Originally Posted by
wnylogo
Thanks, appreciate all the input. Some really good advice. I think most had the impression I was a male. Nope, I am a lady working on her bucket list. Like I said, don't have the strength as I did before. Yes, trying to lose the weight of perhaps the amount of a water bottle may seem inconsequential, but it is what will allow me the small luxury of bringing a Helinox Chair Zero. Thus, the interest in the Dry-lites. They have more height over the front Ortliebs. I am not looking to add more stuff, just to better accomodate what I have without adding weight. Convenience is a factor I overlooked, so maybe the Dry-Lites aren't the better option.
Obviously I don't have the experience of many of you and do look forward to gaining some firsthand knowledge.
My wife and our 2 daughters are very experienced bike tourers. They are all relatively small women: 5' 3", 4' 11", and 5' 6". They are all in excellent condition. Their target weight for gear and panniers is 35 lbs, including camping gear. Two use Ortlieb Backrollers, and one uses Ortlieb Packer Plus. They all use an Ortlieb Rackpack for their camping gear. They do really well and you can tell I'm proud of them.
This is how they are set up. The loads look big, but they are riding bikes with small frames ranging from 42 cm to 50 cm. None of them complain about shimmy or weight distribution.
My wife rode across the U.S. using only Ortlieb Packer Plus front panniers carried on the rear of the bike. Her camping gear was carried on top the rack. Today her hair is cut short, has some gray in it, and her present panniers are full sized rear panniers
I might also mention the tops of those red panniers are almost bleached to a very pale pink or almost white today!
The point is that 35 lbs is a good load, and if you listen to some of the moderate folks above, you should do well.
