I have done this route a few years ago, and trust me, wild animals will be the least of your worries. The fellow Indian human beings, however, especially those in buses and cars? All the best. I just hope you make it back in one piece.
I love it when these three decide to travel to some inordinate country and screw around. I wish the series lasted more than 1000 km every time they do this. Looking forward to this!
I love that you feature affordable bikes instead of using 10k carbon bikes that are marketed everywhere nowadays. Really shows that you don't need to spend your children's college funds to have a great bikepacking trip. Sure, if I ride a bike 10,000 or more km a year, it might be okay to spend decent amounts of money to make these 10,000km as comfortable as possible, but most people just enjoy going on long, chill trips on the weekends or during vacation and in that case, a simple, cheap bike will be just fine. Not to mention that most of the time, the biggest improvements come from fine tuning to your own circumstances, i.e. a good bike fit with small replacements of the seatpost, crank, stem, handlebar etc.
Im holding the torch for Cube here in the UK. 2016 Cube Attain GTC Race... Back in the days when £1000-1500 would get you either a full ultegra groupset or almost all of it.
@@Epiqe Great excuse to hold on to what you've got and just upgrading it with new groupset rather than buying a new bike. ive just done the same with an old Triban 540 10sp. Pieced together an R7000 groupset for a lot less than retail or better second hand bike and called it a day.
I had the same cube too. It ran great but be careful with the bearings in the rim. After a tour in the rain and around 1000km, the grease was gone and the individual balls made noises. I didn't have any complete bearings installed and I needed 2 extra tools to remove the freehub. It's funny that Cube sells something like that for gravel.
Oh my God I can’t wait for this! Your rides that you do are the best. I do have friends from India that advise to be weary of the roads, vehicles and the food! Good luck mates! 🚴🏻♂️🚴🏻♂️🚴🏻♂️
Yes! Cube! I have a CrossRace and it was 1000s cheaper than every other comparable bike. LOVE my Cube! And, since it’s not sold in the US, I had to buy it from a shop in Germany and had it shipped over. Worth the effort
Oh hell yeah man. You're gonna absolutely love it. The Western Ghats are absolutely beautiful. Amazing roads, great scenery, great food, and the weather is really nice too
@@alexhunter6720 not completely. They improvised a lot but had the basic plot of each episode scripted so it would make sense when they needed to film something.
good to see my commuter bike getting some love, did 12k km in 3 years on it, mainly driving to work and back, i really love it, but whenever i have to change the tubes when they puncture, its a nightmare to get the tires back on the wheel, worked around it using vaseline to slip them easier on the rims
Nice to see a Cube being put to the test on youtube. Have a Nuroad myself and I am very excited to see how the brakes will perform as they are what I am most disappointed about on my bike.
Have the same Cube Nuroad pro and gave it an immediate upgrade to some Mavic Allroad SL’s and it lost almost a kilo from the stock Alex rims! Now it’s one of the most bomb proof and inexpensive gravel machines out there…❤
Nice! I have the same bike and I love riding it. I made those wheels tubeless 6 months ago and I've had no problems whatsoever after 1000+ kms. (commuting to work and riding gravel routes every now and then) The Spyre TRP mechanical disc brakes were okay, but I upgraded to GRX 400 hydraulic disc brakes/brifters and I like these so much better
On opening the right pannier bags: I started rolling the latch of one in outward and the other one inward. This is how I differentiate between the too (e.g. Electronics (your laptop camera gear etc) are always rolled inwards).
Cade and Crew in India.. Bring it on lads.. Godspeed and can't wait for the action to unfold and see Ben joining you guys. all my favourite cycling UA-camrs In one big adventure..❤
Amazing time of year as I cant get enough of the daily vlogs. I have to add a but though. If you make me buy another bike to sit in the garage for 8 months to be sold at a loss never ridden due to lack of weather and will power, I will not be happy. That Triban was expensive lol
Cube also has a dedicated racs for Nuroad, there are also versions with dynamo hub and good lighting kit. Also you could mount tubus tara front rack if you wan to pack fully. Those rims are tubeless compatible, last year I found rim model on alexrims site and it was tubeless ready.
