Originally Posted by
Ritterview
There must be a big difference in load depending on whether the riders are camping or staying in motels. Tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, cookset, etc. Is there a different designation for touring styles?
Staying in motels is usually referred to as "credit-card touring"; camping is referred to as "self-supported touring" unless a SAG wagon carries your belongings in which case it is called "supported touring".
Sofar we have done one "credit-card tour" (i.e. staying in hotels) We went from Springfield, IL to Joliet, IL following the
Route 66 Bicycle Trail (most of it is actually on-road riding). This is what we looked like:
It was a 4 day, 3 night tour and obviously we packed too much stuff. But we still did better than our friends who had 2 similar panniers each loaded to the nines.
The panniers are Ortlieb Bike Packer Plus on a cheap Performance rack. I intend to replace the rack someday with a Tubus Cargo Rack
The front rack is a Tubus Tara (and we have Ortlieb Sport Packer Plus panniers to go with them)
Panniers and front rack were purchased from Wayne @ TheTouringStore.com. He has excellent customer service, competitive pricing and free shipping. He says he is the largest Ortlieb dealer in the US.
We plan to do our first self-supported tour next month in Northern Michigan, but we won't be bringing cooking gear
We have done two fully loaded test rides (40 and 60 miles). We just packed the panniers with dirty laundry and books. I strongly suggest you do that as well before you go out on your first trip, because the handling is quite different. It is harder to start and stop with the extra weight and it appears to be more straight tracking, meaning making turns was a little harder to do
Duppie