists near to the starting point of your tour. Steve has delved into testing bikes and e-bikes (more on his website here ) and has ridden on numerous cycle tours, and explains how the process began for his and Mary’s switch: “We were both Specialized road bike riders at home, then I received an email from Specialized telling us about the new Creo e-road bike they were about to release. And that’s when we decided to check out e-bike possibilities to see what it would mean for us and others joining tours. In 2020 just before COVID struck we had the good fortune to join a Creo test ride in Adelaide as part of the Tour Down Under promotions. We were instantly hooked." Is it better to rent a bike abroad or travel with your own e-bike? Since beginning their e-bike journey, Steve and Mary haven’t looked back: “We’ve only ridden e-bikes since, both here in Australia and in Europe. The challenge has been that it’s immensely difficult and expensive to get our bikes from Canberra to Europe, so we look at e-bike options offered by providers. Initially that meant e-city bikes for our tour of the Netherlands and Belgium. And then Susan contacted me to advise that the company’s bike supplier could provide Mary and I with e-bikes, similar to our own back home. We are wedded to riding on e-bikes now, and our first preference each time will be to select a company that can provide e-road bikes.” Most guests on a French Cycling Holidays tour don't travel with their own bikes as the cost and logistics of packing and transporting your bike usually outweigh the benefit. All our tours include our hybrid Trek bikes as standard, but we can also source e-bikes to suit your needs, and find something suitable for the terrain, whether that's a road, hybrid, or mountain bike. Ask us via the contact form or send us an email to find out more: fch@frenchcyclingholidays.com Choosing an e-road bike makes France's cols slightly less daunting! Bike sorted – but what about the group dynamic? Some cycle tour operators offer ‘e-bike only’ holidays, and others allow mixed, which are ideal for couples or families at different fitness levels. When you book your guided cycle tour, your guides should be extremely experienced in managing groups. That’s why at French Cycling Holidays we generally run mixed tours with e-bikes and our Trek bikes. Susan and David say, “We’re very used to mixed groups, we have years of experience in managing different levels and styles of riders, so e-bikes are just another of these factors. Keeping mixed groups together is something our guests really appreciate, especially as it means friends/partners can stay together on a ride, where perhaps they wouldn’t usually manage to ride alongside one another.” The group dynamic on a guided tour is key to everyone’s enjoyment, something Steve also recognises. “In the early days of touring Europe we often had about a third of riders on bike and the rest of us on hybrid flat bar bikes. Each day the group would tend to split into those with and without e-bikes and at that time the latter riders tended to be quite slow, such that those on regular bikes would often ride ahead. This started to change as we headed towards 2020 with more e-bikes appearing and the group starting to ride as a single entity, although big climbs spread the field with e-bikes taking the lead. In 2023 we joined a French Cycling Holidays tour in the Alsace region. From memory, besides Mary and I on e-road bikes, three or four riders were on regular road bikes and the rest on hybrid e-bikes. This was a great tour and the riders each had bikes that suited their riding aspirations, and everyone seemed to enjoy the bikes they were on." Susan acknowledges that everyone will have their own preference about mixed -vs- separate bike tours: “Some guests prefer tours that are entirely e-bike groups; others prefer tours of all regular bikes; and many are happy mixing.” Evidently, it’s a personal choice. “At French Cycling Holidays, because we are a small company, we can respond to each enquiry and fit them with a suitable group, so rather than saying it’s an either/or situation, we prefer to just chat with people and understand what their requirements are. We also run private tours for groups of 6-8+, so in this case, they decide between themselves what will work best for them.” Which tours are best for e-bikes? Susan explains that there are some stunning rides that less confident cyclists don’t need to miss out on, if they choose an e-bike: “Our Luberon tour is a gorgeous route but it’s definitely a hilly one – in fact, many other companies run it exclusively as an e-bike tour. An e-bike completely changes the accessibility of terrain like that.” Likewise, our Cévennes tour is marked as an 8/10 in difficulty for non e-bikers. This remote but dramatic region is suitable testing ground for anyone wanting a step up towards our Alpine or Pyrénées climbs, but for an e-biker, we rate it as a 4/10 which opens up this beautiful and un-touristy area to a much wider audience. The stunning hilltop village of Gordes in the Luberon Is it “cheating” to use an e-bike? There is unfortunately some stigma still attached to e-bikes within the cycling community! E-bikes are easier to ride, that’s for sure, so many toughened road cyclists will decide it’s simply not for them. And that’s totally fine, of course! But in terms of allowing people to access new landscapes, whilst staying active longer, we’ll say it loud and proud: “E-biking is not cheating”! So stop apologising for your battery and simply enjoy the ride (like Steve and Mary!) Get in touch with your questions about e-bikes on our cycle tours fch@frenchcyclingholidays.com +44(0) 1923 894305 020 8357 8934 With many thanks to Steve Ryan for his input.

