Hello ! New here, I am planning on my first ever solo trip (and first trip) from East of France to Lisbon Portugal and I wanted to know if one, you liked my setup, two, had any advice on weight distribution and if it wasn't too much for my wheel.
If you have ANY other advice or questions feel free to tell them. Here are the pics:
by Machaluma
3 Comments
I’m curious what others say but…
I’ve toured across the US three times. I’m cycling now from Nordkapp to Cape Town. I’ve basically always done your set-up. Just packed everything onto the back like a car with a large capacity handlebar bag, frame bag, and nothing on the front.
It’s worked for me all these years and now I’m just too stubborn to change / don’t feel like buying more panniers for the front. I also don’t like the idea of all the weight affecting my steering. But mostly, I’m just stubborn 🙂
The general rule for loading your bike for touring on roads is 60% on the front and 40% on the rear. If you have heavy items like tools, spares you should get a full frame bag and put all your heavy items in the bottom section then food in the top section. If your going to be camping you should put your tent strapped to the handlebars. Get some feed bags to strap to the bars to carry your water bottles.
I toured for years on two different bikes, with most of the weight on the back wheel, and never had problems. I now have a pair of 6L fork bags for a little better weight distribution, and I like that, too. Handling is a little better, and the bike feels a little more balanced. You should be good with what you have there with the frame bags and fork bags taking a little off the back. However, you might try to reduce the number of bags – do you really need two frame bags, two fork packs, AND a handlebar bag, along with two large rear panniers? Have a great ride!