I Love my nuroad Ex. Superb for the money and get lots of positive comments when others try it who have more exotic bikes. Changed the Wheels to Mavic Allroad pros and I also have a pair of DT swiss GR1600s. Only other real upgrades are the saddle that I changed to a Selle italia Novus Boost gravel and also fitted a Hope carbon seat posts that look mint. good luck on your trip
I've been riding my Cube NuRoad Pro FE ( so with mudguards ,rear rack, dynamo front hub and lights ) for about 6 months now and i really like it ! only place i'd improve it is hydraulic discs instead of the mechanical ones it came with.
The Schwalbe G-One Allround tires that come on that bike stock are actually pretty good for riding tarmac. The knob profile isn't very aggressive at all, so they make for good allrounders on mixed surfaces (as the name already implies), in fact they are rather limited in their capabilites on really technical gravel sections. I wouldn't have swapped them out personally, but tire choice is of course somewhat subjective and there are no black and white right and wrong answers here.
I'm very curious what you think of the TRP Spyre brakes. I run those on my gravel bike and I find them to be perfectly adequate and way easier to adjust than the typical single-piston mechanical types. Maybe a cool future video would be comparing them to the HY/RD hybrid ones.
Ooh I almost got that Cube Nuroad as my first gravel bike! Ended up buying another brand, but it's great to see something in my budget being featured 😂
Affordable bike which is REALLY affordable is good too see! And the camera bag is really sick, would copy design for myself but it wont work for non-weather resistent camera unfortunatelly
Bike looks great, bags look great, helmet looks great, glasses look ridiculous. At this point we may as well just strap a windshield (windscreen) to our faces. On a side note, I have an Indian neighbor who sells Indian food out of her home to make some extra money and her samosas are really good! Too much deep fried food isn't healthy, and I wouldn't eat them during a bike ride, but they are good.
I've done trip around India in 98/99, pretty much all four corners of the country. In six months I did 11.500 km in a 55 days of cycling on 1997 kona Explosif. However, for the whole trip I've used a 35l backpack, no panniers, no fancy frame bags. No GPS, and only dual carriageway was between Dehli and Agra. As for food goes, although I'm a carnivore, I ate vegetarian food 95% of time. Much safer and Indian thali (meals in the South) tastes amazing and costs next to nothing. Nice that Cade and co are revisiting the places that I've done 20 or more years ago, and I can still see that you can have some fun riding there.
Excited to see how the trip goes but just wanted to give a hears up to Benja'n'in that he won't be finding much samosa till you get a bit north in Karnataka... dosa is gonna be your saviour on the road in south India!
Welcome to India, Francis and Benjanim Since you already made plans, will be a massive miss out on my part to ride with your guys. However, for the future, try the NorthEast of india or the Seven Sisters as its known. Only if you like crazy elevations and a mixed altitude. with fairly decent roads, along with some surprising potholes, here and there :D But crazy good views comparatively. Protip - Dont matter where and how you ride, just make sure to keep checking your back end, whenever you take a pass/overtake anyone or anything from the left or the right hand side. People here in India has no idea or understanding about pedals bikes, that it can do over 30kmph easily.
Stay off the highways! Figure out a route that takes bylanes, forests and villages. Tigers and villagers are more friendly than the highway vehicles - towards cyclists. Take a lot of extras (derailleur hangers, spokes, etc.) Shimano stuff higher than acera is available only in bigger cities. All the best!!! Have a blast!!!
I have done this route a few years ago, and trust me, wild animals will be the least of your worries. The fellow Indian human beings, however, especially those in buses and cars? All the best. I just hope you make it back in one piece.
Human life is not valued as much when there are many people. Otherwise, they would all be wearing seatbelts and adhering to the traffic rules.
I love it when these three decide to travel to some inordinate country and screw around. I wish the series lasted more than 1000 km every time they do this. Looking forward to this!
Francis and his friends are FUN. WITTY, STRONG !!!!
LOVE all of these rides. Good wishes to you in India, boys ! 🍀🍀🍀🍀🔥🔥🐯🐯🐯🐘🐘🐘❤❤❤
How come India is inordinate?
