Road Cycling - Needing advice right away....

I am trying to order my bike racks for my touring trip, however, I'm uncertain of the panniers- When I go to the Performance Bike online, I can't tell if the order includes one bike or two. So I figured you guys would have had more experience with this and know if these panniers are just one or two.

Anywone know?


Koffee

Two.I bought a pair of Nashbar ATB panniers cause I only tour a couple times a year and they were cheap.There OK but I wish I had bought a better pair...Hilly

Their rack/pannier deals are $119 and their paniers are $99.
The price is about right for a pair of good budget panniers.

Its quite rare to buy them singley, and you would have to specify left or right.

Thanks Hilly and Michael-

I thought the Nashbar ones looked a little suspect, so I decided to go for the Performance TransIt Pro Panniers (2070 cu in). I also thought about getting the Expedition bike rack, but I'm thinking that I would like to go for the Jandd Expedition Rack too. I'm just mainly concerned that I should get the Jandd rack because I don't want my bags to be hitting against my heel while I'm pedalling.

I am not carrying a big load, but I wonder if 2070 cu in would be enough. Typically, when I go backpacking, I carry a backpack of no more than 3200 cu in. I used to go with the 2400 cu in and graduated to the 3200 cu in last summer (because I figured I would be taking more clothes to Italy). Thoughts?

Any more advice would be great at any point about any part of my tour.


Thanks!

Koffee

Koffee,2070 does seem a little small,maybe the Performance Transit Epic Panniers at 2878 would be better.Nashbar use to have a bigger pannier but most of sold out as they are more than likely coming out with a new model soon.The Jandds really look great ,with a 6800 to 9950 you could take EVERYTHING (if you have the legs to move it all) and may be the best in bad weather.You are so lucky to be going on a great tour.I envy you MUCH!...Hilly

Make sure your panniers have a cut away for the heel. Rectangular shaped bags are a bad idea.
Im also suspect of too many zippers, these are the first things to break.
For camping loads it is better to carry some of the small heavy stuff in front fork panniers, to balance the load. You can also put objects like tent and sleeping bag on top of the rack, so bag volume is not comparable with rucksacs.

The art of packing is to take as little as you need. Have a look at some of the "ultralight" camping websites for useful strategies.

Yes, panniers are usually sold in twos.

I don't know if you are specifically looking for a deal, but if you are willing to spend a little, I would recomend arkel bags. They cost a bit, but I can honestly say that they are probably the best panniers on the market. I think you can order direct from

http://www.arkel-od.com/

good luck:)

on the jandd website in the specials section they have a deal going on for both front and rear panniers.

check out www.jandd.com

take care,
stella

Thanks for the advice....

I got the panniers from performance bike... the ones that are about 2800 cu in each. I think that's a ton of space. Normally, I don't have that much stuff. I am getting the front panniers from arkel, so thanks for that tip. Can you tell me how many cu in are in each of the arkel front panniers? I can't quite tell if the dimensions they gave were for one bag or for both.

I went to the Jandd website, but I'd already bought the Jandd rack at the performance bike shop website. However, I do need to get the front rack (although I don't know if I'm going to have enough stuff to get two more panniers anyway). I'll be thinking about it tomorrow while I'm at work.

Since everyone's in a giving mood (;)), I'll throw out yet another naive question- I got a 15 mm bike wrench so I can remove my pedals during transport, but since I have a smaller bike (Specialized Sirrus A1 bike with 700x 28c tires), I'm wondering if I should have the 12/13 mm bike wrench instead. Or maybe I should get both?

Koffee

Seems to me the standard is 15mm but maybe you might ask this one on Bicycle Mechanics to be 100%.My Nashbar Big Tool Kit only came with 1 pedal wrench anyway...Hilly100oldchild