Originally Posted by
ChiapasFixed
yes this is definitely an option, although we’re still learning and testing as much as possible beforehand.
our itinerary will be Mex—Tokyo, ride Japan for a couple weeks, then Tokyo—Bangkok and ride Thailand for 3+ weeks. Any extra flights really put us beyond budget as there are 4 of us!
Would Tokyo be a good place to source folders? If we were to fly anyplace else, wouldn’t Singapore be the best option? It seems like it has become the Mecca of folders. Although that United Trifold only available in Indonesia is very intriguing — if only for the fact that I really think it could accept 18x2 tires! Which would mean ultra small (perhaps even gate check size) fold, disc brakes and fatties, although boo aluminum
On whether the United Trifold can accommodate a 50-355 wheel/tire from its stock 37-349 wheel/tire, note that the former is about 3.2cm larger in diameter than the latter.
How/where would I play it, climate permitting?
- Fly into Osaka's Kansai airport,
- Take the train from Kansai airport to Wakayama,
- Take the ferry from Wakayama to Tokushima on Shikoku island
- Tour Shikoku island and end up in Yawatahama
- While on Shikoku, take a side trip to do the Shimanami Kaido route
- Take the ferry from Yawatahama on Shikoku to Beppu on Kyushu island
- Tour Kyushu
- Take the ferry from Fukuoka or Kitakyushu on Kyushu to South Korea's Busan
- Ride from Busan to Seoul along the Five Rivers Bike Path
Or in reverse, flying in to Incheon airport in South Korea and cycling in to Seoul from the airport on a bike path. In either case, the Seoul - Osaka haul will be epic. If you've got the time and coin, that's the ride in Asia-Pacific, and if you're still keen when you roll in to Osaka at the end, simply fly to Taipei and ride Taiwan's East Coast. I'm getting a woody just thinking about it. 😂
The wife and I are big fans of Osaka. Friendlier, less intimidating, cheaper accomodation and fewer tourists than Tokyo (think Guadalajara vs. CDMX) while affording all amenities of a large city, with quick, easy access to Sakai, Kobe, Nara and Kyoto. I know two shops that specialize in folders if you are interested in sourcing your bikes there.
Don't be wedded to disc brakes. Rim brakes are fine and perfectly serviceable. All of my tours have been with rim brakes, in fact. But if you go with disc, make sure they are good, reliable brakes. Last thing you want is to be leaking or rubbing throughout the tour from the ghetto brakes that usually come stock on low cost bikes. It's a tour, not a ride in the park, where day in day out reliability is key. Biggest bummer on tour is to have to your bike worked on and not being able to ride. As you are a party of four, the chances that any one of four bikes will have a breakdown is higher than the chance of single bike. If the probability that bike A will break down is 0.01 and the probability that bike B will break down is 0.02, the probability that either bike will break down is 0.01 + 0.02 - (0.01 x 0.02) = 0.03. You get the point. Elementary probability is why I ride alone.