My goals are very simple. Enjoy bike packing for 1-3 nights, maybe even a long weekend, but working up to that point where I will start out with a local group up in Syracuse NY and do an overnighter during our summer months. It can be rainy, hot, muggy etc up here on occasions. I am also an amateur radio operator and plan on taking some radio equipment with me (very light weight stuff).
Worthy goal. Just don’t overthink it...which is what you seem to be doing now. Some call it “analysis paralysis”.
In December 2018 I purchased a Salsa Marrakesh 2018 in that hot orange color. I really like that bike alot, but we share a love / hate relationship. My salsa is very temperamental on rear derailleur shifts. Sometimes it stays in gear and sometimes not. Thank god for friction shifters! I have been riding for several years, off and on, but recently I have been going much more often in order to get in better shape.
I’m 99.9% certain that your shifting problems are due to cable issues. Your cables have stretched since you bought it and just need a little bit of tightening. You can go back to index if you just turn the adjustment barrels on the shifter or the derailer a little bit.
Here is what I have currently setup:
- Topeak MTX Rear Carrier bag with built in side panniers. I jury-rigged a non-disk rear carrier to fit my Marrakesh very well. I still have the stock Salsa rear carrier.
Only this is important. First, you could use the Topeak bag but it’s capacity is limited and the side panniers aren’t really made for more than limited use. Your rack will work but not the rack bag. Go with traditional panniers since they will carry more and be more durable. You don’t have to buy the largest panniers you can find, either.
Here are my thoughts on a overnight bike bag setup as well as additional hardware:
- Obtain some fenders for front and back wheels
- Font rack / pannier bag holders: I currently have a virtue small front fork rack but have difficulty getting it on.
- Full center frame bag.
I welcome some comments and suggestions on which way to go. As far as budget lets start out around ~300.00 - ~500.00.
Unless you are planning on off-pavement travel, I would council against “bikepacking” gear. Go with more traditional road touring bags. They are much more flexible and the bike handles better with them. This is what you should be thinking about for road touring
2015-04-23 06.25.21 by
Stuart Black, on Flickr
rather than this
DSCN1255 by
Stuart Black, on Flickr
You probably don’t need quite as much carrying capacity as the Cannondale but something like that would serve you better for on-road touring. The mountain bike is set up for off-road touring where a low riding bag like the Cannondale would be a liability. But the load on the Moots is rather high and make the bike much more difficult to control.
The bags on the Cannondale are Ortlieb which are waterproof which is a plus but it does make them more expensive. For a short tour, you might even be able to get away with just the front bag. I even mount the front bags on lowriders on the front without the rear bags for short tours. The low riders I use are Tubus Tara which look like this
2015-01-11 12.20.06 by
Stuart Black, on Flickr
I would also suggest not using a triangle bag unless you absolutely have to (good for off-road). The benefits (a bit of extra space) is outweighed by the liabilities. The larger area serves as a sail and takes up the space for water bottles. It’s also a bit wider so it brushes your legs regularly. A bit annoying. It’s also an expense that you could spend on good panniers and a handlebar bag.