Gambol/ˈɡambl/ verb; to run or jump about playfully. Starting in Stawell, the Gariwerd Gambol plays on 25 years of experience riding backroads throughout Gariwerd (the Grampians) and the surrounding plains. Spring is an awesome time to visit the region, the wildflowers are abundant and the creeks are still babbling before the hotter summer temps kick in. […]
Buongiorno, and attenzione! We’re bringing you another exciting slide night, with our longtime crew member and espresso enthusiast, Finn. Recently returned from a 2 month, 1300km trip through Italy, with an overnighter in Slovenia, He’s ready to answer all your questions. What should I bring? When should I go? Do all roads really lead to […]
The unseasonally warm weather really turned it on in mid May for the Blackwood overnighter. Sunny skies, quiet roads bulk snacks and good vibes were a theme of the weekend. A group of about 30 rolled out from Sunbury station and settled into a steady pace on route to our morning tea break. A short […]
Huw, Andy and Adam held a Slide Night where they shared their experience and photos from the Vic Divide, a 550km off-road bikepacking route traversing the Great Dividing Range across the state of Victoria, from Melbourne to Albury/Wodonga. Run as an annual race – riders typically complete the course in 2 to 4 days, but we […]
It’s an uncharacteristically stormy day here in Melbourne, and what do we do when the conditions aren’t optimal for riding bikes? We plan rides! Tomorrow, friends, the sun will shine and we will have routes at the ready! We’ve already hit you with the blog post on what to bring on your first overnighter, now […]
Join us for a slide night as David McCourt recounts the story of taking “the long way home” by bike and shares his amazing experience with us.Here’s a little insight into his adventure and what he has in store for us. Words & Images: David McCourt In June 2022 I left my front door in […]
2024 marked the 9th edition of Will’s brainchild, the Dirty ‘Rat, and in our humble opinion, this was the best one yet! This year we experimented with a new format, offering a fully catered experience with Will’s Ford Laser popping up for snack stops along the way. Read on for more! On Day 1, riders […]
**Event Currently at capacity**Please email will@offcourse.bike to join the waitlist should there be any cancellations. Come and join us for our inclusive and supported fun-filled 3 day ride in Gariwerd. This three day route has been created from many years of experience riding backroads into the National Park from Ararat, thus THE DIRTY (Ara)RAT was […]
Keen to plan your own routes? Read on for some ideas and resources to get you started. Kia Binch and I (Pete) did a presentation in March 2023 on this very topic, we’ll do our best to cover everything we spoke about on the night. Make a cuppa and settle in!
We first got to know Cjell Monē from his trickle of blog posts outlining some his bike tours including 3 Tour Divide runs, 2 AZT rides, trips through India, Thailand, Nepal, NZ and our beautiful homeland of Australia to name a few. At a point along the way he began making his own bikes for his adventures in the back of a 1977 Toyota Camper. Some time has passed, his Toyota camper has grown into a larger bread delivery truck and his production has expanded to include 3 stock models being made in Taiwan.
Here at Commuter Cycles, we love adventure! Some of our happiest interactions are those where we are helping customers to get kitted out for their first multi-day trips. We have prepared a handy pack list for your first overnighter. Feel free to use this as a base, and customise to it as you wish. It’s your ride!
We’ll be heading out to camp on the banks of Birrarung on July 8th so get your warm sleeping bags out and get ready for a cozy night around the fire.
Going on holiday or moving and taking your bike with you? Want to learn how to box your bike?
This one hour demonstration session with cover how to safely pack your bike into a box for transport.
The inaugural Fools Gold 420 bikepacking event departed from Maryborough at 8am on Saturday 22nd April. Almost 30 participants started, and approximately half completed the 420km event through Central Victoria in times ranging from 27 hours to 4 days.
Calling all easy-riders and aspiring bikepackers. We’ll be heading out into the Brisbane Range for an easy overnighter on March 25th/26th
We’ll be hosting a bikerafting night at Inner North Brewery with Ryan from Packraft Australia and Evan from Terra Rosa Gear on Wednesday the 12th of October. We’ll be covering some of the basics such as where to paddle and a bit on set -up and general packrafting. Hear trip reports from deep in the […]
A huge thanks to everybody who came to the 2022 edition of the Dirty Rat, the stoke for bike adventure has been reinvigorated!
