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Touring Tandems - Panniers Choices

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Touring Tandems - Panniers Choices

Old 03-30-19, 09:53 AM
  #26  
MikeAndJean
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We use mostly Jandd bags on our tandems, together with an old handlebar bag from the 80s (not shown in this photo) and a homemade bag on top of the rear rack. This provided enough volume for the three of us on a multiday hotel tour in Switzerland. These bags are only water repellant, rather than water proof, so clothes were packed in plastic bags.

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Old 03-30-19, 12:41 PM
  #27  
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Nice looking tandem! Dig the color.

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Old 03-31-19, 02:49 PM
  #28  
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Yellow is a nice looking color but our reason for picking yellow was to assure that cracks would be visible it they should occur.

Our family had a lot of fun on the Banana Slug. The photo in my earlier posting and the photo below were taken on a four-day ride in Switzerland.



We had ridden for several years in Switzerland on our two-seat tandem. That was before our daughter came along. Touring with a twelve-year-old was an interesting experience. She had just discovered Harry Potter and insisted on bringing along TWO hardbound books in that series. They took up most of the room in the two front panniers.

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Old 04-03-19, 08:50 AM
  #29  
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so I'm curious, how are the uphill sections on a triple versus double versus single? :-)
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Old 04-03-19, 10:06 AM
  #30  
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I don't know if you are familiar with riding in Northern California, but most of the interesting roads involve a lot of climbing. For example, for many years our standard weekend ride was 65 miles and involved roughly 7000 feet of climbing. Jean and I started riding a tandem on these roads back in 1973. Three tandems later we had Tom Ritchey's very first tandem, which had a stiff but comfortable steel frame.



We rode this bike a lot, which meant we climbed a lot. We never kept track of our mileage, but over a 15 year period, ending with the birth of our daughter, we probably rode 100,000 miles on this bike. This included several rides in the Alps as well as tours up and down the West Coast with some friends of ours from Corvallis.



Riding all of those miles together meant that we developed a very efficient climbing style that includes a lot of time out of the saddle. When compared to climbing on a single, I believe we lose nothing from climbing together on the tandem. The arrival of our daughter changed our life, mostly in a good way. The time commitment of parenting meant we rode much less. However, as most parents know, kids provide their own rewarding adventures.

Eventually we bought that big yellow triple so that we could share with Kate the fun we had enjoyed on bicycles. It wasn't entirely a success. We all enjoyed the trips like the ride in Switzerland, but Kate turned out to be a runner rather than a cyclist. This meant we did not spend the time riding together needed to develop a smooth climbing style. Also, that long yellow frame had a lot of flex. When combined with a rider who didn't know how to move the bike, the flexibility made it difficult to stand effectively. This meant grinding up hills, in low gears, while in the saddle, which Jean and I have never particularly enjoyed.



Still, the Banana Slug was a lot of fun. I always wondered what climbing on that triple would have been like if the frame had been a little stiffer or if we had ridden enough to learn how to climb as a team.

Last month we finally replaced that wonderful Ritchey tandem with a new Ritchey tandem. This new bike as much better brakes and a broader gear range, which are wonderful and important improvements. The frame is not quite as stiff; however, it is stiff enough to climb well so we are very happy. Hopefully we will enjoy another 42 years riding this new tandem.

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Old 04-03-19, 10:13 AM
  #31  
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that is some great info. thank You. I have yet to ride a tandem and so I'm collecting any piece of information :-) I'm curious to know what the out of the saddle climbing technique was?
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Old 04-03-19, 12:49 PM
  #32  
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Standing is a lot like dancing, when it works well. The smooth rhythmic motion is a wonderful feeling. However, it took us several months of riding before we were climbing easily. I suppose like most people, we started out holding the frame steady and mostly moving our bodies. This feels awkward and I expect many tandem teams give up on standing during this phase because it just doesn't feel right. Eventually we reversed the balance and moved the bike more and our bodies less. The result is a motion that makes some use of your upper body and arms. If you row, its a little like moving from a fixed-seat rowboat to one that has a sliding seat.

The key to successful tandem riding is thinking like a team. I know it sounds silly but it seems to work better for us when we wear matching jerseys. Initially standing requires a lot of verbal communication, particularly about when to stand and when to sit. For us the bike feels most awkward if only one of us is standing so we always try to stand and sit on the same stroke. Like I said in my earlier message, we have been doing this for over 45 years. Now Jean can sense when I'm going to stand, without any verbal communication, and usually is up on the same stroke as me. Jean also is fast, agile, and very strong.

