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  • GT Grade Touring
  • paulx
    Free Member

    Dull days and long nights has brought me round to planning near year’s jolly ….

    Never cycle toured before but the plan at the moment is train from Cheshire to the ferry at either Portsmouth or Plymouth, followed by a a gentle run down to Saintes in the Charente Maritime.

    I’m going to follow either the:

    La Vélo Francette – Caen to La Rochelle

    or

    La Vélodyssée from Roscoff to Royan.

    Looking at to go at end of May. Likely one way due to time constraints – may fly or drive back up and leave the bike there for a couple of months and then cycle back up the other way at end of summer.

    This will be credit card touring to keep it light so BnB or hotels. It will be on my GT Grade Carbon.

    I’m looking for lightweight luggage ideas that the carbon frame can handle with a big lad already on board!

    I’ve popped a couple of spokes in the rear wheel already just generally riding along so not keen on stressing the rear wheel any further than it already is.

    Should I be looking at upgrading my wheelset or spokes? Should I be looking at pannier and a rack or just seat tube and frame bags?

    What do ya reckon? All advice welcome.

    Edric64
    Free Member

    Small saddle bag by Carradice and a handlebar bag would give you about 20 litres of luggage space .Choose wisely with clothing and you will have enough room

    Bez
    Full Member

    Most bikes come with wheels that are at best barely adequate for larger folk, IME. Not sure how much you weigh (I’m ~14st), but it’s not hard to build your own wheels from affordable components that will take plenty of weight: I’ve not had a problem with any self-builds, including the pair that are on the tandem, so they’ve carried at least 22 stone of riders plus four well-stuffed panniers and a bar bag (and the bike ain’t exactly light itself).

    The frame ought to handle the load perfectly adequately, I would think.

    So my recommendation would be decent wheels plus panniers; it’s probably the easiest option, and wherever you put the load on the bike it’s fundamentally going to be loading the wheels anyway.

    ransos
    Free Member

    Should I be looking at upgrading my wheelset or spokes? Should I be looking at pannier and a rack or just seat tube and frame bags?

    I credit-card toured round France earlier this year, and everything fitted in a single Ortleib pannier. A large Carradice saddlebag would also be fine as it’s about the same volume.

    You’ll be adding a few kilos with your gear, rack (possibly) and bag, so if you’ve popped spokes with normal riding then I’d look at a stronger rear wheel. Otherwise I’d say it’s fine as it’s a fairly small increase in total load bearing in mind the weight of the rider.

    Pickers
    Full Member

    If you’re staying in hotels or BnBs, I’d look at a small rack and panniers.
    I also toured through France, Belgium and Holland this year staying in BnBs and hostels; I used a rear rack with a pair of front panniers.
    It’s much easier to unclip your luggage to carry to a room rather than try to carry a selection of bits and pieces from a frame bag, especially if where the bike is stored is not close to the room. Bar and seat harnesses could carry dry bags – that would be good as well.

    paulx
    Free Member

    Thanks for the replies. Think I’m going to start with a beefed up wheel set because I reckon I need that anyway. Then check out the luggage options for my Xmas list … here’s hoping!

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