A bike setup and gear centric appetiser for my solo ride through the red centre.
Early Friday morning, a group of our staff members and friends set out from the shop to embark on a long weekend riding around the Victorian High Country, traditional lands of the Jaitmatang Aboriginal people, max loaded with wine and cheese. The focus of this ride was minimum kms, maximum good times- a great introduction […]
Folks, here it is! The post that you didn’t know you needed: it’s the Commuter Cycles official guide to snorkpacking. What’s snorkpacking, you ask? It’s bikepacking, but where you pack a snorkel and make a beeline for your favourite underwater wonderland. Recently our very own Kias (@pollen_pal and @kia_is_asian) took a weekend trip down to […]
Now here’s something we’ve been really looking forward to!
‘Adventure By Bike’ has been Salsa’s motto for many years now and just about every bike in their range is designed with exploring, and carrying the right gear to be self sufficient, in mind.
If there’s one good thing about lockdown it’s that it breeds big ideas.
We’re very excited to welcome Bombtrack bicycles to the Commuter range.
The Sutra LTD (minus the U) has been a mainstay of our range for a few years now.
If you’ve ever even mentioned the word Fargo to us on the phone or in-store you’ll understand that at Commuter we love this bike. LOVE IT!
Is tell EVERYONE about Bridge Club!
If you’ve dropped into the store, or kept an eye on our social media, over the last twelve months you’ll have noticed a growing number of Surly Bridge Clubs getting around. And with good reason. After initially being underwhelmed by it on paper prior to it’s release, the Bridge Club really has proved itself as an extremely versatile, great value and super fun option for so many different kinds of riding.
Of all the styles of bike we are lucky enough to have on the floor at Commuter the dropbar, dirt capable bike is probably our favourite, and certainly the most versatile. As a result we’ve tried to stock a LOT of options in this style of bike.
We’ll start our series of deeper introductions to our range with what is definitely the least well known member of the Commuter family, the Tumbleweed Prospector
We had first met Ben via email when he was gearing up to take on the inaugural Indian Pacific Wheel race in 2017. We helped deck him out with some Apidura kit and Dynamo power for the long stretches in the dark.
I’m back in the shop after a month in Bolivia. My partner and I fitted about 12 days of riding bikes into our holiday. Here’s a bit of a list of the gear we took and how we set our bikes up for some high plains drifting.
MKS are best known for their high quality track pedals popular with Keirin racers of Japan, more recently they have brought back some old favorites as well as introducing some new casual platform pedal offerings. I recently tested out the new MKS Allways EZY pedals on a bikepacking trip to the Flinders ranges. The large […]
Save the date, we’ve planned the Melbourne edition of the international Swift Campout. If you’re interested in trying camping by bike this is the perfect opportunity to give it a shot. You can expect a 30km ride, mostly on bike paths, to a Parks Vic campsite with a campfire. All you need is a bike, a tent, camping gear and warm clothes.
Our friend and talented wordsmith Pepper Cook has dropped a few musings about our latest installment of Commuter campout: Single Track. Whiskey. Leaping Frogs. Prairie Breakers. Large bearded men and one lady in flannos riding bikes adorned with front baskets, complete with decorative foliage. These are just a few items to be found in the […]
The inaugural Hunt 1000 bikepacking event kicks off this Sunday, 27th November. Participants will be taking on a 1000km personal challenge through the Snowy mountains from Canberra to Melbourne. The challenge takes on the best fire trails and backroads the Snowy’s have to offer. Everybody will be self–sufficient, bringing all their own sleeping gear, food and emergency equipment. A suggested itinerary of 7-10 days has been put forward by the organisers however, some have set themselves a challenge to finish it faster. We have many friends and customers giving it a go and would like to share a bit about their bikes and set up.
I first went riding with Gareth a few years ago, it was a three day ride out to Woods Point and back with a group of friends. Gareth had been into road bikes for a few years but this was his first ‘off road’ ride, I’ll never forget the guy in the Bont carbon road shoes sliding down a very steep fire trail to camp one evening with a look of terror on his face, I think he was hooked! Fast forward to 2016 and Gareth is a serious contender in the world’s hardest MTB race, the Tour Divide.