Equipping Your Touring Bicycle With Racks & Panniers
Feb
A traditional touring bicycle, like the one you have seen throughout this video course, carries most of its clothing, gear, food and equipment in a set of panniers, which attach to the bicycle with the use of either front or rear racks (or in this case, a set of both front and rear racks).
This method of carrying your equipment is the most popular means of packing for a road-based bike tour because panniers are easy to pack, relatively easy to access on a daily basis, they allow you to ride the bike in a normal way, once you get used to the extra weight that you are carrying.
Rack & Pannier Recommendations:
These are the front and rear racks you see on my touring bicycle in this video. These racks are made of steel and do cost a bit more than similar racks made of aluminum, but they will last a very long time!
These are the front and rear waterproof panniers I have been using on my bicycle touring adventures for more than 10 years. They aren’t cheap, but they are very good and will last a very long time. Highly recommended!
- Ortlieb Ultimate 6 Handlebar Bag
- Ortlieb Bike-Packer Plus Rear Panniers
- Ortlieb Sport-Packer Plus Front Panniers
These are the more traditional (and slightly less expensive) waterproof, roll-top panniers that many bicycle tourists use on their cycling expeditions.
- Ortlieb Classic Handlebar Bag
- Ortlieb Back-Roller Classic Panniers
- Ortlieb Sport-Roller Classic Panniers
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I usually like to take a small mesh laundry bag (8×18 inches is plenty) to carry wet, dirty, and stinky stuff so I don’t need to put them in the panniers. This is nice for hauling a soaking-wet rainfly, wet raingear, and wet and dirty socks so they don’t get other things in your panniers wet and stinky.
An added benefit of the mesh bag is that things can (sort of) dry out over the course of a day.
I have the latest Ortlieb panniers that use the 3.1 locking mechanism. This system is an improvement as there are three solid fixing points, less plastic used (lighter) and the clips don’t stand out – easier for carrying.