Handbar bag + front rack bag
 

I am setting up my bike for a 2 months tour (possibly a much smaller one beforehand as well). Last tour, I had all the load at the rear rack and a small handlebar bag at the front. Since this tour will be in more remote areas, I am looking into adding a front rack to store just food and maybe a little more water. The idea is also to have a therm-insulated bag that is easily removable, so I can keep the food cool and in a safe place overnight. There should be enough clearance under the handlebar bag to fit something like this
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/i...k8BUchXRoSUCk3

I went through a few shops this morning and I didn't manage to find a long enough front rack to fit such a bag, or a small enough bag to fit in these racks. On top of that, a salesman in one of the shops, was extremely against the idea of adding the load there, rather than using two panniers much lower at the fork.

I definitely don't want the two panniers option for various reasons... and I do understand the drawback of adding weight high at the front wheel.

What's your take on this? Has anyone used both at once?

I've not tried it, but if what you are carrying there is stable, I wouldn't think it to be too dangerous.

I use full front and rear rack setups. I put the rack bag on the rear rack. Heavy items go low in the front low rider panniers, lighter items in the rear panniers, personal effects in the handle bar bag. I put a small tent on the top of the front rack if I need more room in the panniers. Depending on your clearances you may not have room on the front rack for a rack bag and a handlebar bag. I probably would, but I ride XL frames (62cm-64cm). In general terms having weight higher up on the bike will affect steering much more than when it is lower down. Get the rack and try strapping a 10# weight to it and see how much difference it makes. One LBS that I visited years ago had a full set of bags and a bunch of small sand bags that they would load up a test bike with so you could get an idea of how weight distribution worked and the differences it could make.

Aaron :)

This will do what you want: http://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FREXT. Jandd makes great products. I agree with the salesman who advised to use 2 small bags up front instead for two reasons. First, the insulated bag for food makes little sense to me. If you're out in the middle of nowhere long enough, the food won't stay insulated. I'd rather have food that will last regardless of whether it is kept cool or not when in the wild. Second, getting the weight down low improves the handling of the bike. The Jandd rack will allow you to use your trunk rack up front or you can place panniers in different positions depending on the terrain up front.

I haven't experimented much, but just from the physics I think the instability comes mostly from weight that is off-axis. Someplace recently I saw a picture of a bike that had a child seat mounted on the handlebars. Of course is was a cruiser/comfort type bike with an upright posture for the cyclist. I imagine it would work ok. Even though the child's weight is high, it is centered on the steering axis so it isn't pulling the steering off center.

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09...st_bikes/7.htm

Quote:

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The idea is also to have a therm-insulated bag that is easily removable,

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Think about the Bears , they want your food too . Yours.. and dont eat in the tent ,
spilled food smells gets tents destroyed.

Bear Boxes are hard cylinders to resist tearing, clawing, and biting open..


I have Low Rider racks on my front forks .. to get a support for an additional bag
to shift weight off the rear to the front, while passing through NewcastleUpon Tyne, in UK
on my way to the ferry port, I had it, a small rack over the front wheels , Fabricated.

Dont find what you want in shops waiting for you?. Get someone to Make It.

I have front and rear panniers and have a Surly front rack similar to the Jandd posted above. I use the front rack to carry a small insulated lunch bag. The bag provided less insulation than I expected on a tour in June although I really did like it to keep food in. The bungee across the top tended to squish the contents. I won't take the lunch bag on my next tour but would like to find some kind of a container to put there.