cyccommute 

"I'm an old cowhand from the Rio Grand..." I've seen those but how do you ride them? To quote the song "my legs ain't bowed". I carry a pump under the water bottle cage and I occasional brush that with my knee.

veganbikes

Yeah it has been quite solid. I almost want to get one for my touring bike but two bottles of water and one for fuel has generally been fine for me touring. The beauty of the system is you can pretty well adjust everything to where you want to put it so you can keep it in relatively the same spot or go higher or lower if needed be.

djb

neat. The one thing I do very regularly on my touring bike is to stop and take photos while still straddled on the bike. I usually skootch up to the headset area to be able to keep the bike stable with my knees (I always have sunscreen on the headset and downtube) so this could be annoying.
I too find two water bottles and one fuel is fine, plus I stick other water bottles in one of my rear panniers if need be.

but given that you say this is a good system, I'd have to say its a neat idea--before I realized it put them a lot higher , I didnt think it was practical.

Tourist in MSN

Regarding water bottle capacity, my frame is much larger than the OPs frame, so this probably would not be much of a solution for the OP, but I have three of the one liter sized disposable Smart Water brand of bottles on the bike in the photo. Only their one liter size fits in standard bike cages, the smaller ones do not fit. But I bought them to use, not dispose. They are great water bottles. A few other brands use a similar shape one liter bottle that also fits. The flip top lids that I have on two of the bottles came from other bottles.

djb

thats really great capacity isnt it? Pretty neat bikes those Thorns.

Cyclist0108

They sell another part to go with it that moves it up the frame toward the head tube.

https://problemsolversbike.com/produ...pter_-_mprob83

alias5000

OP, if panniers make handling wiggly/unstable, maybe look into how much flex is in your load and load attachment. Does/did your rack flex sideways under load, are your panniers or contents shifting around much? Did your rear triangle flex under load? How heavy did you pack?

Counteracting this might reduce your problems while not having to go the bikepacking route on a small frame all the way.

3speed

As in the classic Camelbak worn on a day-hike? Because those are awful when road biking. I wear one for MTBing. The excessive sweat and heat caused by wearing a camelbak for biking totally sucks when it's for 6hrs on a drop bar bike. Tried it, deeply regretted it. I much prefer lower body temps and an aired out dry shirt, rather than a backpack glued to my now hot, sweaty back all day.

cyccommute 

Tourist in MSN

Thank you. I do not remember who it was on this forum years ago that pointed out that the 1 liter smart water brand bottles fit in a standard cage, but he is the one that provided the idea.

I am using some old Velo Cages that were made by Velocity, they have been out of production now for maybe a decade and a half. That cage lets me mount it lower than most typical cages because the mounting point on the cage could be adjusted by a small amount.

And the cage under the S&S coupler used non-standard length between bolts (coupler is too long) so that brand and model cage was the only cage that would fit over the coupler. They also put a third bolt underneath that a normal cage could fit in but that put the bottle position farther up the downtube than I wanted.

And I am sure you saw a velcro strap on the bottle under the downtube to make sure it stayed there. I have not lost a bottle but I probably would have without the strap.

djb

one day I hope to remember to put some velcro straps on my list of easy peasy light doodads that can come in handy.

veganbikes

Yeah that might cause some minor inconvenience but our frames can handle 3 bottles, OP might not have the luxury on their frame?

djb

He surel won't with the full frame bag he says he may put on.
but he'll work it out

rivers

Thought I would give this thread an update. I'm gearing up for my first bikepacking trip with some friends, over 4 days at the end of next month. We'll be using our road bikes as we'll be covering between 80-100 miles per day (total mileage is circa 360 miles, none of us are strangers to multiple long days in the saddle. we have noted train stations along route should we bite off more than we can chew), and we'll be staying overnight in b&bs en route. I've nixed the frame bag, and have a 12 litre saddle bag and a 5 litre bar bag. The handle bar bag is a snug fit, so will need to be careful when packing.
Packing wise, I'll be taking a couple of changes of cycling clothes, one pair of street clothes and a pair of converse, lightweight pjs, rain jacket, and a toothbrush. Between us, we are taking one set of tools/tyre levers, tube of toothpaste, can of deodorant, and sunscreen. We'll each have a spare tube or 2 and snacks/hydration tabs/gels/bars. I will be taking 2 bottles of water. Oh and a couple of battery packs and phone/wahoo charging cables and wall charger
ANything I'm missing?

indyfabz

Lights?

rivers

fair point, those are on the list. normally attached to this bike, but I just got back from holiday and had my other bike with me so they're currently on that

djb

my, you have been busy with a paintbrush, changed the colour of both the bike and the table and chairs!
Nice job on all of them. Looks very professional.

re the spoke count, I personally would have a good mechanic check your spoke tensions and alignment, better to have it checked out to avoid the hassle of dealing with a busted spoke on the road.

doesnt hurt to inspect tires carefully, and to also evaluate if either are near the end of their life anyway--again, putting on new ones in good shape is better than during the trip, and reducing the risk of flats etc.

rivers

Tyres are less than 2 months old (swapped them out just before my double century last month), and bike has recently been in for a full service (again before the double), so all should be okay on that front, but thanks for the tip. And as this is a road based trip with high mileage, I've decided to take the bike that normally does my higher mileage rides as I know its comfortable.

staehpj1

You should be fine.

One thing about this kind of trip is that even if you didn't have any of your stuff you would still get by, so the penalty for missing something is pretty much nil. Whatever you need to keep the bike going, pay for meals and room, and keep hydrated are about the only absolute necessities. Oh and of course any medications you need and so on. Be sure you take care to have that stuff. Other than that while you might have a little discomfort or wish you had something it won't be a huge deal.

Have a great trip.

staehpj1

Yeah, I don't usually tour with one, but have used on on one tour where it was very hot and not much chance for water resupply. I filled it with ice and it was great. Nice cool condensation on my back all day. Much cooler than without.

I also used a tiny UL backpack on the Southern Tier (different trip). I was riding a road bike with 14# of gear (camping and cooking) so carrying capacity was limited. My plan was to use it only for those few days where I needed added capacity to carry water because I had no resupply opportunity for 24 hours or so. Funny thing is I wound up liking it so much I wound up wearing it the rest of the trip, generally with 2# or less of stuff in it. It was great to have my phone, money, ID, and plastic with me at all times. It was a winter trip though so it wasn't too hot most of the time (mid Feb. - mid March).

geoffs

This looks about the same amount that I carry for short trips when staying in pubs so you should be fine. I only carry one change of cycling clothes and do a wash as soon as I check in to accomodation. Gas cartridges are worth carrying. As to some comments regarding your wheels I wouldn't worry as you most probably don't weigh very much :-)

gequiroga

I would add a top tube bag for easy access to phone, wallet and snacks. You already have a good stack of spacers and that helps those bags to fit well.