lance@sdcsvax.UUCP (Lance Berc) (10/05/83)
I've been doing serious touring for about a year and a half and have spun
between four and five thousand miles with full packs (including a Portland
Oregon -> Indiana run). All of my touring has been done with small Velocipac
front bags on Blackburn Lowriders and medium sized Velocipac Elks on a standard
Blackburn rear rack. I've also used a Velocipac handlebar bag, but found that
it wasn't needed & was an impediment to effortless steering. (The UC San Diego
bike shop used to carry Velocipac.)
For short (<500 mile) summer tours I can fit everthing inside the panniers,
which is very convienient. For long tours, when I take the kitchen sink (cold
weather clothing, cooking gear, bong, etc.), I have to put my tent and sleeping
bag on top of the rear rack. [Aside - I felt stupid packing bottom bracket tools
until we needed them in the middle of Yellowstone Park. Be prepared, dirt gets
everywhere sometimes. - edisA] Distributing the load between the front and rear
is essential and well worth the extra investment. Not only is the bike more
stable, you get better wear out of rear tires & much better performance up
hills.
I have been very happy with the Velocipacs. They have worn well (even when
used for commuting), and are very easy to mount and unmount. They do have
this annoying nut that bolts the mounting hooks to the aluminum stiffiner.
These nuts have chewed through several math book covers (no big deal). Covering
them with tape fixed this. I have a partner with full Cannondale panniers,
and every time we went over nasty bumps his front bags would fall off. This
can be bothersome when one is doing 35+ down a hill with 50 lbs of gear.
(Of course you have less weight on the bike when you pedal back up to retrieve
them, but that is usally slight consolation.) The problem seemed to be that
the spring that Cannondale uses to attach the bottom of the bag to the
rack was not strong enough.
As far as helmets go, I have a skid-lid that's never been tested, but
is very comfortable. I wouldn't suggest buying one of you live near a
javelin-throwing area, though. Otherwise, everyone that I know that has
called on its services have been happy (and can still tell me that they were
happy). I have a bad feeling that the day that I need it will be the day
that 'it was too nice out to wear a helmet'.
I'd like to hear of other peoples experience with pannier/rack combos.
Lance Berc
{lance@nosc, sdcsvax!lance}