What's the difference between a hybrid, a flat bar and a drop bar bike and which one would best suit you? Drop Bar Road Bike A drop bar road bike can vary in weight from around 7 kg to 13 kg depending on the material used to make the bike and its components. Cycling News compared flat bar and drop bar bikes and suggested that 'the best road bikes are designed for fast riding and quick handling on all sorts of tarmac. For roads and cycle paths, criterium circuits and Pyrenean climbs, road bikes are a good fit'. Road bikes range from lightweight climbing bikes to aerodynamic race machines and endurance-focused frames. There are a wide range of on-road capabilities for road bikes, but they are also limited to the tarmac. A carbon road bike typically will weigh in at around 7 kg. Road bikes can fall into several categories, including touring, racing and endurance. They have drop-down handlebars and more recent models have disc brakes. Road bikes typically don't have mudguards, racks, panniers or mountain bike type suspension. Endurance bikes are designed for riders travelling long distances or riding on very bumpy surfaces such as paving. These bikes may have some form of shock absorber within the frame and or the seat pillar, but they are usually fixed devices and cannot be adjusted, but again this seems to be changing with the most recent models from some manufacturers. Unlike hybrid bikes that have three chain rings up front and up to ten gear wheels at the rear providing up to 30 gear settings, a road bike will normally have two chain rings at the front and 11 gear wheels at the rear, providing 22 gear settings. Rather than using handlebar based levers, road bikes use dual control levers more commonly known as paddles. Each paddle provides a combination of braking and gear changing functions. To apply the brakes you pull the main lever towards you, where as to change rear gears you move the right hand paddle (in Australia and other countries that ride on the left side of the road) sideways to change gears up or down, and on the left side to change between the little and big cogs. Road bikes are also the beneficiary of technological upgrades, often starting with the models ridden by pro's and ultimately available to all riders with a premium. When I purchased my Specialized Rubaix in 2015 it came with disc brakes at time when dedicated riders were saying that they would never replace the old style wheel clamp brakes. Today just about all quality bikes come with disc brakes. Other technological improvements have included electronic gear shifting (known as Di2 if from Shimano), the transfer of single chain rings from mountain bikes to road and gravel bikes and drop seats on road bikes. 2023 Pinnerello X3 105 Di2 Carbon Road Bike

Trying to decide whether to ride on your own or join an unguided or guided tour? Tips to help you decide and guidance about the possible implications of your decision. CYCLE TOUR OPTIONS - Self Sufficient, Unguided but Supported, or Guided So, what are the types of cycle experiences available to someone wanting to either cycle on their own or with friends, or to join a group of other riders? The experiences are endless, but there are some fundamental options that you should consider. First, do you want to just go somewhere and ride in an unstructured way or do you want to follow a cycle route. If you want the former, then a bike is just one of many forms of transport that you can use to get around. The following is a summary of the types of cycle tour arrangements that are usually available: Self Guided For those who are self-sufficient and simply want to ride, the process is straightforward. Buy a touring bike, set it up with panniers, decide if you’ll be camping or renting accommodation and set off with reliable maps or a GPS navigation system such as Garmin or Wahoo. If you're starting from home, just hop on your bike and go! You can take your bike on planes (as long as it's not an e bike or the battery is compact enough to fit as hand luggage) or on trains. You may need to consider bike bags or cases, along with finding a place to store them while you ride. If you're traveling overseas with your bike, it's essential to get a bike bag - at least a large cardboard box -for transport. Keep in mind that a cheaper option may increase the risk of damage during transit. A quick online search 'cyclists who travel alone' will yield numerous articles and services, such as solotravelworld.com or divine.com. (Riding Experience 6) Unguided But Supported Lots of riders prefer to ride without a guide but want to ride without thinking about bringing a bike with them, transportation of luggage, plus arranging accommodation and some meals. Many cycle tour companies offer guided and unguided options. Essentially, the latter usually entails signing up to join a company that provides support to riders wanting to get from point A to B on their own over a period of time, usually a week. The support will normally include accommodation every night of a fixed period, breakfast, dinner, and maps of the available routes to get from and to accommodation. Depending on the arrangements there may also be a tour manager who each evening after dinner will hand out maps for the next day's ride and provide some suggestions about things to see and do, as well as answer questions. It is usual for these types of tours to offer the