panniers or tail pack
 

off to france towards end of July.

Will try to travel as light as possible.

So now I need to get some soft luggage, so my question is what do people prefer?

Been looking at the Oxford humpack tail pack or some oxford throw over panniers.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers

Re: panniers or tail pack
 

I got an oxford sports tail pack off ebay, its ace, fit a load in it and it feels very secure on the bike.
http://www.bikebone.com/miva/graphic...xeTailpack.jpg
the only thing i dont like about it is the flap at the top is only held down by velcro and the two zips at the sides, sometimes find myself checking it along incase its flown open, although im sure it'll be fine...but its easy enough to wrap some bunjees around the whole pack.
I bought it to head off to europe with also! along with the sports tank bag

Re: panniers or tail pack
 

FWIW I prefer panniers, it makes getting on and off sooo much easier. It also leaves rear seat free to bungy on waterproofs / chain / bottles of water and other odds n' sods that need to be to hand. I'm off on Wednesday and my waterproofs and chain are on the rear saet. Clothes in panniers. 'Stuff' is in the tank bag (tool kit / spare visor / maps / documents)

Re: panniers or tail pack
 

tailpack.

a few times i have been away i pack everything into the panneirs but never seem to get them to fit right, so i always unpack them and use a tailpack instead

Re: panniers or tail pack
 

Depends whether you're taking tent and sleeping bag etc. You need to leave space for that.

Re: panniers or tail pack
 

Tail pack, if you can afford it Kriega US-40 ( a US-20 with two US-10's attached to it.)

see here:
http://www.kriega.com/pages_uk/us20/...pframeset.html

I have the US-20, brilliant bit of kit!!

Re: panniers or tail pack
 

I've got one of them, really nice piece of kit.

I dont like panniers I dont like having the width of the bike restricted for filtering etc.

Re: panniers or tail pack
 

Thanks for the response all.
I'll look at getting the Kreiga US20 or the Oxford Humpback.

Think I'll take a small back pack for any of the stuff I'll need at short notice.

Re: panniers or tail pack
 

I'm not a fan of back packs due to the effect they can have in a crash. I use a tank bag for 'stuff needed at short notice'. Most can be converted to a rucksack for use off the bike and is a more comfortable solution IMHO.

Re: panniers or tail pack
 

Tail pack and tank bag - I thought panniers slowed down multi-cornering ability...