Luggage and what to put in it

As mentioned on the Bikes and Kit static page we'll both be using Carradice SQR Tour Saddle Bags. These have a 16L capacity and a 10Kg recommended weight limit.

Here's a picture of mine on its test fitting.  I swapped the carbon seat post for a spare aluminium one just to be on the safe side.  It would be a bit of a disaster if the carbon post cracked while on the ride so better to be safe than sorry. 

You can see from the photo that I have barely enough exposed seat post to mount the SQR bracket and as a result I can't easily attach the bag to the bracket as there is not quite enough clearance. This means I  have to raise the seat post, attach the bag and then lower the seat post to the correct height.

There's not a huge amount of clearance between the wheel and the bag either. Before today's 60 mile test ride it did take a bit of fine tuning to get the loaded bag onto the bracket and the saddle at the right height and fore/aft position.  I had to stop after a mile or so as the wheel was clearly rubbing the bottom of the bag as it bounced around.

Raising the saddle another 5mm or so seemed to resolve the rubbing apart from on extremely bad road surfaces. The additional saddle height didn't seem to affect my knees either.  I clearly didn't tighten the saddle clamp enough though as the last 20 miles were a bit uncomfortable and when I got home I noticed that the saddle had moved back about 10mm or more on the rails. 

I'm hoping to get away with one set of cycling gear which will be washed and (hopefully) dry each night.  I'll also need a T-shirt, long shorts or trousers, underwear, sandles/shoes and a light fleece for evenings.  Minimal wash bag, first aid, sun cream, chamois cream, etc.

On the tools and spares front then the two side pockets of the bag should take all that's needed - a couple of spare tubes, multi-tool, chain tool, tube patches, chain links, lube, gloves, cloth and a lock.

On the test ride today all this fitted easily into the bag and the loaded bag weighed just under 5Kg. Given that I've lost just over 2Kg of body weight recently then the net weight difference is not that much.  This was reflected in the average speed of my 60 mile test ride - over 17 mph!

I also have a small top tube mounted bag to put my phone, wallet and a couple of gels or energy bars.  There's also my jersey pockets to put other small stuff and carry my rain jacket, arm warmers, etc.

Whether the Carradice bag would be big enough and work on my bike were two of my main concerns during the planning of the ride so it's fair to say they are now much less of a concern, it's just the faffing around each morning to get the bag on properly that will need a bit of care.


Mike