skookumchuck

So I got the bike and it has front and rear racks already. My first outing will be a single night in the mountains where I live, followed later in the summer by a three night loop, assuming the 1200 meter elevation gain on the first trip doesn't trigger a massive coronary. If all goes well I plan to attempt a three week trip to the prairie town I lived in decades ago for next summer. With this in mind do you think I should buy the biggest panniers I can find, or will I be happy with the 40 liter Axioms that I have my eye on?

imi

Put your gear together first, lay it out on the floor. If you're not an experienced camper, hiker or whatever, pare it down as much as possible... Then stuff it all into a plastic sack or whatever, go down to your Local Pannier Store (LPS) and see which panniers it will fit into. Make sure there's room for a reasonable amount of food and fuel.

40 litres is the size of Ortlieb Back Rollers, which many many people use, so that's not a bad indication... If the panniers are much bigger you might get problems with heel strike.
If after filling two rear panniers and putting a tent and sleeping pad on the top of the rack, and maybe a handlebar bag, you still need more space, it might be time to look at front panniers as well. There are of course other solutions, for example putting big panniers on the front to begin with...

djb

you ever heard of the statement about a gas, air type gas? Something along the lines that no matter the size of a container, a gas will fill it---I used to always use this with my wife and car camping, get a bigger car and she would still fill it with more stuff we really didnt need.

its very very common for first time bike tourers to take too much stuff, so 40l rears are a good way of limiting yourself to how much stuff you can take. I have used 40 l rears, smaller front panniers, a handlebar bag and stick a tent on top of the rear rack and even then it ends up being full usually. Really, the only way for you to figure out what to take comes down to how much camping you have done (not car camping where the car engine does all the work carrying stuff up hills). For clothes, go the multi layer trick, and not too bulky (depends on time of year and temps of course) but tent, sleeping bag, camp mat, cooking stuff etc tends to be the stuff that adds up in weight and can vary greatly in individual weight depending on the specific doo dad.
25 years ago I toured with a 7lb tent but learned to be very careful about all the other stuff to keep the total load weight to about 40lbs or a bit less, but 40 is a pretty common number and if you can get it lower, all the better. Stuff like an extra pair of shoes can add weight, not taking jeans but lightweight long pants (quick dry type stuff) and shirts is always good.

but really, to your question, 40 or 45 litre rear bags are a good size and if you take camping stuff, you will need some front panniers also.

Once you have bags, take a look at other peoples packing lists to get an idea of stuff if you have never back packed or canoe camped where you personally had to carry all your own stuff, then start laying stuff out and see what fits, what doesnt and how much it all weighs.

ps, riding in mountains is a really good incentive to liimit the weight of your load, Ive done lots of riding in mountains loaded and every 5 extra pounds is really noticeable--not to mention having proper low gearing, but thats another topic.....

Tony Marley

I recommend the 40 liter Axioms. If you find you need more capacity, then add front panniers. Better to keep the bike balanced that way than have a heavy load on the rear and nothing on the front.

3speed

I recommend strongly considering running front and rear panniers, or just front panniers and other gear on top of the rear rack. If you search, you'll find that Many of us will tell you that your bike is going to handle a lot better with weight down low in the front, and you with some bulky items on the rear. You, all of your pannier weight, and the bulky camping gear All on the rear and nothing on the front makes for a poor handling bike.

My current set-up is 32l Axiom Typhoons on the front low-rider rack and 28l Arkel Dry-Lights on the rear rack. At 60l, this gives me room for the gear to tour indefinitely(did west coast this summer) with room for my tent in the panniers, along with a pair of flip-flops, jeans, decent sized pillow, and small laptop. So in other words, you don't need nearly that much room if you have the tent on the rack and aren't taking silly comfort items like I did. The compressibility of your sleeping-bag is going to make a noticeable difference too. If I'm just doing a week locally, I won't even take the Dry-Lights. Just 32l Axioms and tent on rear rack. If I'm just doing a couple days, I don't need the Axioms and only take the Dry-Lights.

fietsbob

If you find you Brought too much after a few Days, Mail It, the stuff you dont need, back Home..

saddlesores

buy a small set of front panniers. they'll be overkill for an overnight,
good enough for a weekend, possibly adding a duffel on the rear
rack.

then as you gain more experience (and buy more gear), you can pick up
a set of larger bags.

timdow

I am with Saddlesores on this one. Run the 25L up front with camping gear in a dry bag on the rear rack. Or possibly swap them around if you have a platform rack in the front.

Doug64

I tend to agree with the 40L recommendations. It is a good size and does not have to be filled to capacity for shorter trips. I would go with these first, and pick up the front panniers later. Either way will work. Have fun!

I use 4 panniers for balance, but my wife uses just the rear ones with her camping gear on top of the rack. She has no difficulty with bike handling, and has pulled away from me on the downhill when my computer was reading 45 mph. She has also used her front panniers, which have never been used as front panniers, on the rear rack for some extended trips.

Front panniers on rear. She lived out of these panniers for several weeks. However, I carried the tent.


The front panniers have been relegated to the "around town" bike, but they were used for commuting and are still used for short trips. Note the tomato plants in her rack trunk.


Lately, she uses full sized, 45L, panniers on the back with camping gear on top. The maximum load is about 30 pounds.