What do you need for cycle touring?

[crazydave789]

thanks gloomy, may try.

I often use the ortlieb panniers (otherwise wonderful) without any inserts at all.

My altura panniers have no problems at all with hooks and inserts. Never lost one, never had a pannier detach.

Hell, it's almost enough to shake your faith in Germany.

I thought altura was also made in germany?

[Sweep]

Don't know about the panniers but, yes, the fixings are german. The higher range ones are excellent.

Suppose we had better get this thread back on topic.

[crazydave789]

Don't know about the panniers but, yes, the fixings are german. The higher range ones are excellent.

Suppose we had better get this thread back on topic.

don't be daft - it's a forum - it's written into hansard that after the first page anything goes.

to the OP though then ebay is your friend, good quality gear often underused at a fraction of the price.

[Gattonero]

Apart from a bike and some free time and cash ofcourse.

I currently have 2 Ortlieb rear panniers (about 40 litres I think) and a backpack. Would I need front panniers aswell? The backpack would only be used for a sleeping bag, and maybe I could attach the tent to the top of my pannier rack. Do you think this would be enough storage for a cycle tour of a few days to a week?

If I was you, I'd ditch the rucksack. It's such a relief to cycle with nothing on your shoulders! (who writes used to be a die-hard user of messenger bags!).
Sounds like you have a fairly big sleeping bag? You may want to invest in a better one, I'd suggest a "medium" rating one (often you can find previous years models with good discounts) plus a thermal bivvy bag or silk liner to bump up the warmth.
Or better, pack a lightweight jacket and longjohns. I've found is much better to have a lighter sleeping bag and more warm clothes, if the weather turns colder you can use the spare warm clothes outside and when sleeping. It makes more sense to me.

With 40lt available on the rear panniers, should be well enough for most of the stuff, but try to get some weight at the front to keep the bike balanced. I.e. you could get a handlebar bag to keep the heavy stuff, or two fork cages where to keep the tent (inner and outer in each).
http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/sal ... 3762-p.asp
Those would fit on most forks, all it needs is one boss to hold them straight, plus two straps add security. They are rock-solid when fitted correctly

[nick12]

I like the fork cage idea. I zip tie water and flask to my forks on my bikepacking setup but do get some movement on the bottlecage. Have you got inserts on your forks?

[Gattonero]

I like the fork cage idea. I zip tie water and flask to my forks on my bikepacking setup but do get some movement on the bottlecage. Have you got inserts on your forks?

It's not my bike, I do use a handlebar roll. Now I've done myself a small one (about 5lt) as my goal is to reduce the amount of kit, then having less bags. Adding more stuff is not on my list, I try to think in "bulk vs weight" and "bag capacity vs its weight".
Some small bags with their fixings may weight up to 1/2kg while carrying 2-3lt of kit at most; those "fork cages" allow to carry a decent amount of stuff for little weight, and especially they help in balancing the the bike.

[nick12]

Its the way forward.keep it minimal. I,ve got my gear down to a bar roll seatpost pack framebag and water on the forks and thats everything i need for camping cooking and food for 3 days.

[nirakaro]

I zip tie water and flask to my forks on my bikepacking setup but do get some movement on the bottlecage.

Replace the zip ties with jubilee clips - it'll be rock solid.

[pwa]

I zip tie water and flask to my forks on my bikepacking setup but do get some movement on the bottlecage.

Replace the zip ties with jubilee clips - it'll be rock solid.

If I did that I'd put a thin rubber strip under the jubilee clip to protect the paint and also give even more grip.

[horizon]

I zip tie water and flask to my forks on my bikepacking setup but do get some movement on the bottlecage.

Replace the zip ties with jubilee clips - it'll be rock solid.

If I did that I'd put a thin rubber strip under the jubilee clip to protect the paint and also give even more grip.

+1 I usually use a cut up piece of inner tube for that. My various front panniers often find themselves improved in this way.

[nick12]

Replace the zip ties with jubilee clips - it'll be rock solid.

If I did that I'd put a thin rubber strip under the jubilee clip to protect the paint and also give even more grip.

+1 I usually use a cut up piece of inner tube for that. My various front panniers often find themselves improved in this way.

I,ve put a section of inertube over the fork and used thicker zip ties seems to have solved the problem. Nice one.

[Gattonero]

I zip tie water and flask to my forks on my bikepacking setup but do get some movement on the bottlecage.

Replace the zip ties with jubilee clips - it'll be rock solid.

If I did that I'd put a thin rubber strip under the jubilee clip to protect the paint and also give even more grip.

Or use Gorilla transparent tape, it's very good for protecting the bike as well.
£7.50 for 8mt of tape can protect a few bikes

[Sweep]

I also like the look of those fork mounted things gatto but 2 questions.

1: the write-up from charlie seems to talk about them mounted on forks but the salsa writeup below talks about them going on bottle mounts?

2: isn't it potentially risky to have straps so close to the wheel. ?

Oh, 3: they will really mount on the fork with just one fixing point? What stops them swivelling?

[Gattonero]

I thin the ones I've linked are for Salsa forks, but you can find similar ones from other manufacturers.
You can use add-on clamps for the cage, with a suitable shim if needs to. Keep in mind that those cages are not meant to carry lots of weight, a bolted clamp can be done fairly tight on steel forks, as long as those are round




Straps or webbing need to be tucked in, a friend of mine used the Voile straps which are excellent!

[Sweep]

Thanks for that gatto.

Will bear in mind.