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Teased last year, the Xtracycle OmniTierra is a titanium mid-tail cargo bike designed in collaboration with John Freeman and his border collie, Mira. Pre-orders open today, and we met up with the dogpacking duo ahead of this year’s Sea Otter Classic to hear more about their travels and their purpose-built setup. See it here…
Over the years, we’ve shared many stories from the internet-famous dogpacking duo, John and Mira, including an in-depth guide to bikepacking with your canine friend, and we’ve seen a few variations of John’s dogpacking setups in that time. From mid-tail fat bikes to trailers, bikepacking with a dog requires a unique set of considerations, and it’s hard to imagine anyone more suited to help design the perfect dogpacking bike. In 2023, John even had a custom Pinion dogpacking bike made, inspired by the Salsa Cycles Blackborow, and rode it on the Tour Divide.
At last year’s Tour Divide, John rode a pre-production version of the newly released Xtracycle OmniTierra, a titanium mid-tail cargo bike with a custom rear rack, fat bike hub spacing, internal dropper post routing, and plenty of mounting points. We shared a teaser before his ride, and we were excited to hear that Xtracycle was moving forward with a production run and that a crew from Priority Bikes and Xtracycle, including John and Mira, would be riding up to the Sea Otter Classic. We couldn’t resist a first look ahead of the show, and Neil and I met up with John to learn more about his multi-year, around-the-world dogpacking trip, the development on the OmniTierra, and when they’ll be available.
John met Mira as a pup at a ranch in central Alberta, Canada, and they found themselves traveling in Spain shortly after. That’s when this massive multi-year trip kicked off, and since before COVID, they’ve been slowly taking on bikepacking trips in North America, sometimes stopping to reset, recharge, and for John to work. They’ve ridden the Tour Divide and through Central America as far south as Lima, Peru. In June, they plan to return to Peru to continue their ride.
From Peru, John and Mira will ride the Peru Great Divide into Bolivia, then criss-cross the Andes through Chile and Argentina. At some point, they’ll likely return to Canada and will eventually make it to Europe to ride the European Divide into Africa. Traveling with Mira poses some challenges, with wildlife and strict quarantine requirements in some places, but John just sees it all as part of the experience.
John has been bikepacking with a dog for over a decade now, and before Mira, he had a dog named Melan, short for Melancholy. Back when he first started, there weren’t many people riding off-road with their dog. He tried a Bob trailer behind his bike, which worked pretty well. He moved on to a Salsa Mukluk with a trailer, but it bounced all over the place and didn’t track that well. Plus, simple things like getting into an elevator were a serious challenge, so it wasn’t a great logistical option.
After Salsa released the Blackborow, John found dogpacking bliss with its big tires, mid-tail stability, and oversized rear rack. For the first time, John could ride with Mira, keep the bike well-balanced, and also ride where he wanted, which was mostly off-road. The new Xtracycle OmniTierra is essentially the amalgamation of a decade of experimenting and testing.
The OmniTierra Story
In 2020, John met Ryan Van Duzer in San Ignacio in Baja, Mexico. They became friends and rode some of the Baja Divide together, later meeting to peal the San Jose del Pacifico route in Oaxaca. Later, Ryan started working with Priority Bikes, releasing several collaborative bike models, the most recent being the belt-driven Bruzer touring bike. Priority is Xtracycle’s sister company, and they heard about John and Mira through Ryan and decided it was time for John to have the dogpacking bike of his dreams.
With Salsa no longer offering the Blackborow, John and Xtracycle worked on a titanium mid-trail suitable for hauling big payloads over varied terrain. Some design elements that came up included a belt-driven Pinion transmission, a mountain bike feel, and the ability to carry heavy and precious cargo, like Mira. They landed on a durable but lightweight titanium frame, a massive aluminum rear rack with a 100-pound load limit, and a FOX 34 SL fork up front. It has been a learning experience for John. “It was a great process for me to learn a lot about, and to continue to learn about how geometry affects the ride, you know, wheelbase and head tube angles and reach, and how they interact.”
One unique feature of the OmniTierra is its 197mm-wide rear hub, which allows it to be set up as a fat bike. Pinion has different spiders to move the belt outward to accommodate wider tires, and riders could run a fat bike fork up front for a true, go-anywhere cargo hauler. There are lift handles integrated into the rear rack, the open space between the seat tube and rear tire is designed to accommodate a custom bag, and it has loads of mounting points for different kinds of setups.
John loves how it can be set up in so many ways. He has done trips using all of his custom-fitting bags, carrying tons of gear, and has also ridden lightly loaded with a more minimal setup. The long wheelbase offers plenty of traction and stability, whether it’s loaded with gear or not. John described the rear end as feeling “locked in” on climbs, and the front end stable, but surprisingly maneuverable. Even weighted down, John doesn’t find the frame flexing or twisting when standing up and hammering on the pedals.
Xtracycle OmniTierra Details
As Xtracycle puts it, the OmniTierra is designed for “ultra-long-distance bikepacking with the capability to travel the world.” It features sliding rear dropouts, clearance for 2.4″ to 4.0″ tires, and a build kit designed for heavy hauling. The stock build includes a chunky WTB Vigilante 29 x 2.5″ front tire, Trail Boss 29 x 2.4″ rear tire, four-piston TRP Trail EVO brakes with 203/180mm rotors, and a OneUp dropper post. There’s a 120mm travel FOX 34 SL Performance fork up front, and Xtracycle landed on a Pinion Smart.Shift transmission with its electronic shifting, Gates belt drive, and a massive 600% gear range.
Although John simply zip-ties Mira’s basket to the rack, the rear rack can also accommodate quick-release accessories, like child carriers, and more. We’re excited to see what kind of attachments and add-ons Xtracycle comes up with down the road.
Xtracycle OmniTierra Geometry
Size
MD
LG
Effective Top Tube
613
647
Standover
729
757
Reach
434
460
Stack
623
643
Head Tube Angle
69°
69°
Head Tube Length
110
130
Seat Tube Angle
74°
74°
Seat Tube Length
443
457
BB Drop
70
70
Wheelbase
1320
1347
The OmniTierra is available for pre-order today, and Xtracycle is offering a $1,000 discount for orders placed before May 31st, 2026. The discounted price is $5,699 USD for the complete build, and after May 31st, the price will be $6,699. They are expected to ship to customers this fall.
Visit Xtracycle.com to learn more. And stay tuned for updates from the 2026 Sea Otter Classic! We have a whole lot more coming your way soon.
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