Suggestions for touring?

[bart998]

After years of racing... then years of not riding... and the past few years of leisurely riding... I've decided to do a long distance tour with a friend or two in the near future. My first ever. So, I'm assembling a proper touring bike and can't decide if I should use panniers or a trailer to haul my gear. I do have a Burley trailer I used to pull my kids around in when they were small. Any suggestions from those with more experience?

[miguel]

define "long distance"

[rnhood]

Paniers.

[gmcampy]

After years of racing... then years of not riding... and the past few years of leisurely riding... I've decided to do a long distance tour with a friend or two in the near future. My first ever. So, I'm assembling a proper touring bike and can't decide if I should use panniers or a trailer to haul my gear. I do have a Burley trailer I used to pull my kids around in when they were small. Any suggestions from those with more experience?
Check out the Revelate Designs ideas for bike packing.

http://www.revelatedesigns.com/index.cfm

[christian]

Throw a backpack in the trailer and go away for a three-day weekend. Assess thereafter.

[Cornfed]

... of course. If strictly on the road, I'd use a trailer. Less susceptible to cross winds. If mixed surfaces, panniers are probably better.

[dave thompson]

"Long" is subjective. My wife is going to embark on a cross-country trip next week with a BOB Yak trailer and panniers. She's riding entirely self-supported and thinks it would be difficult to pack all her gear in panniers alone, particularly bulky items. IMO trailers are great for large, bulky or heavy items and take much of the load from the bike.

[Ken Robb]

Maybe you could try credit card touring for a few days. Stay in old-fashioned motels where you can keep all your stuff including your bike inside. Imagine if carrying another 20 lbs. while riding would reduce your fun. As you peel off your riding clothes imagine how you would feel if you had to set up a tent and cook dinner.

This should give you a pretty good idea what kind of touring you want to do before you invest in new equipment. I used to go motorcycle camping with pals and we had a lot of fun. Then one day the friction material on one front brake pad FELL OFF!! Luckily I was making a slow u-turn at the time. We were in rural foothills Sunday afternoon and the nearest shop that would be open on Monday was 50 miles away. I left my pals so they could play in the mountain twisties and rode slowly to a motel near the shop. In the morning I got new brake pads and tried to find my friends at the planned campsite. No luck. The reservation was screwed up so they took off for parts unknown.

About this time I realized that I would usually prefer a motel, hot shower, restaurant meal with beer or wine to tent camping. It may be old age. :)

[josephr]

Throw a backpack in the trailer and go away for a three-day weekend. Assess thereafter.

+ 1 on starting out small....gives you the opportunity to feel out your gear and set-up and then can drop the stuff you won't use. Plus, we liked camping with the kids...one night, then two nights...they were awesome...so, we decided to try a weeklong camping trip. After three days, we packed everything up and moved into a Holiday Inn for the rest of the vacation. The point is: some things are great in small doses...but not so great over extended periods of time.
Joe

[bikinchris]

Adventure cycling would be a better place to ask. But as for my own suggestions? Natchez Trace would be nice. Katy trail. Maybe do a supported ride first, like League of Michigan Bicyclists shoreline tours, Cycle Across Maryland come to mind also. Cycle Zydeco is the ride I am the mechanic for.

[old fat man]

I rode across the country entirely self supported (not credit card touring) and used a BOB trailer. Next time I will do it with panniers, even if it means a few hotel nights along the way.

I've towed my kids around enough in a Chariot trailer to know there is no way that I would want that thing behind me while touring. Single wheeled trailers are a considerably different (and more efficient) animal.

If you have the means, I'd recommend a middle ground of panniers with some credit card hotel nights when you need to get out of the elements or wash up considerably.

Touring is great, but suffering without the right gear, or hauling loads and loads of gear in case you might need it is no fun.

[cnighbor1]

touring
1st go on a two nite overniter to do a shake down on equipment including you
2nd Panniers has with a trailer it allows you to carry too much gear.
3rd Plan on no more than 35 lbs. of gear. Get food for dinner that day while riding
4th go to craryguyonabicycle.com to see journals of touring rides
5th try and find a low traffic route 1st few trips
6th lets us know were you live so we can suggest a route

[Bradford]

Don't listen to advice about touring from people who don't like to tour. It's great that they have found out what they like and don't like, and great they can follow that path. That's what makes a horse race. But for advice on touring, stick to people who like to tour for weeks at a time, sleep outdoors, and leave the hotels and tvs behind.

Touring is a great way to see the country...some of my best memories are from tours. Having toured extensively with panniers and having spent the last few years pulling my kids around in a trailer, I'd go with panniers. Get good bags and good racks and you'll be fine. If you are looking for a bargain, there are plenty of used bags available.

For routes, Adventure Cycling, and their maps, is a great place to start. I've touring all over the country with their maps and find them very helpful.

And finally, taking it slow and ramping up sounds prudent, but I say just commit and jump in like I did. My first tour was 1,000 miles from Seattle to San Francisco, and it was great. Some bike issues I now know better about, some weather issues, some fatigue issues...none of it mattered. It was such a great way to spend a few weeks. When you jump in, you are committed, and you'll figure it out. Now, with the internet, which I did not have, there is so much information out there you should be able to figure out a lot before you go.

There are very few things in life more exciting, exhausting, and fascinating than riding your bike across North America during the day and camping out at night. Hit the road and don't look back.

