What maximum difficulty should I set on a mid-size adventure bike?

60 is the starting point and keeps the medium sections and the gentler hard ones. With experience and a light bike in the class, 70. Two-up, loaded or in an area you don't know, 50.

Why does a section show yellow one way and orange the other?

Because the gradient counts more downhill than uphill. Corally looks at the steepest sustained slope of each way in the direction you ride it, and a steep descent on a bad surface is what most often raises the difficulty.

How much of a detour is reasonable to avoid a section?

At riding pace, five kilometres go unnoticed and fifteen are accepted to avoid a broken descent. From forty up it's a different route: then it's worth checking whether the section is rideable or whether the ride should go elsewhere.

Does the route reach the bike?

Yes: to the Corally app on your phone or tablet, which guides you by voice and lets you skip a hard section on the move, or as a GPX for the app you already use, with the hard sections and warnings marked.

Adventure bike routes: which terrain suits a mid-size bike and how to plan it

Last reviewed: October 16, 2026

The classic adventure bike, 150 to 200 kilos, is the one that fits this country's dirt tracks best: it copes with rough track, climbs and the odd small ford, and leaves you a hundred kilometres of road home without hating it. The good route has a bit of spice: medium sections that make you work, and none that make you stop and wonder whether you'll get back.

Which terrain suits a mid-size adventure bike

Firm track and rough track, with fixed rock and some loose gravel. Long climbs on compacted dirt. Farm lanes with ruts you get through with your weight back. Small fords of rock or concrete with little water. And in between, mountain back roads, which on this kind of bike are part of the trip.

Where it starts to hurt: long stretches of very rough or broken track, descents of loose rock with steps, deep mud, and singletrack, which besides being the hardest is usually closed to motorbikes.

How to read the colours

Green is a stroll and yellow is where a mid-size bike shines: moderate gradient, rough surface or a mid-grade track. Orange (hard) asks for hands and appetite; red (expert) is enduro territory. The planner's Trail profile starts from a maximum difficulty of 60, which keeps all of yellow and the gentler part of orange.

Tap the section on the map and read the reason. Two orange sections with the same number aren't the same: one for a steep climb on firm track goes with throttle; one for a steep descent with loose rock is the one that makes you stop.

When to detour a section

Detour when the reason is a steep descent on a bad surface, when the section is marked as near-impassable, or when you're riding alone and the section is long. Go through when it's a short climb, when the surface is good even if the gradient looks scary, or when the alternative adds so much tarmac the route stops being a route.

Corally offers both: "Skip" (the route gets shorter and that area isn't ridden) or "Detour" (it rejoins the route and makes it longer). Check how many kilometres each one changes: on a bike, five more are nothing and forty are a different route.

How to prepare the route

Ask for 70 to 75% dirt and maximum difficulty 60 for a normal ride; go up to 70 if you know the area and down to 50 if you're two-up or it's your first time there.

On A-to-B routes, look at the options: Corally gives you up to three, ranked by what you asked for, and flags whether one is easier or harder than your limit. The second option usually has more dirt and a section or two more; sometimes it's the good one.

Keep the road exits marked if you ride in a group, and set the stops you want no matter what: a viewpoint, a village for lunch. Corally warns if going that way adds a lot of road.

Common mistakes

Asking for 90% dirt because it sounds better: in many areas that forces singletrack or broken tracks in to make the number. 75% with good sections gives a better day than 90% with two sections that spoil it.

Not looking at the gradient downhill: Corally counts a descent more than the same climb, which is why a section can show yellow one way and orange the other. If you see an orange and can't work out why, that's usually it.

Setting off without knowing where the fuel is: with the small tank on many of these bikes, the long-stretch-without-fuel warning isn't decoration.

How to do it in Corally

Pick the Trail profile: it starts from maximum difficulty 60 and 75% dirt.
In the app, "A bit of spice" asks for the same; "The more dirt the better" adds 20% more.
Compare the options by distance, time and share of dirt before choosing.
Don't like a section? Tap it, read the reason and use "Avoid this section": Skip or Detour, with the kilometres it changes.

Plan an adventure bike route

Frequently asked questions

What maximum difficulty should I set on a mid-size adventure bike?: 60 is the starting point and keeps the medium sections and the gentler hard ones. With experience and a light bike in the class, 70. Two-up, loaded or in an area you don't know, 50.
Why does a section show yellow one way and orange the other?: Because the gradient counts more downhill than uphill. Corally looks at the steepest sustained slope of each way in the direction you ride it, and a steep descent on a bad surface is what most often raises the difficulty.
How much of a detour is reasonable to avoid a section?: At riding pace, five kilometres go unnoticed and fifteen are accepted to avoid a broken descent. From forty up it's a different route: then it's worth checking whether the section is rideable or whether the ride should go elsewhere.
Does the route reach the bike?: Yes: to the Corally app on your phone or tablet, which guides you by voice and lets you skip a hard section on the move, or as a GPX for the app you already use, with the hard sections and warnings marked.

Guide written by Corally from riding experience and from how the planner works. The difficulty of each section comes from public, community-made data and may differ from the terrain: what you see when you get there, the signs and each region's rules come first.