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Panniers For A Short Bike Tour
By spokesman | November 23, 2009
The purpose of this post is to discuss how I set up my bike with packs for a short tour. I have use the bike in the above photo on several short (3-4 day) warm weather tours when I stay at hotels, motels or B&Bs.
The bike has small panniers, an under-seat pack and a handlebar bag. Additionally, a pair of sandals are in a stuff sack and held to the rear rack with bungee cords. The small panniers are good to use on a non-touring bike. Touring bikes usually have a longer wheel base than road bikes. As a result, the panniers would be set further back on a touring bike and you would be less likely to hit the panniers with your heels when pedaling. Since this is a road bike, the small panniers help to avoid the heel strike problem. I got these panniers from Bike Nashbar; Dick’s Sporting Goods has a similar set and here is a set of Bicycle Pannier Bags 
I organized items in the packs so I can quickly find things. The handle bar bag has my wallet, glasses and camera. The seat bag has tools for bike repairs and 2 extra tubes. I put a rain jacket in the top of one of the panniers or it can be strapped on the top of the rack so it is accessible. All the items in the pannier are packed in a plastic bag. If the rain jacket is in the pannier, it is not included in the plastic bag with my clothes. If I need to open the pannier to get the rain jacket, the other items are less likely to get wet.
I carry the sandals in a waterproof bag that is strapped to the rack with bungee cords. Sandals would take up too much room in the pannier and fit better on the rack.
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Topics: Touring Tips |