Originally Posted by
rpk0925
I have about 12.5" (L) X 5.5" (W) of rear rack area on my bicycle. Let's say I used a tent with 25" segmented poles. To me (and maybe I'm way off here), it seems like if I load the tent on the rack crosswise, that it would be kind of tippy from end to end ... not to mention sticking out a foot on each side of the bicycle. I've seen it happen before with tents loaded this way, where the gear inside the tent bag shifts every time a sharp corner is turned. Maybe it just wasn't packed tight enough in that case. ??
On the other hand, if I loaded the 25" long tent pack on the bicycle lengthwise, it would be at least twice as long as the length of the rack, if not more. In that case, I almost feel like I should hang one of those red warning flags on the end of the tent pack. (I'm being sarcastic).
But I guess if that's what people are doing, then that's an okay way to go. I'm just trying to know what I'm doing before I make an expensive (to me) purchase.
First, I have owned quite a few tents and none have had 25" poles. Most tents I have used pack down to about a 20" package and some shorter.
Second, when strapped firmly, crosswise on the rack it always has ridden nicely. It doesn't stick out much if at all past the panniers.
Third, for those who mention wanting to carry the tent in the panniers... I don't want to put a wet tent in my waterproof panniers with dry gear. I don't want the moisture migrating to the rest of my gear and the tent does not need to be protected from the rain. The tent stays dry if rolled with the waterproof bottom on the outside, even in an all day rain. If the fly is wet when packing it up, it gets rolled on the outside of the roll. Sometimes i may lay it out to dry on a stop during the day but usually not.