[oldpotatoe]

After years of racing... then years of not riding... and the past few years of leisurely riding... I've decided to do a long distance tour with a friend or two in the near future. My first ever. So, I'm assembling a proper touring bike and can't decide if I should use panniers or a trailer to haul my gear. I do have a Burley trailer I used to pull my kids around in when they were small. Any suggestions from those with more experience?

You can carry more and have a little better handling bicycle with a trailer(Bob)..but ya also got to make sure the bike can handle towing a weighted trailer. Depends on how much you carry, how 'unsupported' you are, where you tour.

[cat6]

if you're doing any hills, up or down, i recommend a front load (panniers).

i've ridden w/a trailer, rear panniers only, and front panniers only. if you're climbing or descending you'll feel the trailer or rear panniers especially if you ever want to get out of the saddle to stretch your legs. front loaded it's almost unnoticeable except for slightly sluggish steering.

one overlooked downside to the trailer is transport.
what if you've got to carry the bike up a flight of stairs, or take it on to a train? it'll prove a pretty awkward inconvenience.

here's my latest set up.

http://www.boyzonthehoods.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/dirtbomb_train.jpg
http://www.boyzonthehoods.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/dirtroad_dirtbomb.jpg
there are endless shakedown rides that you can do in and around so cal, the pacific surfliner (amtrak) is bike friendly so long as you reserve in advance.

this enables you to get away quick, cut out junk miles and get into the pretty stuff.
two weeks ago i took a half day at work and was set up here by 5PM(started in LA).
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u141/lukerulz/4sale/4063E5EC-7042-415C-A9E6-127CC185917C_zpsgwfqrs9r.jpg

YMMV depending on the frame you're using, but if possible go heavy front load.

[bart998]

Thanks for all the great info. We are talking about rides from a couple of weeks to cross U.S. It would be unsupported, so we would have to carry a bit more stuff than other wise. I think we would motel it once a week or so and camp the rest of the time. I definitely see the value in a couple of short 3-4 day rides first to sort out what equipment is needed and actually useful.

[bikingshearer]

Front and rear panniers should haul enough to carry everything you need wherever you want to go - they did for me on several long trips (500 to 3,600 miles). Don't forget, some things (like the tent and sleeping bag) can be lashed to the top of the rear panniers. That makes the panniers vs trailer decision one of personal preference. Since I have never ridden with a trailer, I can't really comment on the choice. But from a load-carrying perspective, either one is viable.

As a former racer, you may have an attitude adjustment to make. I did some very low-grade racing as a teen, and it took me some time to realize that all the racer "shoulds" - I should be going faster, further, harder, or in a bigger gear - are all balderdash on a tour. You don't have to get there fast, you just have to get there. And on a fully self-supported tour, you have an amazing amount of flexibility as to what "getting there" means on any given day. It took me a while to learn to embrace that, and that may be the case for you, too. The sooner you can, the better the trip will be.

[cp43]

However you decide to carry your stuff, bring less of it. I always bring too much stuff, and reducing the load makes things better, panniers or trailer.

Have fun,

Chris

[Bradford]

However you decide to carry your stuff, bring less of it. I always bring too much stuff, and reducing the load makes things better, panniers or trailer.

Have fun,

Chris

This seems to be a common comment, but for me it has been the opposite. Over the years, I've used everything I tour with. Perhaps the only thing I've carried and not used was a book...I never seem to have time to just read.

I'm curious what stuff people have brought on tours and then decided was too much.

[cp43]

This seems to be a common comment, but for me it has been the opposite. Over the years, I've used everything I tour with. Perhaps the only thing I've carried and not used was a book...I never seem to have time to just read.

I'm curious what stuff people have brought on tours and then decided was too much.

I always bring too many clothes. I end up not wearing half of them. I usually bring more tools than I really need also.

I think it depends on how much of a minimalist you are to begin with. My natural inclination is to bring everything. I need to really try to pare down to what I actually need. I would guess that some people are the opposite, and need to really make sure they bring everything they need.

I guess my real point is to think carefully about what you pack. Extra stuff means you have to carry that much more weight, pack it up and unpack it, and it makes finding what you want that much more difficult.

Chris

[GeorgeTSquirrel]

The only reason I'd go with a bob trailer is if I didn't already own a dedicated touring bike. The advantages of a trailer is that heel-clearance isn't an issue, weight is shared/distributed to a third wheel (so you don't really need touring specific wheels as much)... just clip it on your century, relaxed geometry bike, and ride. The downside to a trailer is that it is harder to navigate in tight spaces and up stairs if need be. It can also be a pain if the trailer has two wheels instead of one, when riding on uneven surfaces.

With a dedicated touring bike, panniers are the way to go. I agree with what someone else said about keeping weight in the front (food, extra water, etc) and I'm more likely to keep my clothes and things requiring water proofing on the back (where I use Ortliebs). My front bags are not 100% water proof but they have more pockets for accessibility.

[GeorgeTSquirrel]

This seems to be a common comment, but for me it has been the opposite. Over the years, I've used everything I tour with. Perhaps the only thing I've carried and not used was a book...I never seem to have time to just read.

I'm curious what stuff people have brought on tours and then decided was too much.

My camera, but only because I managed to loose it along the way!!! :( LOL It's all good though, because I was on the C&O at the time and someone actually found it and got it back to me via reddit FTW!

If anything, I've always under-packed and managed to find what I need from other bike-packers in my group. I'd say if anything, determining what would be redundant due to having a group is the best approach.