Seeking advice/tips

[eel28]

Hello, first of all, let me say i am new to this forum, but new to cycling.

anyway, I am in the midst of planning my first camping tour of the Norfolk coast, and am in need of some expert opinions.

the (halfords) panniers that i currently own, are just about fine for the commute to work, but wont be big enough for camping with - advice required on suitable replacements that are not too expensive please.

i am thinking of getting a front rack to hold the halfords panniers in an attempt to even out the load as much as i can, any advice as to the rack to get??

being a camping person anyway, tent, sleeping bag, cooker etc are all sorted, but i am open to any other advice/tips you might like to throw my way

thank you all inadvance

 

[Cathryn]

There are a couple of threads on here from the past few weeks. Might be worth having a read through and see if they help.

 

[MacB]

I've been very happy with my Ortliebs but I haven't done any touring and don't know if they would meet size requirements. Can vouch for the fact they're waterproof, my laptop made it home dry in Tuesdays monsoon.

 

[andym]

How long are you planning to go for? And how big are the panniers?

If you are going for a shortish trip you might be able to get away with the panniers you already have. You can bungee the tent and sleeping bag to the top of the rack. a bar bag or backpack would also help.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

Norfolk coast is great when the sun shines....I did that tour with blackburn low rider racks on the front and carridice overlanders front and rear. If you need a bolt hole from the rain and you want a clean decent hostel with a warm cosy communal area for cooking then the hostel at Burnham deepdale is good..has family rooms single and dorms...camping as well...bit pricy for a hostel but it's a better quality hostel...I was happy there sheltering from the madness that is th english summer for a night. If you want to see pics of my tour there just send me a friend request and you'll get acess to the photo albums I have uploaded here.

 

[eel28]

Thank you for your replies so far my current panniers are only just big enough to carry a change of clothes and showering requisits to/from work, so not really large enough to add a cooker more clothes, sleeping bag etc for a few days, and i really don't like cycling with a back pack, which is why got the panniers in the first place.

planning on doing the trip Kings Lynn - Great Yarmouth over 4/5 nights, intend to take it real easy

 

[andym]

I don't think it's worth carrying two sets of panniers for such a short trip. A pair with a capacity of 40 litres or so should be plenty. Ortlieb are pretty much the standard, but if money is tight you can get decent panniers from Vaude, dhb (Wiggle own brand), or Altura.