Old 10-27-05, 06:06 PM
  #5  
Erick L
Lentement mais sûrement
 
Erick L's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Montréal
Posts: 2,253
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 78 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times in 3 Posts
Backpacks are very uncomfortable on a bike. Tents and sleping bags are bulky and don't fit too well on a naked rack. You're much better with panniers. They take the load off your back and make a wider platfrom to stack stuff on top of the rack.

Here's my bike with a light load. I used two small panniers (30L for both) and a handlebar bag. I carried tent (on rack), sleeping bag and pad and one or two change of bike clothes and one change of camp clothes. No stove and not much room for food. My camera takes the whole bar bag. I could've gone lighter with a tarp instead of a tent but I like bug protection in the summer.

Here's my bike again with a bigger load (here for another point of view). The list of what I carried is here. This was for a 5 day trip but I could tour for weeks with that set-up. Actually, for a longer trip, I'd probably cut a few things. Again here, my camera takes the whole bar bag and I could've put the tent on the rack to free a lot of room in the panniers. The panniers are 42L for both. Putting everything on the back affects the handling and puts all the weight on the back wheel. For touring with a single set of panniers, some people prefer front panniers.
Erick L is offline