I finally got a set of panniers, and racks. Jannd Mountaineering Panniers, with a Jannd Heavy dudty rear rack. I loaded up all of my camping stuff with the intentions of camping at San Onofre, if I felt I had the energy to ride home the next day. I started off at my house in Riverside which is off La Sierra and Indiana, went down Magnolia til it turned into 6th street, then took Palisades to Green River Rd and got on the Santa Ana River Trail. I took SART all the way in to Santa Ana and ended up getting on Edinger and then took side streets til I found my way in to Irvine. In Irvine I took Jamboree all the way to MacArthur and then got on PCH in Newport Beach. From there I took PCH all the way through Laguna, and into Dana Point. About 65 miles, loaded with 35 lbs of gear and on a 35 lb bike. I was exhausted! This was the longest I've ridden a bike at one time, and I did it with all this gear on the bike LOL I knew I wasn't going to make it any further, and my girlfriend was at the beach anyways, so I cut my losses and decided to look at it as a fully loaded training ride. I was a little mad at myself for not doing more training ahead of time to be able to finish this and make it home the next day, but I am proud for actually doing it. I think next weekend I'm going to do a shorter trip, 30 miles out and 30 miles back.
I'll be doing long distance riding till the end of July. After that I'll be starting my training for touring. I plan on leaving next June 08 and taking 21 days to ride east with no set destination in mind other then to see how far I'll get. I'm not going with the intention of setting any records, but to just average somewheres around 60 to 70 miles a day. I plan on a bike with about 45 to 50 pounds of gear. Is your Surly a Crosscheck? It's a bike I'm considering. How did you like the Jannd stuff?
I've got a Surly Long Haul Trucker. It's basically built specifically for fully loaded touring. The CrossCheck works good for touring too though! The rack seems very sturdy, this is their Expedition model, rated at 50 lbs carrying capacity. I got a sweet deal on the rack and panniers, 79 bucks with tax for the rear rack and the panniers! My LBS had them sitting around for a while, I snatched them up with some negotiating Mountain Pannier Those are the ones I have, the Mountain model. They seem extremely well built. I've seen alot of other panniers that just use a hook on a bungie for the bottom hook but these panniers have buckles you can tighten then velcro to itself so it doesn't come loose. There's no way I could use a pannier with just the bottom hook on a bungie, the bag would come off if you go over a bumpy road. There's no way these bags are coming off. They look like small panniers you would typically use on the front and they're low profile, but they have a telescoping sleeve that will allow these to hold up to 2076 cu in each. Which is alot for a low profile type pannier like this. Here's the other models. http://www.jandd.com/search_results...L&txtFromSearch=fromSearch&iLevel=2&subcat=11 If I didn't get these for such a good deal, I probably would have went with something else however. And I probably won't be buying the bigger set to use on the rears because they cost so much. The more popular pannier makers are from Ortleib, Arkel, and Carradice. Are you looking for a waterproof set of panniers? Some people complain that waterproof panniers, such as the Ortleibs don't have any ventilation, so if you pack wet clothes, they can grow mildew. This store has the best prices on Ortleib and Tubus racks, which are some of the best racks you can get. TheTouringStore.com, Ortlieb Panniers & Packs, Tubus Racks, Lone Peak Packs The Lone Peak bags look nice too. Oh I forgot to mention, if you are still looking for a touring bike, they now offer the Long Haul trucker in a complete build with totally suitable components for touring. I've heard of some people getting them for 750 bucks before tax. You can order them straight from QBP. SURLYVILLE
Wow, thanks! That's a lot of good info, and I'm sold on the Long Haul. I'm concerned about some of the componets as I've never heard of them, but I'll read up on them and I might end up changing some things.
No problem. The cranks are widely used as a touring crank. They are very durable. The Tektro brakes are pretty popular, but kind of low budget, they do work fine however. The rims are 36 hole and they use DT swiss spokes, so they should be durable. The bar end shifters are friction shifters, with the right side being indexed as well. Friction shifters are very reliable so they find their way on alot of touring bikes. I use Dura Ace downtube shifters mounted to Kelly Take-Offs. This puts them right at the hoods and shifting is very easy. I love being able to trim the front dérailleur. Here's the build if you're interested. Frame/Fork-Surly Long Haul Trucker, 56cm, Utility Blue Headset-Chris King, Black Crankset-Shimano Hone 22/32/44 Rear Derailleur- Shimano XTR RD-M960 Front Derailleur- NOS Shimano XTR FD-M952 Chain- Sram PC991 Cross Step Shifters- Shimano Dura Ace downtube shifters- 9 speed SL-7700 Shifter Relocators- Kelly Take offs Shifter Cables/Brake Cables and Downtube stoppers- Shimano Dura Ace Brakes- IRD CAFAM Cantilevers Brake Levers- Shimano BL-R400 Handlebars- Salsa Bell Lap 46 CM Stem-Bontrager Seatpost- Thomson Elite Saddle- Brooks B17 Champion Special Rims- Mavic A719 36 hole, black Hubs- Shimano Deore XT 36 hole, black Spokes-DT Swiss Champion, 14 ga, black Nipples-DT Swiss Brass, Silver Cassette-Sram PG990 Tires- Panaracer T-Serv 700 x 32 Pedals- Time Atac Alium, white Grip tape and gel-Specialized Front Rack-Blackburn Lowrider, Silver Rear Rack-Jannd Expedition Pump-Topeak Road Morph
