Old 12-24-14, 03:42 PM
  #8  
Tourist in MSN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,206

Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.

Mentioned: 48 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3460 Post(s)
Liked 1,466 Times in 1,144 Posts
There are rack top bags that have side pockets that fold down to be tiny panniers. If I wanted to do a credit card tour like you are with just one or two changes of clothes, rain gear, minimal other stuff, I would get one of those bags.

And I would get one of those racks that clamp onto the seatpost. (If you have a carbon seatpost, replace that with a metal one for this trip.) If you used the pannier side pockets, the rack would also need the side pieces that prevent the panniers from swinging into the tire. I have used such a rack on my foldup bike. From that I can tell you that you have to have your weight in each pannier balanced, otherwise the rack might want to rotate on the seatpost so one side (the heavy side) rubs on the tire.

If you might want to have the handlebars a bit higher, consider a different stem. Most long distance tourists have top of handlebars pretty close to top of saddle for height.

If I was doing this type of trip, I would also have a handlebar bag. But most ultra light weight riders do not. Just mentioning it for consideration, but I do not know if you can attach a handlebar bag on that bike or not.
Tourist in MSN is offline