panniers - advice

Those look easily large enough for a full camping expedition (assuming
four, two front two rear). As far as mounting them on the back rack,
they should do fine, assuming;

1) The mounting hardware will let them hang off a rack, and

2) you have adequate heel clearance )your heels don't hit the panniers
as you pedal).

Is there a chance you can get a hold of a pair in the real world to see
how they will fit on your bike?

I would not recommend using a backpack for touring. Backpacks (small
ones) are fine for carrying food for the last few miles to the
campground, but not for an all day excursion with full gear.

You might want to read this before you go:

http://www.geocities.com/czcorner/tech16.html

- -

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

"May you have the winds at your back,
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

<[email hidden]> wrote ...

Quoted message said:

I'm currently prepping for my first multi-day tour. To reward myself
for surviving the Chinese Proficiency Test next Sunday I'm going to
take my bike with me on the flight to Guangzhou and ride back.

So far I have gotten myself butterfly handlebars, a handlebar bag, new
(sturdy) rack, pump, patch kit, lessons from the mechanic on basic bike
repair, arm warmers, and leg warmers.

On my way to dinner tonight I passed by the hiking adventure shop (note
the use of the word "the" as in "the only one in this city"😉 and
decided to see if they had any maps of Guangdong so I could do a bit
more planning ahead. While I was in there I noticed that they had
panniers.

These panniers:
http://www.vaude.de/hps/upload/cmi24/china/produkte/backpacks/backpack_bike_14727.html

Which, despite being intended for the front of the bike, fit quite
nicely on the back of mine and are a heck of a lot smaller than the way
too mucking huge rear set for sale at the mountain bike shop (again
note the use of the word "the"😉.

They are waterproof and the two of them together hold about half again
as much as my current (non waterproof) backpack. The two panniers and
the handlebar bag should be more than enough space for everything I
want to bring (which mostly consists of clothing, camera gear, a few
books, and tech toys.) I'm only going for a week and have no intention
of camping or cooking.

At 488 rmb ($61) do the more experienced people on here think it
worthwhile for me to buy them?

Obvious advantages I can see -
Waterproof
Lower center of gravity
They look more 'serious traveller' than a backpack strapped to the
rack.

Obvious disadvantages I can see -
I already own a backpack
They look more 'serious traveller' than a backpack strapped to the
rack.

-M

Panniers are inherently easier to cycle with than a backpack strapped to the
rack, regardless of how you feel about the 'serious traveller' look (that's
why 'serious travellers' use them). I actually used a set of Vaude
Roadmasters on the front of my bike on my Scotland tour in May '04. They're
a decent set of panniers, not quite as nice as the Ortliebs on the back of
my bike but I have no intention of replacing them for a long time.

If you're anything like me, the way too mucking huge rear panniers will lead
you to bring way too mucking much stuff on your trip, which is not a good
thing.

I would say get the front panniers and stick them on your rear rack, they'll
serve you much better than a backpack strapped to the rack. If you think
that cycle camping is in your future, you can always get the way too mucking
huge panniers later on and you'll have the Vaudes to use as front panniers.
--
mark

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Which, despite being intended for the front of the bike, fit quite
nicely on the back of mine and are a heck of a lot smaller than the way
too mucking huge rear set for sale at the mountain bike shop (again
note the use of the word "the"😉.

Yes, there's nothing inherently front- or rear-specific about standard
panniers, except that big ones are used on the rear because they're too big
for the front.

Quoted message said:

They are waterproof and the two of them together hold about half again
as much as my current (non waterproof) backpack. The two panniers and
the handlebar bag should be more than enough space for everything I
want to bring (which mostly consists of clothing, camera gear, a few
books, and tech toys.) I'm only going for a week and have no intention
of camping or cooking.

At 488 rmb ($61) do the more experienced people on here think it
worthwhile for me to buy them?

My only concern would be that you make sure you're not overloading the rear
tire, considering your other recent woes in that area. This would be a
concern if you're running narrow tires (700x25 or smaller, say) and
traveling on irregular terrain. This, among other reasons, is why touring
bikes generally have fatter tires than other road bikes.

Otherwise, panniers are a Good Thing. Mine live on my bike. You can also use
just one, should circumstances warrant.

RichC

Quoted message said:

I'm currently prepping for my first multi-day tour. To reward myself
for surviving the Chinese Proficiency Test next Sunday I'm going to
take my bike with me on the flight to Guangzhou and ride back.

So far I have gotten myself butterfly handlebars, a handlebar bag, new
(sturdy) rack, pump, patch kit, lessons from the mechanic on basic bike
repair, arm warmers, and leg warmers.

On my way to dinner tonight I passed by the hiking adventure shop (note
the use of the word "the" as in "the only one in this city"😉 and
decided to see if they had any maps of Guangdong so I could do a bit
more planning ahead. While I was in there I noticed that they had
panniers.

These panniers:
http://www.vaude.de/hps/upload/cmi24/china/produkte/backpacks/backpack_bike_14727.html

Which, despite being intended for the front of the bike, fit quite
nicely on the back of mine and are a heck of a lot smaller than the way
too mucking huge rear set for sale at the mountain bike shop (again
note the use of the word "the"😉.

They are waterproof and the two of them together hold about half again
as much as my current (non waterproof) backpack. The two panniers and
the handlebar bag should be more than enough space for everything I
want to bring (which mostly consists of clothing, camera gear, a few
books, and tech toys.) I'm only going for a week and have no intention
of camping or cooking.

At 488 rmb ($61) do the more experienced people on here think it
worthwhile for me to buy them?