option of renting a regular bike or an e Bike with mechanics available to fix problems as they occur, even on the road, including flat tyres and gear issues. If you choose to bring your own bike, you will normally be responsible for doing your own mechanical repairs and the company will not guarantee that your bike will be safely stowed and managed overnight - this can be a real issue if you are bike and barging and your bike has to be stowed in very tight spaces. Depending on the type of tour, you may be offered the option at breakfast of preparing a packed lunch and a drink to take in your pannier, but in most instances you will be expected to find your own lunch plus snacks, drinks, etc during the day. While my partner and I have always travelled with a guide, many of the companies we have travelled with offer both guided and non-guided tours and often they are offered together. We have been really happy with Rad & Reisen from Austria, Girolibero from Italy and Saddle Skeddadle from the UK, all of whom offer unguided tours on their very comprehensive websites. (RidingExperience 4, 5 or 6) Guided This is the form of touring that my partner and I always opt for. A guided tour allows us to concentrate on riding and taking in the sights and experiences. We decide on the approximate location(s) we want to ride in and then start examining the many cycle touring websites offering guided cycle tours in the location(s) of choice. Depending on the company, the offerings may be a collection of rides per location, or they may be divided into categories such as bike and barge, on road, off road, bike and hotel, family friendly, short rides, medium rides, etc. Within many of these categories there will also be degrees of difficulty ranging from really easy on flat roads and trails through to big, adventurous climbs up or through mountains. Having chosen the type and location, a guided tour will usually start with a gathering on the afternoon of day one during which rented bikes are fitted to each rider, people are introduced (we have ridden in situations where we were the only riders with our guide through to groups of riders up to 32 in number with four guides provided. In the main though, the number in group with a guide usually is in the range of 6 to 12). The introductory day will usually include a short ride to allow you to familiarise yourself with your bike and experience riding with the group and your guide. The ride is also useful for those who bring their own pedals, seats and/or bikes with most people in the latter category being those that can easily access the tour from their home. On a week long tour on land , there is usually a van/bus capable of carrying all luggage from hotel to hotel first thing each morning. The van is driven by the mechanic(s) who return to shadow the group as the day progresses to act as a sag wagon if needed or to provide mechanical services. Alternatively, the van/bus will be big enough for smaller groups to carry all luggage in the back, provide sag wagon services for the riders and carry bikes from those riders on a roof rack. Our ride in 2024 from Sienna to Elba Island in Tuscany, Italy started with four of us being collected in Lucca and driven to Sienna in a Road Bike Tours Italy mini bus with six persons, their luggage and five bikes all stowed in the bus. Often with smaller tours, the tour support will be two persons, who swap roles each day. On the first day one rides and guides while the other drives, provides refreshments and water and acts as mechanic. They then swap on alternate days. Some tours will have the guides providing lunch as well, while others may either take you to a cafe or restaurant so you can do your own thing or simply point you in the right direction once you enter a town or city. Other benefits gained through going guided are that the guides provide all directions, know the location and will take you to see the really interesting sights (including those that are not immediately obvious to those making their own arrangements), take you to dinner venues that you might not find on your own and make sure you don't get lost. Also, depending on the price, you might find yourself staying in 5 star accommodation, eating in top restaurants (some of which are Michelin rated) and trying out fabulous wines. Over the last few years we have begun to join tours in Europe that often include riders with Riding Experience 3 . That is riders without much riding experience, but who are fit and believe that a seven day tour is within their scope and to date they have not been wrong. The advent of rented e-bikes has certainly made it easier for novice riders to complete one week tours such as the Dalmatian Islands Tour of Southern Croatia which involved lots of climbing and daily distances of 40-60 kms. However, if you are a novice and proposing to join a tour and hire a normal hybrid or road bike, I would suggest that you look for tours that are relatively flat. For example the French Cycling Holidays Chateaus of the Loire Valley Tour we did in 2019 was basically flat and the several novice riders coped without major problems. ( Riding Experience 3,4,5 or 6) My partner and I have joined many guided tours over the last 15 years and have been lead by some wonderful guides, but not always. As a result we now prefer to join tours based on who is the guide, as much as where the tour goes.

