Too heavy!! - what can I leave behind?

[RedBike]

can you not fix the paniers any lower ?
I saw a tourer today that had his panniers dragging on the floor I kid you not they were fully loaded and every part of them was below the axle height
Must help a lot with balance

It took me nearly a week to work out how to get those pannier racks on that bike. The bike shop told me it couldn't be done! There's no mountings for the racks and the disc brake calipers get in the way. I've got a somewhat intresting arrangement of light brackets, p-clips and a small section of pipe acting as a spacer to get the rack past the disc caliper.
It's a complete bodge.

The pannier bags just clip on the rack. They only go on in one place and cannot be adjusted. They're actually a bit too far forward so my heel will rub them if I use SPD pedals. I've had to switch to flats so that I can pedal. (hate flats).

 

[andym]

can you not fix the paniers any lower ?
I saw a tourer today that had his panniers dragging on the floor I kid you not they were fully loaded and every part of them was below the axle height
Must help a lot with balance

Yep - though not ideal for off-road.

RedBike - sorry to suggest more expense but at some point you need to invest in a better rack with two sets of rails - look at the Tubus Cosmo or Madison summit and you'll see what I'm getting at. A steel rack also works better in that you can use spacers to clear the brake caliper.

IF i like wild camping

If you're new to camping you might be better off starting at proper campsites - you do sound a bit underprepared eg no toilet trowel.

 

[PpPete]

That sleeping bag looks like a serious POS.
But as you say you can't change it now....

Do you need the camelback? you have a bottle cage I see.
Map & Garmin? Map - doesnt need batteries - ditch the Garmin?

Oh - and keep your phone switched off, then you don't need the solar charger?

 

[RedBike]

That sleeping bag looks like a serious POS.
But as you say you can't change it now....

I've got circulation problems and I really feel the cold in my hands / feet at night. I need a warm sleeping bag, warm socks, gloves and a liner! Although you're right. I might well change over the sleeping bag next year.

I've camped at a campsite loads of times before. I've had to get a new tent and sleeping mat just for this occation as I normally use a big pop up tent and a double blow up air matress. Neither of which lent themselves to being carried.

I need a camelbak because I will be riding for 10hr+ each day and one bottle isn't going to be anywhere near enough. My bottle cage will probably have the battery for my light in it (haven't decided if i'm taking the light or not yet). I'm going to need some sort of light just incase I end up riding the last few miles at night / to use at night in the tent. I might make do with a small 'torch' on the bars though.

As for not taking the Garmin. Luckly someone else will probably take care of most of the navigation but as it's such a long trip I think a GPS is a sensible addition. I've printed the map out on A0 paper and it's still only just big enough to be ledgable.

I will probably use my phone to take pictures as I ride along so it's not that practical to leave it switched off. The solar charger isn't very big at all. About the size of the phone. Carrying the solar charger is a small price to pay for the ability to take photos.

toilet trowel?
Why does nobody suggest this stuff!
I was even told to leave the babywipes behind.

 

[andym]

toilet trowel?
Why does nobody suggest this stuff!
I was even told to leave the babywipes behind.

I was going to ask if the babywipes were bidegradeable but then I thought you've probably got enough to worry about.

 

[willem]

When you start looking into a proper rack, consider the Old Man Mountain Racks as well, since they are probably the best solution if you have disk brakes but no eyelets.
Willem

 

[peanut]

you do sound a bit underprepared eg no toilet trowel.

only make that mistake once

 

[samid]

Here is a very nice sleeping bag weighing around 450 grams. And packs very small too.

 

[RedBike]

Here is a very nice sleeping bag weighing around 450 grams. And packs very small too.

I'm sure it is; but at £300. Owch!

 

[peanut]

I'm sure it is; but at £300. Owch!

£300 for a sleeping bag !.

thats crazy ........you could stay for a week full board in a nice hotel for that kind of money i'd expect nightly entertainment and bike cleaning thrown in too for that.

 

[andym]

Erm, no. Actually it's 260 dollars (plus taxes etc).

Redbike is forgetting that samid is forgetting he's on a different continent to the rest of us.

 

[peanut]

Redbike is forgetting that samid is forgetting he's on a different continent to the rest of us.

planet more like ..

 

[willem]

British PHD bags have a similar quality, and are considerably cheaper. I am afraid good camping gear is expensive, and very good gear even more so. Western Mountaineering represents the very best there is, and is not made in a Chinese sweatshop.
Willem

 

[andrew_s]

Erm, no. Actually it's 260 dollars (plus taxes etc).

it may not be all that far short of £300 by the time you add evrything up

There's $260 for the bag
There shipping
There's currency exchange charges to pay for the bag and the shipping
There's tax on the bag
There's tax on the shipping
There's tax on the currency exchange charges
There's the other tax on the bag
There's the tax on the tax you've already paid for the bag
There's the tax on the tax you've already paid for the shipping
There's the tax on the tax you've already paid for the currency exchange charges
Then to cap it all off, the delivery people (UPS, Royal Mail or whoever) charge you for the privilege of paying all the tax.

Sometimes it gets through the system without you getting charged any of the tax, but you shouldn't rely on it

 

[andym]

I order stuff frequently from the States so I know how much the taxes are. This would be somewhere north of £200 (if you were really unlucky possibly considerably north of £200) but not £300.