What do you need for cycle touring?

[Username]

Another thing to think about is where you are going and where you plan to camp. If you will be camping on an organised site, with water, a picnic table, perhaps even cooking facilities and a shop on site or nearby and/or a pub cafe to eat in and other shops/cafes along the way, then you will probably be fine.

However if you need to carry a day or more water and food, want to have somewhere to sit etc. then you may find that you struggle to fit it all in. I like to wild camp and travel mainly in NW Scotland. Although there are cafes and shops they can be closed/far apart and so I often have to pick up water at some point in the day, and sometimes carry a few days food. I find having extra room in the panniers makes this much easier.

My advice would be to try a couple of short overnight trips close to home, you soon work out what you actually need and what you can leave at home. You will also find out how well your packing arrangements work for you. When I started out I had pretty much the same setup as you do. These days I use four panniers and a bar bag, nothing on top of the rack. I find it much easier to get to things this way, but you may find two bags work fine for you. Just give it a go!

This was what I was thinkin, not gonna be this year tho due to it coming to winter, plus I have no more leave anyway. I never do tours in winter, but I did once find that a Scottish night got so cold I ended up sleeping in my motorcycle leathers. I'm also a useless cook, so I would always try to find nearby pubs or shops.

Thanks for the replies everyone . Also what do you do for security? I can lock my bike up but how do you secure your accessories when camping? Like when you go to a pub?

[Vorpal]

There are a couple of good threads about kit in the 'Too good to lose':
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=85590
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=48438

As for security, I take any valuables with me when I go somewhere. If someone really needs my dirty/drying cycling shorts, they can have them.

[ossie]

Well we bumped into a young man yesterday who was cycling down to the South West of England over 6 days.

He was slightly lost after 3 hours on his first day. He was carrying a rucksack with tent / mat and everything attached to the rucksack and nothing on his bike. No panniers, no pannier racks - nothing. So the whole weight was on his back.

His bike was an 80's job with worn out tyres.

He appeared well educated and quite intelligent until I asked him a really basic question. Do you have a puncture repair kit = No.

Do you have pump = No .

I was simply gobsmacked but then it dawned that even with the most basic of tools he'd probably struggle to use them. My wife was all for driving him down to Devon until I reminded her that wasn't the point. I'm all for adventure but at the very least give yourself a chance.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
I am always in a quandary the day before I set off.................I think what's the worst thing that can happen.............I have to walk............

[robert32asp]

That was more than enough pannier capacity for my Camino Francis and my English C to C. In this day and age, I always take a fairly complete first aid kit that includes a large battle wound dressing and a blood clotting sponge & latex gloves. You never know when you or someone you come across will be a trauma victim.

Seriously, if you have the money stay in low-priced accommodations, Inns, B&B's etc and eat in bars or restaurants. You meet a lot of interesting people and that is what touring is about. On my trips, I like to take a small stove and metal cup that can heat tea or soup. Like the following https://www.amazon.com/Esbit-Ultralight-Folding-Pocket-Tablets/dp/B06ZZCJGTD That is pretty much the limit of my Camping gear, with one exception.

As to a sleeping bag, I have done glacier mountaineering and don't take a sleeping bag anymore as they are too heavy and bulky. What I take instead is a bivy sack and a some quilted, down insulated belay pants. A good mountaineering store or mail order retailer should be able to provide you with recommendations. If I can survive a night on a glacier in that gear, I can survive a night along a path anywhere. It is mostly an emergency thing, but if really cold the belay pants will warm you up in a hurry.

[crazydave789]

going by what I took and didn't use three weeks ago then for summer touring plenty of space in there if you one pot cook and have a 2-3 season bag. less luggage then space is you enemy rather than weight IMO. many will tour with four panniers others with two and a rack pack. have a look at bicycletouringpro on you tube for what he gets away with although there are plenty of others too.

I pack for eventuality and took all my food as an experiment along with a field kitchen it seems. I had plenty of spare kit and food in the end but that was the point as I was experimenting all the way round.

get yourself a decent bar bag though you can ride with a waist bag or small rucksack and keep your waterproofs and warm layer in there. if its light enough then your body won't complain that much over it.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

Hi,
The pic below is me and my son completing the WOTR. I used yellow CROSSO Dry 60L (Pair), whilst these were adequate for the trip a front small handlebar bag would have been useful for some items (Wallet phone etc). I carried the tent across the top in a dry bag.



Regards,

Touring bikes tend to have double bottle bosses, so I am a bit surprised you are only carrying one bottle?
Though it depends how you are doing ride and dependence on watering holes.
Recently did my usual coast to coast return torquay to minehead which came out shorter at 148 miles due to a short cut on way home, started out with three bottles and bladder pack (3.6 L total) anticipating that I would stop to refill, but day was very cool and did not drink much so did whole trip on that in 12 hrs, poor for me.
I was traveling light but if camping I would get everything in about 60 litres tent and all including a small rucksack, unless it was winter.

Water for me remains the biggest drawback as public taps are all gone, so its a river mostly

[hjd10]

Hi,

Hi,
The pic below is me and my son completing the WOTR. I used yellow CROSSO Dry 60L (Pair), whilst these were adequate for the trip a front small handlebar bag would have been useful for some items (Wallet phone etc). I carried the tent across the top in a dry bag.



