Touring - Front/Rear Panniers - Weight Distribution

Hello,

To date, I've only toured using rear panniers (and a handlebar bag). My last tour was self-contained, and I believe having all the weight at the rear contributed to a sometimes awkward, skiddish ride.

I am finally considering the purchase of a front rack and panniers to even out the weight. The recommendations I've read for weight distribution is either 60%-front/40%-rear or vice versa (40%-front/60%-rear). The latter seems more logical to me, but I'm not sure.

Any recommendations on weight distribution percentages/other? Other thoughts/suggestions on using both front and rear panniers?

Thanks!

David in PA (Wolfy)

Go for front low loader you will notice a big difference in bike handling

Hello,

To date, I've only toured using rear panniers (and a handlebar bag). My last tour was self-contained, and I believe having all the weight at the rear contributed to a sometimes awkward, skiddish ride.

I am finally considering the purchase of a front rack and panniers to even out the weight. The recommendations I've read for weight distribution is either 60%-front/40%-rear or vice versa (40%-front/60%-rear). The latter seems more logical to me, but I'm not sure.

Any recommendations on weight distribution percentages/other? Other thoughts/suggestions on using both front and rear panniers?

Thanks!

David in PA (Wolfy)

I carry most of the heavy things I need (pots, stove, rain gear, food, etc.) in the front bags. This makes them more accessible (food and rain gear) while riding. Extra clothes and stuff I don't need during the day I put in the back. I usually go about 60% front/40% rear. Tent, sleeping bag and pad go on the rack which usually balances out the front weight. Keep the front weight down low.

If I am doing tours with my wife and we are staying in hotels, I only carry bags on the front. We did this when we toured Scotland and it work great. I also commute with bags on the front wheel. The bike really does handle better with a load on the front wheel.

Stuart Black

When I toured in Europe in 2003, I had the bulk of the weight on the back of the bicycle:
http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/machka999/detail?.dir=638e&.dnm=6966.jpg&.src=ph
I agree, the bicycle didn't really feel 100% stable.

When I went to Australia, I mistakenly brought two sets of panniers, thinking I would need them. Within a week, I discovered I didn't need both sets, or about 10 lbs of other stuff I brought, so I stored one set of panniers and a bunch of my stuff with friends.

That left me with a debate about where to put the remaining set of panniers - front or back. I already knew I didn't like how the bicycle felt with them on the back, so I decided to put my panniers on the front:
http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/machka999/detail?.dir=5893&.dnm=5bca.jpg&.src=ph
The bicycle was so much more stable ... except in strong crosswinds - the wind grabbed that front wheel and would yank it out from under me ... and except going down really steep hills where it felt like the back end of the bicycle was going to flip over my head.
In that last photo, I've got about 10 lbs in each pannier, and about 2 lbs in my handlebar bag (including pannier and handlebar bag), for a total weight of 22 lbs kgs of luggage in front. In the Carradice on the back, I had about 13 lbs. So I guess that's pretty close to a 60/40 split with 60% in the front.

I typically load front and rear pretty equally, but if there is a heavier set, sometimes it would be the front. I run Blackburn lowriders for a front rack.

I advocate this because it keeps the bike balanced on the wheels. Remember, most of your body weight is on the rear wheel already. Balancing that out can make the bike less likely to develop "speed wobbles" which are very common on loaded tours because of the frame flex involved from a heavy load.

When I lead tours, the company I work for only provides rear panniers and racks to the students. Especially on smaller frames, I have seen crashes caused by speed wobbles on downhills, and also just standing around, the bike will sometimes fall over backwards from being loaded so far back.

Typically my packing is this:

Front Left Pannier - Park AK-32 toolset, wool blanket.
Front right Pannier - EMT level med kit, spare parts kit (inc. brakes, der, lots of parts)

Rear Panniers - clothing and personal items
On top rear - sleeping bag in compression sack, tent, Coleman two-burner stove.

That is when I lead tours for kids, so I am usually loaded with a lot of extra crap to make sure they dont die.

When by myself, I would actually run just front panniers with things such as stoves, pots, med kits, and other assorted things, and then a trailer with clothing, tent, sleeping bag.

I think anything between 60-40 and 40-60 works fine, but a lot depends on the geometry of your bike, your riding style and territory.

On a touring bicycle using a lowrider rack and panniers appropriately centred on the steering axis of the front wheel, added weight on the front wheel dampens steering. So not enough weight in front and your bike will wobble. And too much weight will make it very stable, even too much: with too much weight in front, I found my bicycle did not want to turn on gravel roads.

My setup is made of Arkel T-42 panniers in front and GT-54 behind. It's fairly easy to drastically change weight distribution by stuffing either tools or clothes in the front panniers. One point, though: you should put roughly the same weight in the front right and front left panniers.

In conclusion: get decent-sized panniers and experiment. After 5-10 km you will know what weight distribution would work for you.