Mature Forum I decided to add this 'Mature Forum' to my web page as it's becoming very difficult to say what you think on social media. In addition, when I get asked questions about touring and road bikes, including e-road bikes, I have found that if I include 'commercial' data such as unit prices or how costs today compare with an earlier period, my social media contribution won't be published. So the aim of this Mature Forum is to allow those of us with an opinion relating to the many aspects of mature riding to have our views published or to comment on published views in a mature fashion Ankle Fusion Surgery -what's the impact on cycling? Fusion In early 2026 I saw two orthopaedic surgeons to discuss my worsening arthritis in my right ankle/foot. I was faced with three options - ignore the problem, have fusion surgery or ankle replacement surgery. To help me decide I asked what would be the impact on my cycling activities. It was at this point that I discovered just how little information was available to help me decide which option to pursue. The surgeons both indicated that replacement, if successful, would allow me too resume riding at the same level as before the surgery. They also indicated that riding could resume after recovery from fusion surgery. The first option of ignoring the problem was not realistic as my ankle pain was rapidly getting worse! Replacement is a relatively new procedure world wide and neither surgeon was able to adequately convince me and Mary that the risks associated with problems occurring after the surgery were worth it. So fusion was the only option for me. It was at this point that I discovered that there was very little information available about the impact of ankle fusion surgery on physical activities such as cycling, particularly if the rider clipped in to ride as I do. So began a process of tracking down acquaintances who had been down the same path. In this regard, my cousin Jennifer and her partner Matt, who had been down the same path a few years earlier, were an invaluable source of information. Matt advised that once my rehabilitation was complete there should be no reason why I could not resume riding and he was correct. It turned out that fusion operations can differ in the way they are performed and are rehabilitated. In my case I had to be fully off my feet for six weeks post surgery. Then I had to have my foot in a moon boot for another six weeks and I started Physiotherapy. It was at this point that my Physio advised that I could get on my trainer with my moon boot on. It was a clumsy process but with a little extra concentration to avoid slipping off the pedal mid ride, I fond my starting with relatively flat 5km rides which over the next few weeks build up to 10kms at a time. Finally at the four month mark, I got the all clear to resume wearing shoes instead of the moon boot. This enabled me to wear my cycling shoes on both feet. I changed pedals from two sided MTB pedals suitable for mountain bikes shoes to Shimano pedals with a non clip in flat side on one side and a clip in mechanism on the reverse. I had been advised that the clip in and out bring is very soft on these pedals and would be the easiest to clip out of with my recovering ankle. By the end of the fourth month I was back on my Creo road bike and riding with the HOBOS, my vets cycling group. Into my sixth month I am writing this after returning from a four day ride in Central NSW with the HOBOS during which I completed my second 100km challenge after completing ny first since the operation just two weeks earlier. So what has fusion surgery meant for my physical well being, as well as my cycling? In a nut shell they are both better. My foot movement downwards when I walk down ramps is limted by the fusion but on level surfaces or climbing I am much improved. As for cycling, I can clip in and out of the pedals with out any issues, I can pedal like I could before and there are no issues of leaving one foot on the pedal when the other descends at various stops. Would I recommend it if arthritis in and around your ankle is a problem - yes I would!!! The following attached pdf file (E-Bike Policy) is a discussion paper on e-bikes that I prepared and submitted to Pedal Power in August 2025. Pedal Power is the ACT organisation that represents ordinary bike riders in Canberra and surrounds. I encourage you to read it and then please let me know through the 'Contact Me' page whether you agree, disagree or think that I have missed something vital? If you are based anywhere other than Australia I would also encourage to let me know of similarities and differences where you are, plus details of actions that your loc al regulators have made or are contemplating in order to solve problems, real or perceived, associated with e-bikes? Steve Ryan, August 2025 Application is no longer available. E-Bike Policy Discussion Paper