Originally Posted by
HendersonD
I did a 420 mile tour with hotels and just used a pair or Ortlieb Back Roller Classic bags and it worked well
Next year I will be doing the 4,200 mile Transamerica route on a new Trek 520 using a combination of camping and hotels. When camping I will not be preparing hot food so I will not be packing a stove, titanium pot, or fuel
For my coast to coast tour I am thinking about using:
- Pair of Ortlieb back roller classics which I already own
- An Ortlieb Ultimate Six handlebar bag
- Some type of waterproof bag I can put on the top of my rear rack on the Trek 520
I am trying to carry a minimal load to keep things simple and light with the goal of carrying about 30 pounds of gear/clothing/food in the 4 bags.
Any thoughts on this setup and whether I can get by without using front panniers?
Do you need them? Probably not. Does the bike handle better with front bags? Definitely yes. Given the choice, I’d use low mounted front pannier over rear panniers. Even with 4 panniers, the fronts are more heavily loaded than the rear.
Look at it this way: the rear wheel is already heavily loaded with the rider. Putting more weight on the rear with all of a touring load puts that weight even further back. This lightens the front wheel and can make steering vague. A heavy rear load will also cause the rear to sway. The tail starts to wag the dog. Putting the majority of the load (or at least the small heavy items) up front and down low tames that wag.
Adding a some kind of bag to the rear rack and filling with stuff makes the problem even worse. If the bag on top of the rack is to carry a tent and/or sleeping bag, don’t bother. Get a dry bag for the sleeping bag and just use the stuff sack for the tent. I’ve pedaled through 70 miles of driving rain with that arrangement and had a dry bag and a dry tent at the end of the day.