I love that you feature affordable bikes instead of using 10k carbon bikes that are marketed everywhere nowadays. Really shows that you don't need to spend your children's college funds to have a great bikepacking trip. Sure, if I ride a bike 10,000 or more km a year, it might be okay to spend decent amounts of money to make these 10,000km as comfortable as possible, but most people just enjoy going on long, chill trips on the weekends or during vacation and in that case, a simple, cheap bike will be just fine.
Not to mention that most of the time, the biggest improvements come from fine tuning to your own circumstances, i.e. a good bike fit with small replacements of the seatpost, crank, stem, handlebar etc.
If they would show up with a 10k bike it would be robbed out under their bum.
Also I think insurance would say "are you all there!?"
Man, I'm soo gassed up for this series. I'm so excited my wife is confused.😂. Best of luck. Looking forward to it.
Good to see Cube bike represented in media, they are huge in Germany and Poland but they seem not to have publicity they deserve
Im holding the torch for Cube here in the UK. 2016 Cube Attain GTC Race... Back in the days when £1000-1500 would get you either a full ultegra groupset or almost all of it.
Same as Merida 😢
@@Rose.Of.Hizakifor 1000-1500 it is sora, tiagra or grx400 unfortunately…
@@Epiqe Great excuse to hold on to what you've got and just upgrading it with new groupset rather than buying a new bike. ive just done the same with an old Triban 540 10sp. Pieced together an R7000 groupset for a lot less than retail or better second hand bike and called it a day.
They do seem to make some really nice bikes for the price point they're at, particularly when it comes to the groupsets they are specc'd with.
I had the same cube too. It ran great but be careful with the bearings in the rim. After a tour in the rain and around 1000km, the grease was gone and the individual balls made noises. I didn't have any complete bearings installed and I needed 2 extra tools to remove the freehub. It's funny that Cube sells something like that for gravel.
YAY! Another bike trip with you guys! I love watching your videos dude. Love Lawrence and Chappers. Well pumped to watch this series.
Oh my God I can’t wait for this! Your rides that you do are the best. I do have friends from India that advise to be weary of the roads, vehicles and the food!
Good luck mates!
🚴🏻♂️🚴🏻♂️🚴🏻♂️
Welcome to India! Stay safe, and all the best!
Yes! Cube! I have a CrossRace and it was 1000s cheaper than every other comparable bike. LOVE my Cube! And, since it’s not sold in the US, I had to buy it from a shop in Germany and had it shipped over. Worth the effort
You don't need to be able to ride faster than a tiger. You just need to be able to ride faster than the other riders.
Oh hell yeah man. You're gonna absolutely love it. The Western Ghats are absolutely beautiful. Amazing roads, great scenery, great food, and the weather is really nice too
TOP GEAR of cycling! Realshit...not scripted. LOVE IT!
But top gear is completely scripted?!
@@alexhunter6720 not completely. They improvised a lot but had the basic plot of each episode scripted so it would make sense when they needed to film something.
good to see my commuter bike getting some love, did 12k km in 3 years on it, mainly driving to work and back, i really love it, but whenever i have to change the tubes when they puncture, its a nightmare to get the tires back on the wheel, worked around it using vaseline to slip them easier on the rims
Glad that you are starting off from Kochi. Welcome!
Slightly funny that you’re wearing Van Rysel helmet and glasses, but Lawrence is the one riding a Van Rysel bike
I’m very stoked for this series. I’ll be in Kochi for a few months starting January (I live in Maine in the US). So cool that you’re there on bikes!
Good luck, have a great time! I'm curious to see how the Cube holds up, because I'm EXTREMELY tempted by a Cube Agree.
Have fun, don't get eaten.
Oh these big trip episodes are the best! Thank you for sharing! Safe travels.
Nice to see a Cube being put to the test on youtube. Have a Nuroad myself and I am very excited to see how the brakes will perform as they are what I am most disappointed about on my bike.
Oh am I looking forward to THIS! Vicarious bike-venturing! Best of luck to you, brother!
Have the same Cube Nuroad pro and gave it an immediate upgrade to some Mavic Allroad SL’s and it lost almost a kilo from the stock Alex rims! Now it’s one of the most bomb proof and inexpensive gravel machines out there…❤
Can't hardly wait, let the journey begin!!!
