'Epic' rides- panniers or big backpack
neil_sheehan2000
Posts: 529
First off, apologies, as I wasn't sure where to put this, so just settled on MTB General.
Anyway, I'm looking at doing a long-distance route on the mountain bike this summer. Was thinking of something like The Scotland Trail, which is 270 miles, from Skye to Montrose, and will probably take the best part of a week.
Now that much riding will invariably mean carrying a lot of stuff, even if I am travelling light, so I was wondering what people's preferred method of carrying a week's worth of kit was. Would panniers be the best, or just stuffing a big rucksack?
I did the Great Glen Way in November (camping along the way) and took panniers. It was absolute murder for me and the bike- any sort of uphill gradient would see me head straight for bottom gear, and the two hours where we had to carry everything along an unridable diversion were the amongst the worst two hours of my life. That was in November in Scotland though, so I was prepared for the worst weather-wise, and therefore had loads of kit. Does anyone have any enjoyable experiences with panniers on their mountain bikes?
Cheers.
Anyway, I'm looking at doing a long-distance route on the mountain bike this summer. Was thinking of something like The Scotland Trail, which is 270 miles, from Skye to Montrose, and will probably take the best part of a week.
Now that much riding will invariably mean carrying a lot of stuff, even if I am travelling light, so I was wondering what people's preferred method of carrying a week's worth of kit was. Would panniers be the best, or just stuffing a big rucksack?
I did the Great Glen Way in November (camping along the way) and took panniers. It was absolute murder for me and the bike- any sort of uphill gradient would see me head straight for bottom gear, and the two hours where we had to carry everything along an unridable diversion were the amongst the worst two hours of my life. That was in November in Scotland though, so I was prepared for the worst weather-wise, and therefore had loads of kit. Does anyone have any enjoyable experiences with panniers on their mountain bikes?
Cheers.
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Comments
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The hills will have been a struggle purely due to the extra weight you were carrying; having it in panniers as opposed to a rucksack will have made no odds. Personally I'd go for panniers again; I find a heavy rucksack starts to hurt my back after about 10 miles, so it would probably end up folding me in half after 270.What We Achieve In Life, Echoes In Eternity0
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Don't camp, use B&B/Hostels or someone to become your logistics and cart the heavy stuff ahead in a car for you
Otherwise you ain't going to get over the weight problem, like you said yourself the last time you did it you didn't overly enjoy it.0 -
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Ever thought of luggage courier?We used AMS when we did the West Highland Way 8) Made it a lot easier/more enjoyable just carrying day-pacs
It cost us £25 in 2004 It's about £40 now.
Not sure if they do other trails but there are companies that do.
Here's another to try.
http://www.sherpavan.com/0 -
pack very very light - one set of ride clothes and one set of "evening wear", small stove, one pot that you eat out of and ready meals, tent or bivvy - stick it all in a pannier or rack top bag - backpack tomy wya of thinking would be killer even if you limit weight and size - plus anythign technical and all that weight is way up on your back making riding hard.
Mate of mine rode round the world with two panniers and a stuff bag - for 4 or 5 days I am sure you can trim it to less!Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.0 -
Have you considered using a trailer? Makes packing much easier due to the whole balance thing and a lot more stable when going slowly due to lower centre of gravity.
Also as you've done a trip already you now know what to leave behind!0 -
Thanks for the tips all!
I'll well look into the Sherpa idea- although I can't immediately find a company that ferry your stuff along the route I'm thinking of.
My thinking at the moment is, as paul.skibum suggested, to pack very very light. Also, as gezebo points out, I know what to leave behind now- and that would be almost everything I took last time! If I do take panniers then it'll be a struggle to avoid the temptation of stuffing everything and the kitchen sink in them.
I'm toying with the possibility of getting all the necessaries in my 20 litre Camelbak (with handy straps for tying stuff on) and assorted frame/saddle bags. Although that will probably depend hugely on whether we camp or not.
Cheers.0 -
I was looking for somethign I saw in singletrack once - couldnt find it though - basically a large elongated tubular bag mounted off the seatpost - I think Chipps or whatever had ridden the Pyrenees (road bike but to each his own) with one plus a frame bag and a couple of front wheel panniers - something like this but better - http://detours.us/store/seat-post-bags/high-tail-exp-ul/Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.0
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check out bikeandbivi.uk ..Has good advice on light weight.tents and stuff alpkit backpack works well..0
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I had a 35l karrimor pack with the aitwave backing from sports direct a while back, was only 20 quid and I used to carry a ton of stuff in that for rides.
Not ideal either way though having to cart stuff with you0 -
Picked up this month's MBUK today and, handily, there's an article in it about a bloke who did a 300+km coast-to-coast across Wales with just a backpack on. Didn't look too big either, but he was travelling very light- and even posted some extra clothes to one of the hotels that he would be staying at.
One of his top tips was not to bother putting a bladder in your bag, but to use drinks bottles on the bike instead to save space and weight on your back.
p.s. paul.skibum: I've actually got something similar to that, and it's pretty rubbish. About 10 litre capacity (if that) and a weight limit of about 2.5 kilos. You weren't thinking of something like this were you? Apparently it's a 23 litre saddle bag. No idea how you fix it to your saddle though...0 -
Save even more space and weight on your back and get panniers. I have ridden everywhere with mine, including red routes and swinley forest on occasion. Unless it gets seriously gnarly, they are much better than having a sweaty back and on long distance much more comfortable.0
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Post clothing to your overnight stops, post dirty stuff back each day.
On road - panniers, off road bckpack, you can control the weight better!Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0 -
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