Saturday, May 23, 2020

Preliminary bike camping setup

perhaps maybe i’ll get out this year and do some bike camping/packing/touring. and what’s that i hear? the snoqualmie tunnel is open now!

so here’s my current setup i’m fiddling with. i found i don’t like using  a handlebar roll, especially with the woodchippers on my 2013 fargo. not much room between the hoods. what i’m trying instead is the revelate nano panniers on the racktime topit rack up front. a dry bag with bivy bag and quilt stuffed in it on the rack. handlebar bag. feed bag. anything cages & bags. frame bag. portland design works brindle rack holding a revelate terrapin bag. another handlebar bag on the terrapin.

i’m also using the wolf tooth b-rad to offset a water bottle on the down tube and a topeak bottle cage to hold 32 oz water. thinking of another water bottle on the top tube. i have a couple bear spray canisters i’m deciding where to put.

i partially packed the bike for a test ride - clothes and sundry items in the terrapin, 2 liter bladder and tool kit in the frame bag, jetboil, food, misc in the anything bags. it rode pretty good with none of the wobblyness i had when i used a rear rack with maybe overloaded ortleib panniers a few years ago. of course that could change when i get it fully packed. i’ll have a 3 liter camelbak and extra osprey bladders.  there’s more room in the dry bag and terrapin, but the goal is not to overpack, carry the essentials plus a little more.