indyfabz

That's my setup, but I am comfortable with what I carry. I have never been one to fill all available space. I everything I want to pack, not everything that will fit inside. I think I got conditioned to pack that way during my first tour (cross country+). I carried a lot of camera equipment and was conscious of the fact that had to leave room for my share of the group gear. I wouldn't know what that would be until the day before the trip started. As such, I consciously kept the load down in other areas except camera equipment.


That rear pannier looks stuffed because my large sleeping bag and all my off-bike clothes except shoes are inside. If you could see the other side, you would notice lots of room left. In fact, the remaining three panniers have space to spare for when I have to carry food a ways to camp.

fuzz2050

Better than a carboard box, buy some storage containers of known volume. Then use them to store the gear when not on tour. I have a closet full of these Ikea boxes, labelled and full of camping gear. Makes packing a lot easier.

REI is also usually pretty permissive. If they sell the bags you are thinking about, you can bring in your stuff and try to pack them. Just do it when they aren't super busy.

bikemig 

That's a clean looking rig. How many liters capacity do you have? What are the racks?

indyfabz

Yeah. I like a clean look.


Racks are Nitto Big front and rear from Rivendell. Insanely expensive for racks (think they are now going for about $220 each), but they are the closest thing to the custom Beckman racks I had that were stolen. I have carried two bundles of firewood several times with that setup. And the front platform allows me to lash my sleeping bag or mattress to it if I need extra room for food without having to cram it in the bags.


Panniers are Ortlieb Bike Packer Plus and Sport Packer Plus. 45L/pair and 30L/pair, respectively.

L134 

I have used several different bags over the years and I don’t think I’ve ever known what volume any of them measured. First picture is how I did my first tandem tour through Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, Waterton and Glacier NPs (we had only had the tandem a few weeks and probably had less than 20 miles of pre-tour practice).

Not as long a tour as yours but I think what I pack is more dependent on conditions to be met not the length of the tour. We were camping and cooking. I am not a light packer and those bags look to me to be of lower volume that what is available these days. The rear panniers were zippered and the front were Kirtland rear panniers with a top that cinches down (is that what is meant by roll top?). Those have lots more volume and flexibility than a zippered pannier. In a pinch, you should be able to load them up with quite a bit more than their stated volume. As seen in my picture, I could have loaded quite a bit more in the front panniers - say dinner? For water, I would be inclined to clamp on as many water bottle cages as I could find room for. The idea of frame packs does not appeal to me. If I were to go again, can’t say that I would do much differently other than use newer bags, bigger bottles, and use something besides bungies to secure items on the rear rack.

Next tandem tour was only a week or so with my sons and less extreme weather (Santa Barbara to San Diego) but setup looks about the same. Used different front bags with quite a bit more volume than the Kirtlands(on the back of the single) and less water.

I’ve enjoyed following your various posts as it brings back memories of a great trip. You’ll have a blast. We had planned our trip on two singles but about a month before the trip we test rode the tandem, bought it and somehow figured it all out. You can always find room somewhere to stash something.

Ty0604

I find that 28L is more than enough for me. I was running two 14L each Nashbar front panniers on the rear. Just switched to two Arkel 14L each panniers on the rear. They're about half full so I could get away with using one but prefer the balance and the extra space is nice for food etc.

Rob_E

I had two backroller classics, about 40 liters, that held all my essentials. One had tent and insulation, the other had clothing, cooking gear, toiletries, and tools. But I had a four rack set-up, so the rear rack collected some junk, too. Sometimes my cooler.

I thought I was pairing down with my current bikepacking/touring hybrid set up, but this thread made me do a little checking, and I found that my handlebar roll, plus handlebar bag, plus frame bag, plus one, front-roller pannier, plus two fork bags puts me at about 45 liters. Plus that cooler still comes along some times.