Obvious advantages I can see -
Waterproof
Lower center of gravity
They look more 'serious traveller' than a backpack strapped to the
rack.

Obvious disadvantages I can see -
I already own a backpack
They look more 'serious traveller' than a backpack strapped to the
rack.

-M

Just from the photo they look good. However I'm of the school that says
you can never have too large a set of panniers. Well, I suppose that
you can in theory but in practice? No. You don't have to fill them,
but it is nice to have the capacity when you need it.

I have never cycled with a backpack but I have been using panniers for
many years and my guess is that a back pack is just not adequate if you
are carrying much. I suspect that a bit of simple shopping , you know,
10kg of flour, couple bottles of wine, a cabbarge, a few potatoes, a
kilo of rice and the backpack is both full and unwieldy. THe panniers
are still not full.

With panniers you hardly notice that you are transporting things except
on steep hills or when you're up to about 20 kg of cargo. You also
aren't carry something when you're off the bike. If you are walking the
bike, it, not you, is carrying the weight.

I'd definately go for decent quality panniers but I'd probably go for
the large ones. The major reason is that carrying things on a bike is
often a matter of bulk not weight and the extra volume of large
panniers is valuable. Think of how well a laptop would fit in or some
bulky clothing. BTW, two or three good quality bungee cords are also a
good thing to carry.

I spent about CDN$ 200 on mine 15 years ago and they are still in
pretty good condition despite close to daily use ( I probably use them
300 days a year or more.)

You may find, in fact, that they are more useful around home than on
tour. The tour is just a good excuse to buy good panniers 🙂

Chris Zacho 'The Wheelman said:

Those look easily large enough for a full camping expedition (assuming
four, two front two rear). As far as mounting them on the back rack,
they should do fine, assuming;

1) The mounting hardware will let them hang off a rack, and

My new rack is just a wee (we're talking millimeters) bit too big for
the built in mounting hardware to work (and the older non-sturdy rack
would be far too small) BUT two carabiners (sp?) attached to the rack
gave me a place to mount it securely.

Quoted message said:

2) you have adequate heel clearance )your heels don't hit the panniers
as you pedal).

Hmm, I'll have to take them out for a test drive. So far I've only
looked at them in the shop, taken the stuff stored in them in the shop
out to investigate seams, and attempted mounting them on my bike. I
haven't actually ridden the bike with them on.

Quoted message said:

Is there a chance you can get a hold of a pair in the real world to see
how they will fit on your bike?

Yep, have held. Which is why I know that they and the mucking huge set
(brand name non-remembered) are the only ones available in Haikou.
Unless there are panniers lurking upstairs or in back in the road bike
shop, which there might be, because their storerooms are hugenormous,
but trying to explain what I want when it is an item I haven't
previously learned the vocabulary for and when it isn't on display is
.... a headache.

Quoted message said:

I would not recommend using a backpack for touring. Backpacks (small
ones) are fine for carrying food for the last few miles to the
campground, but not for an all day excursion with full gear.

You might want to read this before you go:

http://www.geocities.com/czcorner/tech16.html

I'm not allowed to access geocities. Whether or not F*lun G*ng still
maintains websites there is irrelevant, geocities is blocked, has been
blocked for years and will remain blocked for the indefinite future.

-M

Quoted message said:

Chris Zacho "The Wheelman" wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

You might want to read this before you go:

http://www.geocities.com/czcorner/tech16.html

I'm not allowed to access geocities. Whether or not F*lun G*ng still
maintains websites there is irrelevant, geocities is blocked, has been
blocked for years and will remain blocked for the indefinite future.

Who blocked GeoCities and why?

\\paul

--
Paul M. Hobson
Georgia Institute of Technology
..:change the words to numbers
if you want to reply to me:.

Zoot Katz said:

One part of the block is to disallow certain terms from being used on
search engines. These search engines include both international ones
(e.g. Google and Yahoo!) as well as domestic ones (e.g. Baidu).
Attempting to search for such a term results in a The page cannot be
displayed error. Repeatedly attempting to search for blocked terms
results in the entire search engine being blocked, presumably from the
same IP address.

It also has been known to get pissy about certain terms showing up in
newsgroup postings read on googlegroups. Once, when I kept trying to
read a post on rec.bicycles.tech wherein someone referred to "crappy
Chinese made kickstands" I managed to get google access blocked to all
of the computers in the house for the next thirty minutes.

Yes, I could use a proxy, and have been known to do so occasion but,
most of the time, most of the sites I'm interested in aren't on the
no-go list.

-M

Quoted message said:

Zoot Katz said:

One part of the block is to disallow certain terms from being used on
search engines. These search engines include both international ones
(e.g. Google and Yahoo!) as well as domestic ones (e.g. Baidu).
Attempting to search for such a term results in a The page cannot be
displayed error. Repeatedly attempting to search for blocked terms
results in the entire search engine being blocked, presumably from the
same IP address.

It also has been known to get pissy about certain terms showing up in
newsgroup postings read on googlegroups. Once, when I kept trying to
read a post on rec.bicycles.tech wherein someone referred to "crappy
Chinese made kickstands" I managed to get google access blocked to all
of the computers in the house for the next thirty minutes.

That's really scary. wow.
\\paul

Paul Hobson said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It also has been known to get pissy about certain terms showing up in
newsgroup postings read on googlegroups. Once, when I kept trying to
read a post on rec.bicycles.tech wherein someone referred to "crappy
Chinese made kickstands" I managed to get google access blocked to all
of the computers in the house for the next thirty minutes.

That's really scary. wow.

Yes, yes it is. And if it were getting worse rather than better, I'd
probably have left this country by now and gone home.

-M