Have a nice trip, ride safe... et keep on making us dream !
Looking forward to see you guys soon. Enjoy the mountains!!! ❤
Nice! I have the same bike and I love riding it. I made those wheels tubeless 6 months ago and I've had no problems whatsoever after 1000+ kms. (commuting to work and riding gravel routes every now and then) The Spyre TRP mechanical disc brakes were okay, but I upgraded to GRX 400 hydraulic disc brakes/brifters and I like these so much better
Great video, love to see what you guys get up to off the bikes as well! Can't wait to watch the rest of the trip!!
On opening the right pannier bags:
I started rolling the latch of one in outward and the other one inward. This is how I differentiate between the too (e.g. Electronics (your laptop camera gear etc) are always rolled inwards).
I just remember which side has what, and the tailfin bags are set up to fit only one side.
I have a Cube Nuroad Race and it's incredible. Enjoy the trip guys!!
Enjoy! Looks like a great trip….hope you are able to open the crisps bags this trip🥳
oh a cube, nice.
Their 2025 lineup is packed!
Loved the previous long journeys, and I can't wait to follow your new adventure. Good luck!
On the plus side, coming home will feel like a luxury holiday and put a big smile on your face 😃
I am so excited!!! Can’t wait for nect video.
me too
Really appreciate seeing the bike unpacking and the logistical challenges you guys face.
Yes, a Cade video with some actual cycling
Cade and Crew in India.. Bring it on lads.. Godspeed and can't wait for the action to unfold and see Ben joining you guys.
all my favourite cycling UA-camrs In one big adventure..❤
I love my Cube Nuroad, did my first century on it. I have the full GRX version with hydrolic breaks and it was only a few hundred more.
Love from Goa❤️
❤❤
Looking forward to the series! Have fun guys and be safe
Ohhhh so excited to see the rest of this trip and how the Cube does 🎉❤🎉❤
Looking forward to this! Have a great time boys and stay safe 🙏🏻
You will love this route. Have a great ride , You will be watched :)
I'm so excited for the *Benjanim* Road Show along with several other non-funny blokes.
Amazing time of year as I cant get enough of the daily vlogs. I have to add a but though. If you make me buy another bike to sit in the garage for 8 months to be sold at a loss never ridden due to lack of weather and will power, I will not be happy. That Triban was expensive lol
Good Luck! Safety first.
I have a cube a Ebike mtb given great service!. Good luck to all 3 of you!!!
Good on Cube for having a bike on price parity with Decathlon!
Thanks for sharing Francis , be safe !
Welcome to India guys! Happy riding ❤️✌️
Cube also has a dedicated racs for Nuroad, there are also versions with dynamo hub and good lighting kit. Also you could mount tubus tara front rack if you wan to pack fully. Those rims are tubeless compatible, last year I found rim model on alexrims site and it was tubeless ready.
I Love my nuroad Ex. Superb for the money and get lots of positive comments when others try it who have more exotic bikes. Changed the Wheels to Mavic Allroad pros and I also have a pair of DT swiss GR1600s. Only other real upgrades are the saddle that I changed to a Selle italia Novus Boost gravel and also fitted a Hope carbon seat posts that look mint. good luck on your trip
I look forward to watching this adventure.
I've been riding my Cube NuRoad Pro FE ( so with mudguards ,rear rack, dynamo front hub and lights ) for about 6 months now and i really like it ! only place i'd improve it is hydraulic discs instead of the mechanical ones it came with.
Omg you guys are in India , way to go. Will be following this story 😊
YES!!! LeChappers, Carpenter, and Cade together again!!!
The Schwalbe G-One Allround tires that come on that bike stock are actually pretty good for riding tarmac. The knob profile isn't very aggressive at all, so they make for good allrounders on mixed surfaces (as the name already implies), in fact they are rather limited in their capabilites on really technical gravel sections. I wouldn't have swapped them out personally, but tire choice is of course somewhat subjective and there are no black and white right and wrong answers here.
I'm very curious what you think of the TRP Spyre brakes. I run those on my gravel bike and I find them to be perfectly adequate and way easier to adjust than the typical single-piston mechanical types. Maybe a cool future video would be comparing them to the HY/RD hybrid ones.