Ankle Fusion Surgery - what is the impct on cycling? Australia's e-Bike Dilema in 2025 This is a trial to see if its worth the effort and I thought I would start with a discussion about a recent article published by Flow Mountain Bike titled 'Stats With Latz / Legal, Illegal and Everything in Between: Australia's e-Bike Dilemma'. This article from Phil Latz was published by Flow Mountain Bikes in May 2025 and came to my attention through a Pedal Power ACT Advocates weekly list of bike related articles that I and my fellow advocates might find interesting when we are developing potential cycling policy for Pedal Power. I'll start off by quoting Phil's opening sentence - ' There is no doubt you've noticed e-Bikes loaded with multiple riders buzzing around your local streets and bike paths, well beyond 25 kph and not even pretending to pedal'. He went on to state that 'These aren't the Bosch, TQ, Yamaha or Shimano equipped e-bikes made by Trek, Merida, Norco, Focus or Canyon (or Specialized) you're likely familiar with that see a 250w max continuous power output and a 25 kph cutoff. So what Phil's article focuses on is two issues - first how the Australian Government via the then Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister, Kevin Hogan from the National Party, in January 2021 removed e-Bikes from the Road Vehicle Standards Act, thus removing the requirement for importers of e-Bikes to provide evidence that the imported bikes meet Australian Standard EN15194. The second is that in 2023 the NSW Government, against the advice from the Australian bicycle industry and its own Transport Department increased the maximum allowable continuous power rating from 250w to 500w. Fortunately, no other State or Territory has implemented thus change but it does mean that people living outside NSW can buy and have 500w bikes shipped to them from NSW. The implications for e-bike riders and the general community are immense - I read Phil's article a couple of days after I returned from a visit to family on Sydney's northern beaches where we noticed the e-Bike scenario that he described. We were staying near a high school and we were amazed at how many young people we saw riding heavy duty e-Bikes with multiple riders on each bike and often no helmets. Pedalling was not required and the speeds were often well in excess of 25 kph. And to be fair, it's not just students in NSW. Most major cities in Australia now have food deliveries performed by riders on similar e-Bikes that they must be importing via NSW - they are ridden on roads and paths and the drivers trying to minimise delivery time ride them at great speeds and without apparent regard for other riders, pedestrians or motor vehicles. Another emerging issue is the reporting on e-battery fires which are becoming more common. Phil notes in his article that the removal of the standard has lead to cheap and nasty e-Bikes being imported from overseas, often with poor quality electronics. He states that there have been no reported fires from quality e-battery systems and notes that quality home e-chargers coming with cut out switches that stop batteries charging when they are fully charged. My Specialized and Ryobli lithium battery charging systems certainly do this. Cheaper battery systems don't have this feature and batteries left to just keep on charging get hotter and hotter and sometimes get so hot they burst into flames. Just one more reason to take control of what e-products are imported in to Australia. What am I wanting to do about this? I have proposed to Pedal Power ACT that the organisation needs to get on the front foot and develop comprehensive e-Bike policy that can be recommended to the ACT and Commonwealth Governments as a sensible way of promoting an effective e-Bike presence across Australia. I will be taking this up at the mid July 2025 Advocacy Meeting. In the meantime I would love the Mature Forum readers to put forward their thoughts on both the issues arising from current e-Bike legislative arrangements and on how you thunk we shouldn't be moving forward to take advantage of the benefits offered by safe and effective e-Bikes? For those reading this in locations other than Australia you might be wondering the relevance to your situation. I would suggest that while the particular standards and regulations might be different for you, the implications may very well be the same. To date e-bikes seem to have been lumped into a single category with one set of rules (if any exist) applying whether or not they should be? I aim to lead the charge in Australia and would certainly welcome feedback on what is happening in other parts of the world. Who knows, a little agitation may be all that is needed to get the regulatory wheels rolling and the implementation of rules and standards that make sense as they are applied to the very diverse world of e-bikes. Steve Ryan June 2025.

