A well-maintained bicycle with low gears is the basic requirement for a cycling holiday. Each participating bicycle should be checked over well in advance of your leaving date so you have time to replace any defective parts. Try not to buy a new bicycle just before the holiday – you will need time to get used to the bicycle before setting off on long trips with all your luggage. Check with your bicycle repair shop if you are in any doubt about whether your bicycle is up to the trip.

What type of bicycle to take on a cycling holiday?

The ideal type of bicycle is a proper touring bicycle – i.e. a relatively lightweight, but robust bicycle with fairly wide tyres and strong front and rear racks to carry panniers. A touring bicycle gives you riding comfort and many gears, and will be generally constructed to take on long distances and heavy loads. But for a cycling holiday in Denmark the following types of bicycle can also be considered:

- A good quality ordinary upright bicycle with 5-7 gears will often be fine for short trips.

- A city-bike (or “CTB”) is an excellent solution, as these are usually strong and have relatively wide tyres.

- A mountain bike (or “ATB”) will also do the job, but the knobbly tyres require relatively more effort on smooth roads.

- A bicycle of a less-robust type can only be recommended for cycling holidays if it is not of the cheapest quality, as cut-price bicycles often have design flaws that might give you problems.

- A racing or sports bicycle with very narrow wheels is not really suitable, but if you are travelling light and only plan to ride on tarmac roads, this type of lightweight bicycle may be a plus, if the aim is to cover long distances at speed.

- On women's bicycles with a low crossbar, the frame tends not to be as rigid as on men’s bicycles. With a heavily loaded bicycle this may result in ”wobble”, especially when going fast downhill. Try to go for a bicycle with a high crossbar, or avoid loading the bicycle heavily.

The many scenic cycling routes in Denmark sometimes cover lengthy stretches of gravel road, and on these surfaces narrow tyres (less than 28mm) will not be suitable. The ideal bicycle for Danish cycling routes should have moderately wide tyres, i.e. 32-37mm. The wider the tyres, the better the shock-absorption, which saves both the wheels and the rider’s back. Wide tyres also roll better on gravel roads. Against that, wide tyres give greater rolling resistance on smooth roads – especially if the tyre tread is very knobbly. The problem can be kept to a minimum if you keep the tyres pumped up hard.

Generally there is no problem in fitting wide tyres onto narrow rims. For example, if your existing tyres are size 700Cx28, they can usually be replaced with size 700Cx32 or 35 – assuming there is enough space under the mudguards. A mountain bike can be fitted with ”road tyres” (i.e. slightly narrower tyres and less knobbly) for a smoother ride on tarmac roads. In any event it is a good idea to fit your bicycle with new tyres before the holiday – this could well save you a lot of hassle.

Denmark is not as flat as you might think. There are quite a few hills and even some very steep climbs – they are just not as long as they are in other parts of the world. If carrying any amount of luggage, you will therefore need at least one low gear (unless you want to wheel your bike up all the hills!).

The majority of bicycles with internal hub gears are geared too high for a cycling holiday with luggage, but it won’t cost a fortune to get your bicycle shop to change the gearing by replacing the rear sprocket with a larger one. External derailleur gear systems offer many gears – and can be altered to match your personal requirements. Moreover, there is less friction in a derailleur gear than a hub gear. All in all, derailleur gears are therefore the ideal choice for cycling tours.

The advantage of having bicycle panniers is that they sit firmly attached to the bicycle and make for a lower centre of gravity than luggage bundled on the rear rack. The lower your centre of gravity – the easier it is to handle the bicycle. One pair of large rear panniers is often sufficient. But if you are going to be taking a lot of equipment (e.g. camping gear) you may need to add front panniers as well. A handlebar bag is useful for carrying small items such as maps, money, sunglasses and a camera.

Children cycling on their own bicycles can carry small front-panniers fitted to rear racks so they can look after their own personal gear. However, young children (aged 6-7) should not be allowed to carry any substantial amount of luggage on their bicycles, especially items such as sleeping bags and similar bulky items that make it more difficult to get on and off the bicycle.

A bicycle trailer is a good idea if you want to take more luggage than you can carry on the bicycle.

You may need a trailer, for example:

- if travelling with very young children

- if you are riding a tandem, where the luggage space per person is reduced (however, make sure that your total length is not too difficult to manoeuvre; the law stipulates max. 3.5m)

- with riders of mixed abilities, so you can let the strongest person in your group take all the luggage in a trailer. This will enable any weaker rider(s) to travel further and faster, and allow everyone to ride together, at the same pace.

But bear in mind that a trailer will inevitably restrict your freedom, as you may have to avoid narrow woodland trails and so on - and climbing hills takes longer. Choose a lightweight trailer with smooth running wheels (not solid plastic wheels) for your tour.

Bottle cage

Fit a bottle cage to your bicycle so you can keep a drinking bottle to hand that also won’t take up room in the bags. Cages are available for less than DKK 100/EUR14 including bottle.

Cyclocomputer

A small computer that displays the distance covered and your speed makes cycling even more fun.

Map holder

If you don’t already have a handlebar bag to take your maps, you can fit a special map holder to the handlebars so that the map is in front of you all the time. Remember to put the map inside a plastic sleeve in wet weather!