Im planning a 6 week cycle round Sri Lanka to film the wildife, and I’m just planning how to carry my gear. I've made it as small as possible, but it still fills a peli case (~15kg)
I’ve not tried either option yet, but what would people recommend? On a rack over the front wheel, or attach a pannier mount to the case and use it on the back rack?
tripod will be on top of the rear rack.
pros and cons of either setup?
by BenTutton
7 Comments
I’d base it almost entirely on what other gear you need to bring. Lightest bag (or case) goes on the front.
Have you ridden around with 15kg on your handlebars? It’s just down to personal preference. I’ve seen people back bags and bikes in ways that I would never do but it works for them
I would not recommend carrying all that gear. You’re going to have to simplify and pair down your setup further. You will also want to find a more suitable soft sided carrying setup. A large hard case like that is going to be awkward and potentially damage your racks as it bounces around (even if it’s strapped down). Maybe get a large, waterproof pannier, and then find some padded cases to arrange inside of the pannier.
I would be afraid that constant vibrations and shock will damage your gear.
First, I love your Thorn!! Some ideas:
– Can you break the gear into two cases, to spread out the load?
– Consider a trailer?
– Finally, and I kinda hate to suggest it, but would a dedicated cargo bike make this easier? Something like an Omnium cargo, or even a longtail like Yuba Mundo?
Will you be camping or staying in hotels etc? If you’re bringing camping gear and cooking gear and all your food I think you’ll really need to cover this bike in bags – frame bag, seat bag, panniers, stem caddy, etc — at which point your tires are going to have to be inflated to the max just to carry everything, so you won’t have a lot of relief on bumpy terrain.
You might want to do a search on this subreddit (or maybe it was r/bicycletouring). We just had a post here about a month ago from a guy who wanted to cycle with so much professional equipment in order to film sports events. I think ultimately he had to resort to a trailer.
https://preview.redd.it/romcu5iqzqdg1.png?width=1567&format=png&auto=webp&s=8da2b55f5501c62bf2dc8facd1111a4a4764f082
I did smaller packing into front and rear panniers and it worked pretty well. The Sigma 150-600 had it’s own pannier on the front rack, other front was the drone. In the rear, I fit two cameras and one lens each into a camera bag in one pannier, and the 4th pannier was camping supplies. tripod was strapped inbetween the two rear panniers.
That’s a lot of stuff on one rack! I would break it down into several smaller cases or panniers.
Or you might consider a trailer or even buying a cargo bike. An Omnium would carry that case and all your other gear easily, and would be safer and more fun to ride. They are not cheap but I bet whats in the case isn’t either!