Do you wonder whether you have appropriate experience to join a bike riding tour you have discovered? This web page aims to provide readers with a simple formula to decide. A casual riding starting in Bright, Victoria, Australia Your Riding Experience On this page are references to the six riding experiences that I believe cover most riders. If, as you read the following pages, you need a reminder of what each reference number signifies, just click on the reference and you will return to this page. Please note that all distances and speeds are metric. If you prefer imperial, the conversion rates are 1m = 1.01yds and 1kph = 0.62mph 1. I have never cycled but want to start. 2. I used to cycle, but it has been several years since my last ride. 3. I ride casually, usually covering 5 to 10 km at a time. 4. I am an enthusiastic casual rider, cycling about 30 to 50 km once a week. 5. I ride 2 to 3 times a week, averaging 30 to 60 km each ride. 6. I am a dedicated rider who not only follows the previous pattern but also participates in a casual cycling group that meets weekly and occasionally takes part in multi-day organised rides. While these categories cover a variety of riding experiences, I welcome any suggestions for additional categories. What type of cyclist are you?

e-road bikes from major brands first start appearing in 2019 and over the last five years the amount of data in relation to these types of bikes has mushroomed. However, it is often very difficult to compare 'apples with apples' as the major brands determine what they think purchasers might be interested in. This website therefore set about to decide what data might be of interest to readers and created a series of tables summarising the features of known e-road bikes. Comparison of E Road Bikes plus other e bikes as they are added. Have you ever tried comparing road bikes from different manufacturers and found that they each provide different metrics to assess their bikes. You can spend hours trying to work out if brand x is better or worse than the opposition or meets your personal requirements. It seems to be even worse with e-road bikes. The manufacturers seem to have made an art form of presenting their bike metrics so that it can seem almost impossible to compare one brand with another. Some of the questions that potential owners will ask include how heavy is the bike in running form, how long will the battery last before needing to be recharged, how long does it take for a full recharge, where is the electric motor located, etc. I decided to put together a template covering the data that I think needs to be available so that potential purchasers or hirers of e-road bikes can compare 'apples with apples'. As I was getting close to publishing the latest available data in early 2025 I became aware of a significant e-touring bike from Germany and I am hoping that it will be the first of many impressive e-bikes to be added to this blog. With the assistance of my tech savvy grand daughter, Charlotte, we have developed a template I am using for each bike featured in this section of the blog. To update the data on each bike took a considerable amount of work and unfortunately even after checking manufacturers' web pages, bike shop sites and cycle review websites there are still blanks against various headings. I hope that you, the reader, will be able to help me fill in the blanks. There are many e- bikes out there and seemingly more are entering, and occasionally departing (e.g. the Focus Paralane2 e-road bike is no longer being produced), the market each week. If you see an e-road bike not covered by my comparison chart please send me the details and I will try to find the specifications and add them to the chart. Likewise, if you find that the data I have provided is incorrect, please send me the correct data and I will fix the chart. While the site has an Australian bias when it comes to specification and price I am more than happy to add pages for bikes only available in other markets. After riding the De Rosa E-DO last year inn Italy I have added as much information as I could find on the net including its price in euros. CAVEAT: The tables in the next tab has mostly been prepared using data provided for Australian e-bikes. It's my understanding that most of the specifications are consistent across Australasia, North America and Europe/the UK, with the exception of motor sizes and top speeds. The comparison data are metric rather than imperial, but this makes comparison easier and the reader can easily convert metrics to imperial if required. Likewise I have had regard to Australian Road Design Rules which limit electric bike motors to 250Kw and a top speed of 25 kph. The USA and NZ allow greater power and speeds but this is treated as a given rather than outlined in the chart.