Cube nu roads great. Don't envy you with India trip though. Good luck.
Ooh I almost got that Cube Nuroad as my first gravel bike! Ended up buying another brand, but it's great to see something in my budget being featured 😂
Lets goo. Welcome to India
Welcome to India, have a great time 🤩
just love these kinds of videos👍
Just completed a 20k word assignment on the cultures of India, have a wicked time- it's beautiful ❤
Another great trip, big love to Ben and Lawrence
Welcome to India, all the best for your ride
Affordable bike which is REALLY affordable is good too see! And the camera bag is really sick, would copy design for myself but it wont work for non-weather resistent camera unfortunatelly
Love to see you guys in India. BTW you are in Kerala, and Diwali is not celebrated as mighty as in North India.
Bike looks great, bags look great, helmet looks great, glasses look ridiculous. At this point we may as well just strap a windshield (windscreen) to our faces.
On a side note, I have an Indian neighbor who sells Indian food out of her home to make some extra money and her samosas are really good! Too much deep fried food isn't healthy, and I wouldn't eat them during a bike ride, but they are good.
I've done trip around India in 98/99, pretty much all four corners of the country. In six months I did 11.500 km in a 55 days of cycling on 1997 kona Explosif.
However, for the whole trip I've used a 35l backpack, no panniers, no fancy frame bags. No GPS, and only dual carriageway was between Dehli and Agra.
As for food goes, although I'm a carnivore, I ate vegetarian food 95% of time. Much safer and Indian thali (meals in the South) tastes amazing and costs next to nothing.
Nice that Cade and co are revisiting the places that I've done 20 or more years ago, and I can still see that you can have some fun riding there.
street food and cycling... this is gonna get spicy
You guys are living the dream!!!
Oh man I was so hoping James was going!! Still though exciting trip!!
Good luck! Stay safe!
I was thinking of getting the cube cross bike as a light graveller, ps benja nim sounds a bit ninja, have a great time
Last time brits sailed to India things didn't turn out well. Hence the complicated visa process demanding to fly!
Excited to see how the trip goes but just wanted to give a hears up to Benja'n'in that he won't be finding much samosa till you get a bit north in Karnataka... dosa is gonna be your saviour on the road in south India!
Mate, I’m an Indian living in Vietnam, i don’t have the courage to cycle through India. People find Vietnam crazy but it’s a lot safer than India
Welcome to India !!
Welcome to India mate!!!
I can only pray for safety.... India... good lord
You guys are legends!
My first bike was a cube bike, loved it, enjoy!!
Don't take a down jacket this time Francis 😂. All the best 👍
Welcome to India, Francis and Benjanim
Since you already made plans, will be a massive miss out on my part to ride with your guys. However, for the future, try the NorthEast of india or the Seven Sisters as its known. Only if you like crazy elevations and a mixed altitude. with fairly decent roads, along with some surprising potholes, here and there :D But crazy good views comparatively.
Protip - Dont matter where and how you ride, just make sure to keep checking your back end, whenever you take a pass/overtake anyone or anything from the left or the right hand side. People here in India has no idea or understanding about pedals bikes, that it can do over 30kmph easily.
The boys are back in town!!!
Awsome! Would love to see lapierre bikes aswell
Love these trip videoes!!!
Very excited for this!
Excited!!! Where's me popcorn?
Looking forward to this 😊👍
Here they go again 🚴🚴♂🚴♀ 🐯🦣
Good vid. Have fun. Don’t get eaten 👋
Yoooooo, Welcome to my country 🎉🎉🎉🎉.
Incredible India
Good luck 😂
Lawrence.. laughing... I never ..😂
Of all places on earth, India.... WHY?!? You couldn't pay me enough.
I wish we could buy the Van Rysel kit in the US!
Stay off the highways!
Figure out a route that takes bylanes, forests and villages. Tigers and villagers are more friendly than the highway vehicles - towards cyclists. Take a lot of extras (derailleur hangers, spokes, etc.) Shimano stuff higher than acera is available only in bigger cities. All the best!!! Have a blast!!!
As Micky Flannigan says "you'll get the shits".......good luck.