7 Reasons to take a Powerbank on your next Bike Tour

If you're planning a biking trip, don't forget to take a powerbank with you! Here are seven reasons why it's important.

Why use a powerbank on your next bike tour ?

Whether you're a cyclist on a bike tour, hiker or camper, one thing is for certain: you need to charge your phone. But what do you do when your battery dies?

Make sure you've packed a powerbank! This handy little device lets you recharge on the go, saving both space in your pack and time spent looking for an outlet.

Keep reading this blog post to find out why taking a powerbank in your next bike tour is always a good idea!

Best Powerbanks for Bikepacking

Here's a selection of the most suitable powerbanks for bike touring you can find on Amazon. Some of these you can pair up with a solar panel to be totally self sufficient for power during your bike tour!

Anker PowerCore 26800 Portable Charger – This beast is a huge battery that will keep your phone charged for more than a week. It can even charge a USB-C powered laptop. Seriously! Note that most bikepacking solar panels will not be powerful enough to charge this. Click here to see it on Amazon.

Anker PowerCore 10000 Portable Charger – A good size if you're just looking for 2 or 3 charges for your phone. A compact powerbank you can tuck away in an frame bag. Click here to see it on Amazon.

Pack a powerbank when bike touring

A power bank has many benefits including being light-weight, compact and inexpensive. It also makes charging easier because you don't have to find an electrical outlet or worry about running out of battery life while cycling.

When bike touring, they are particularly useful as it means you can be self-sufficient when it comes to power for your gadgets and devices – for a day or two at least. Pair a powerbank with some solar panels, and you really can go off-grid on your next bikepacking trip!

1. Your phone is more likely to die if you are using GPS navigation

If you're using your phone to navigate with when bike touring, the chances are the battery will run down quicker. This is because the phone has to use more power for GPS navigation than it does when just using a map.

A good way of solving this problem and making sure you don't run out battery life on your bike tour, would be by packing an external charger.

2. You can charge your phone, camera, and other devices

Almost any device that can be powered by a USB can be charged up with a powerbank. This includes your phone, camera and other devices. This is a great way of making sure that you don't run out battery life on any device whilst bike touring.

3. They're lightweight and small so they don't take up a lot of space in your panniers

It's always important to keep weight down to a minimum when bike touring, but a powerbank is worth its weight in gold – especially when you need it most!

A powerbank is lightweight and small so it doesn't take up a lot of space in your panniers or handlebar bag.

4. Power banks are cheap to buy and easy to find at any store or online

Nowadays, you can pick up powerbanks for relatively little money on Amazon.

This makes them a great item to have in your bike touring packing list because you can buy one before or during the trip if you need to replace one.

5. Some powerbanks can even charge laptops.

If you're touring with a laptop, then you will even find powerbanks with enough capacity to charge up a laptop. At the moment, these are typically USB-C powered laptops such as some Apple and Dell computers.

6. It's good for emergencies when there is no power supply available

Even when you are not on a bike tour, having a powerbank can be useful. For example, when your phone battery dies or the lights go out at home! If you have a power outage even for just a few hours, knowing you have enough backup power to keep your phone charged is always a good thing.

7. Peace of mind

You never need to worry about if your phone will run out of power at the most inconvenient time. So, you'll enjoy your tour a lot more being able to take all the photos and video you want.

Bikepacking Power Bank

So, you're convinced you need a lightweight power bank to keep your drone batteries topped up and your phone alive on your next tour. But which one should you get? There's literally hundreds of different types out there!

I'd suggest taking a look at the Anker range of power banks. They've got all sorts of different types, some of which may be more suited to your bicycle touring needs than others.

Anker Powercore+ 26800

I carry two of their power banks when touring. One is the monster Anker Powercore+ 26800. I charge this up whenever I'm near a wall socket, and this thing can last me for days. It can charge multiple devices at the same time, and also because I have a USB C port laptop, I can keep my laptop charged as well.

Anker Powercore 20100

The second one I have is an Anker Powercore 20100. This is what I class as my ‘day charger' and I keep it in my top tube bag. I use this to charge all my day to day things like GPS devices, phone etc.

Because it's a small power bank, I can also top this up with a solar panel (My Anker Power Port Solar 21W). While the battery isn't big enough to provide enough power for my laptop, I can keep all my other electronics charged nicely. Combined with the solar panel, I can be off grid for days!

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There are many reasons why you should take a powerbank with you on your next bike tour. Not only do they provide backup charging for your devices, but they're also lightweight and small so they don't take up a lot of space in your panniers.

What do you think the best power bank for bikepacking is? Do you prefer to combine a portable charge with solar panels or a dynamo? Have any tips to add? Please leave a comment below!

– Dave Briggs
Dave has cycled around most of the world on different bikepacking tours, including riding from Alaska to Argentina, and England to South Africa. In addition to this blog post on powerbanks for bike touring, he's written many other guides about bike touring.

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