I toured Bali on my old road bike with 700c 25 tyres many moons ago. No problem with the bike or the road surfaces, except the occasional steep drop where the road had been resurfaced and was a lot higher than the surrounding ground. Still possible to avoid traffic back then, but not the hills. Slogging up the side of a volcano late in the afternoon is no fun.

Wow...main Bali road surface are quite ok. It's the secondary and farmers roads which can be jarring on small wheels.



It is still possible to avoid traffic, and find gorgeous contry roads, but certainly not in the southern part.



The climbs? Yeah, in Bali level ground is difficult to find. Onevis always ascending or descending. The other day I rode to Kintamani, essentially a continous four hour climb to 1,200masl. I pushed the last 500 meters cuz the gradients were insane. Once there you are treated to an awsome view of Batur volcano crater...

Well I'm impressed. We cheated, and hailed a minibus half-way up. It was foggy in Kintamani after all that, so we left without seeing the view. Plenty of others, though, Bali remains a great place, despite all the resorts and tourists.

I must dig out my pictures one day.

I had avoided Kintamani for years due to the aggresive touts. Till last week when I bit the bullet, and headed north and up. I had forgotten the truly impressive view, the awsome work of nature nearby. It really is one of the great natural vistas of Southeast Asia. And, the touts had been clerared out, and no one pestered us (the wife rode ahead by car, and we met for lunch at the crater rim). That image earlier is from a café there. That last click to the top, though, was a real b!tch.


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I used Kojaks for commuting, and liked how they rode, but on the city streets in Tokyo, I got an average of two flats per month. I was not so annoyed with the flats, two per month is average for me, regardless of which bike or tire or place I ride. A couple years ago I switched to Panaracer Minits, and get a few less flats, and they are faster than the Kojaks.

Minits come in Lite and Tough versions, do they not? Are they available in 349 size?