Not all tandem teams stand when they climb. Our friends in Corvallis probably have ridden more miles than us and they seldom stand. In fact, they have their cranks ninety degrees out of phase in order to reduce peak loads on their drive train. This arrangement makes standing very difficult since the motion of their bodies is out of phase. We climb a little faster than our friends; however, they move along on flat terrain, usually a little faster than us. Their secret is low gears (until recently our lowest gear was 41 inches) and strong legs.

The photo below was taken on a ride with these folks back in 1982. We are at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood.
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Old 04-03-19, 07:12 PM
  #33  
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We went with the Arkel line of panniers - being compartment types of folks. TT84s in the rear + a trunk; GT18s on the front. Excellent quality. Just remember that you will rarely want to use the TT84s when you are not touring: they are HUGE.

Did all right from Rochester NY to Victoria BC...
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Old 04-17-19, 02:24 AM
  #34  
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This is an interesting question which I am also looking at. We toured through China on two singles and one tandem for the four of us, so that was 6 rear panniers 2 front and one small trailer but we are in the process of changing to 2 tandems which drastically cuts down on the amount of packing space we have available.

We put our cycle plans on hold after the ISIS attack in Tajikistan but feel confident enough to bring our bicycles over during the summer. The plan will be to run front and rear panniers on each tandem and an "Extra Wheel" trailer which gives us a spare wheel and extra two panniers.
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Old 04-27-19, 04:17 PM
  #35  
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When planning and packing panniers, we try (but don't always succeed) in minimizing what we carry. Of course, my partner refuses to camp so our needs are somewhat reduced by credit card touring.

1. Lay out what you think you need
2. Get rid of half of the items
3. wait 24 hours
4. Get rid of half of the remaining items.
5 Pack!
Don't fret, a bunch of stuff will creep back into your panniers. The point is you need to be ruthless when you pack.

Pic is of our rental Hase Pino in Villandry France last November. Two Ortlieb (not sure which model) with an Ortlieb dry bag on top. We experienced a LOT of rain on that trip and the Ortlieb gear worked great. We ride a Pino at home and have both Ortlieb and Jannd Panniers. The Jannd panniers
are not waterproof but are big and nicely compartmentalized. How many bottles of wine are you willing to carry in your panniers?
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Old 04-28-19, 04:32 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by honcho
When planning and packing panniers, we try (but don't always succeed) in minimizing what we carry. Of course, my partner refuses to camp so our needs are somewhat reduced by credit card touring.

1. Lay out what you think you need
2. Get rid of half of the items
3. wait 24 hours
4. Get rid of half of the remaining items.
5 Pack!
Don't fret, a bunch of stuff will creep back into your panniers. The point is you need to be ruthless when you pack.

Pic is of our rental Hase Pino in Villandry France last November. Two Ortlieb (not sure which model) with an Ortlieb dry bag on top. We experienced a LOT of rain on that trip and the Ortlieb gear worked great. We ride a Pino at home and have both Ortlieb and Jannd Panniers. The Jannd panniers
are not waterproof but are big and nicely compartmentalized. How many bottles of wine are you willing to carry in your panniers?
From your photo it looks like you achieve about the same minimal volume we do when we pack our tandem. Ours is the bike on the left in the photo attached to posting #32 .
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Old 11-14-19, 12:01 PM
  #37  
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tandem pagners

Arkel : rear Dolphine (48) front dolphine (32) Aqua quest (50)litrs and big Arkel handlebar
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Old 11-18-19, 02:10 PM
  #38  
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Banana slugs?

Originally Posted by MikeAndJean
From your photo it looks like you achieve about the same minimal volume we do when we pack our tandem. Ours is the bike on the left in the photo attached to posting #32 .
MikeAndJean, would you two happen to be UCSC grads? The Northern CA location and tandem name would indicate thus! My sister's a Banana Slug, BTW.

Just curious. Love all the pics you provided. You've put in amazing miles and had many, many great adventures AND tandems! I hope you hung the Ritchey on the wall!
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Old 11-18-19, 04:51 PM
  #39  
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Banana Slugs

Originally Posted by LV2TNDM
MikeAndJean, would you two happen to be UCSC grads? The Northern CA location and tandem name would indicate thus! My sister's a Banana Slug, BTW.

Just curious. Love all the pics you provided. You've put in amazing miles and had many, many great adventures AND tandems! I hope you hung the Ritchey on the wall!
Our daughter named our triple after the molluscs she used to keep as pets. For those of you not familiar with these creatures, the following photo shows their color and size, both of which made that big yellow triple a suitable namesake.

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