Camping setup

This summer's various bike camping trips got me to work out some of the kinks in my bike camping setup. I'm not done adjusting (and really I probably never will be) but I feel pretty good about where it's at right now.

The first major improvement was a new bike. Well, I should say an old bike - new to me. Traded an old bike up for a 1983 Diamondback Ridge Runner. Not only does it fit just right, but it's also a beautiful bicycle. The lugs, the paint job and classy 80's decals, the OG fork crown - I love everything about this bike. I made a few upgrades, mostly what you'd expect: brake pads, cables, housing, chain. Also went for a new cockpit, new rear deraileur, and a Mark's rack up front.

And then, to make it that much sweeter, I built a new wheelset. There was room for a 7-speed cassette in back without stretching the frame. For the front, I decided to go for a dyno hub, a mid-range shimano (dh-3n72) and that's now hooked up to a Busch & Muller Luxos B. Duuuude - it's bright - so bright. I am a convert.

sleeping bag seat roll

When it came to loading up, I wanted to see if I could go without a back rack. And it turns out I could. First, I put together a little seat roll to hold my sleeping bag under the saddle. I worried (minimally) about my legs slapping up on the bag but no matter: It turns out the sleeping saddle bag works best with something else, preferably something long or wide like a sleeping pad or tent poles strapped on right behind and to it. Fortunately, those straps also serve to pull the puffy bits of the sleeping bag that would hit my legs back toward the rear load. The final bag in the back is and old carradice saddle bag I picked up at a Rivendell garage sale. It fit's all my food, stove and utensils. The load in front of it - sleeping saddle etc. - are enough of a support that it's only attached by the upper straps looped through the saddle strap hardware. The result - a nicely cantilevered rear load - sans back rack!

sleeping bag seat roll

I decided to make a frame bag to add to my non-rack load capacity and ended up throwing together a sloppy little jjoint that has two pockets. The upper pocket traverses the frames length. It can fit the tent poles of my hand-me-down two man tent, plus the stakes and few other odds and ends. The bottom pocket is a triangle and two tubes and all the extra tools and hardware that don't need to be accessible.

sleeping bag seat roll

In the front, I have a tiny rack, the Mark's rack - aptly named - so I decided to make a bag with a hard bottom to hold all my clothes and personal supplies (cards, toothpaste, down jacket which doubles as pillow, etc.). Since I have Albatross bars, it straps over those. It's turned out to be an all-around usefull bag that I use just as often in commuting as I do in camping. Since it uses two straps that go under the rack, through the bag back and front and over the bars, I decided to make a set of straps long enough to fit more on top of the bag in addition - a sleeping pad or tent work nicely. The other nice thing about the straps is that I can thread motr little pouches on them to give me two accesible pockets just under the bars. I use these two for trail mix and a camera.

There's a bunch of pictures included in this post to illustrate. I loaded the bike with a full luxurious camp-with-everything load before I went to town with the camera. I'm sure you get the idea. I'm stoked on how it's working out and hopefully it'll give you some good ideas. Send em my way!