Regards,

Touring bikes tend to have double bottle bosses, so I am a bit surprised you are only carrying one bottle?
Though it depends how you are doing ride and dependence on watering holes.
Recently did my usual coast to coast return torquay to minehead which came out shorter at 148 miles due to a short cut on way home, started out with three bottles and bladder pack (3.6 L total) anticipating that I would stop to refill, but day was very cool and did not drink much so did whole trip on that in 12 hrs, poor for me.
I was traveling light but if camping I would get everything in about 60 litres tent and all including a small rucksack, unless it was winter.

Water for me remains the biggest drawback as public taps are all gone, so its a river mostly

Yes you are right, I could have taken another water bottle however we were stopping regularly at tea houses/cafes. If we do another camping trip I'd like to go a bit lighter as the bike was really heavy which made progress a bit slower. I guess you learn on each trip although clothing and equipment is so much better these days which does help.

Regards,

[hamster]

Yes, you are right - every tour you do you learn what was a waste of energy to take...and occasionally what was essential but got left behind...
I reckon on about 13kg all up for solo touring kit, depending on time of year.

It varys hugely according to personal preference - some are happy to haul creature comforts uphill; others are happy sleeping in a bin bag.

[Sweep]

The pic below is me and my son completing the WOTR. I used yellow CROSSO Dry 60L (Pair),,

How are those crosso bags?

I use ortlieb bikepackers at the mo, have done for years, but sometimes find their 40 litre capacity a tad limiting.

But i like the fact that they are totally waterproof and can be left outside in rain, when bivvying or outside the tent for extra room.

Questions re crosso.

* how good is the fixing system?

* how waterproof, i need total waterproof though not planning to submerge any bags.

* how does the bike handle with that extrav10 litres in each pannier.

Thanks .

[hjd10]

The pic below is me and my son completing the WOTR. I used yellow CROSSO Dry 60L (Pair),,

How are those crosso bags?

I use ortlieb bikepackers at the mo, have done for years, but sometimes find their 40 litre capacity a tad limiting.

But i like the fact that they are totally waterproof and can be left outside in rain, when bivvying or outside the tent for extra room.

Questions re crosso.

* how good is the fixing system?

* how waterproof, i need total waterproof though not planning to submerge any bags.

* how does the bike handle with that extrav10 litres in each pannier.

Thanks .

You can buy the traditional and click fixing systems on this pannier. I really like the traditional setup, there is a lower rubber donut that allows you to tension the lower attachment. The metal top clips are a bit agricultural (very solid) however the panniers come with some clear plastic covers to protect your carrier. I can remove my panniers quicker than the ones fitted to my lads bike, they are an ortlieb copy.

Water proof wise they are the same as any other tarp style PVC panniers and mine are 100% waterproof also. I didnt have any problems on the bike although with the camping equipment it was HEAVY. The other thing to note which you might be able to see in the pictures, the pannier is shaped so as to ensure there is plenty of room from your heels.

I like them although I haven't had ortlieb panniers before to compare mine against.

[Sweep]

Many thanks for the reply hjd.

You have set my mind at rest with your detail about the traditional hooks as i must admit they did look from my online research as if they would chew your rack away. The manufacturers should point this out to avoid worrying types like me.

Part of the reason i was interested in these is that my ortliebs can be a bit small, plus the fact that on my recent trip for reasons i don't understand, i was plagued by one of them unhooking on one of the clips. Despite the fact that there was a ton of stuff on top. This is of course not supposed to happen. Panniers use the ortlieb 2 hook system with their notorious disappearing insert system. 2.1 may well be better but a new hook system will cost £20. Hence interest in an alternative. For touring i consider my generation of ortlieb hooks to be pretty poor. The much vaunted self release as you pull them up is not a feature i care about.

Thanks again, hope i haven't diverted the thread too much, will do more research on crosso and if i have more questions start a separate thread.

[gloomyandy]

Sweep one option is to not use the inserts in the hooks. Instead make the rack tube that you clip to wider. I did this by using a length of tubing cut lengthwise and placed over the rack tube to expand the size of the tube to that of the hooks without any inserts. The tube is sort of slightly soft and makes for a very secure fixing for the hooks. It also means that there is no rattling!

[Sweep]

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.

[gloomyandy]

I didn't have any problems with either the inserts or the hooks coming off the racks. But I have more than one rack and they have different diameter tubes. Swapping from one to the other either meant changing the inserts (which was a pain) or having a very rattly pannier. I saw a post on here describing how another user had solved the problem by adding a tube of the right wall thickness and decided to give it a go. It worked so well I did the same on my front rack (I only have one of those). I also used the tube on the lower part of the rack to make the lower "hook" fit the rack better and now have a nice quiet set of panniers! So I no longer have the inserts, which is one less thing to lose when on tour!

I suspect that the tube may well work with conventional hooks as it will stop a metal hook scratching the rack and because it has a bit of give the tube will provide a nice snug fit. This is the tube I used...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ATGIY1W/ ... 91_TE_item

I payed less than that though. Seems that this "XSPC HighFlex Hose" is pretty widely available in various colours and sizes, so best to shop around. The 16mm outer 10mm inner works very well with my panniers and (Tubus) rack.