i agree. piling on so much *****e on a folder undoes its maneuverability and agility. great, you can fold the bike, but the *****e you are carrying is now more voluminous that the foldie itself. Plus, packing is just so wrong on two of those images. we have had that discussion before. a trekking pack standing up? come on. i go back to my original question: do you need panniers for the trip at hand?
Originally Posted by
reppans
Ugh... some tourers should steal ideas from the ultra-light backpacking crowd - getting rid of *most* of that stuff would be so liberating, especially to folding bike tourers that have so many multi-modal options.
Assuming you could store a suitcase at starting/ending point, you could self-supported (camping & cooking) tour from a Dahon Speed P8 with one 62" check-in and one carry-on (I already tour out of a single Brompton 30L front T-bag).