Recumbent Bike - Bike Touring Setup (bikepacking) 

From experience, I suggest keeping the panniers as far forward as possible. If your bike is rear-weighted, the over steer can get really sketchy on high speed descents. Also many panniers have a bottom corner clipped so that you don't get heel strike on an upright bike, this will also shift the weight rearward, so with this type I switch sides so that the panniers are "backwards" & the weight is shifted forwards. Nice setup.

2:30 My Giro A20 came with this rack that has a lot of adjustments available . a year or two down the road and one side started dropping because the minimal threading was not holding anymore. So I bought a Topeak rack with less adjustments and far longer life as well as a tiny bit lighter. 4:43 look at them panniers and that big gap between the bottom of the pannier and the bottom of the seat. Hmmmn what could fit in there? My homebuilt pannier is made from Vitex fabric which is weldable , or glued, or stitched on my sewing machine . The most expensive part was the hooks to hold to the rack. So my pannier dimensions are 14" on top x 5.5" wide x 16" deep but the bottom is 27" long. All the long stuff goes in the bottom easily . So I took a tour and odd that the front end felt really light and it took a good 20 km just to get the feel to that light front end. Back to pondering and I now have a tube pannier that fits on the left side of the bent. I hang the tube pannier off the head tube and the rear fork crown with a fitting on the Idler bolt to stop any swing of the tube and also acts as another tiedown point. Second tour had the tent and Coleman stove in the tube ( heavy items ) and there was no learning curve for cruising as this balanced the bent. Total cost of panniers was less than 58 bucks. 4:58 see that placement of the water bottle? I did not bother with them as they are not easy to grab, so I got myself a 2 liter bladder and hung it off the rear seat cross arm with the tube to the front seat where I sewed on a velcro patch. 10:17 I do not have the yellow seat bag however I do have a big rear rack box made with a Vitex covered coroplast election sign as stiffener ( recycling ) , My water bladder bag hangs in front of it and behind the seat but I also have a detachable tool kit hanging there as well. 11:40 Tools yes you gotta have them . My pump is held under the pannier rack with two bungie cords and a strip of velcro to hold it tight. I carry two tubes , patch kit , a boot , and a spare rear gear cable . Now that seat that came with the Giro was a Euromesh and there are lots of people who love the euromesh seat and lots of people who love the Recurve seat like the one shown . I do not . I put on a full mesh seat on a frame I bought from recycledrecumbent.com . I sewed up my own Phifertex fabric seat cover ( removable for washing ) and put in a couple pockets for easy access and I carry the multi tool in one and keys for the U-lock and change for when I need transit in the other. 12:14 Tires? Yes tires are going to help for speed and comfort. I replaced the 1.5" Kojak slicks with Schwalbe marathon 1.75" tires . No problem in speed but a bit more comfort when I did the 80 km of rail trail/ gravel road to my destination. First tour all went well till I heard the grinding of a bearing in the front hub? I kept going and applying the rear brakes coming down a slope loaded and nothing happened ? Stopped at the bottom of the hill and checked my brand new cheap disc brake pads (Ebay ) recently replaced. Well one of the brake pads had fallen out as the spring that holds the pads in place had snapped. When I got home I bought the same pads again but not from Ebay They cost me triple the price but work when I need them. Second tour all went well till a bearing in the back wheel ground itself up . I have the tools to fix most things but replacing a bearing is not something you can do away from civilization. It is best to check every bolt /chain and cable beforehand. BTW on a tour it is really nice to have gears you can use not just wish you had. Bacchetta sent me the bent with a 26-36-48 front and 34-11 back cassette. This was good but I put on a 22 where the 26 was and got even better low gears. Over time I began to realize that I was not using the top gears as I spin at 85-90 rpm and those tall gears were just too tall unless down a hill. So a bit of change , I now have an 18 speed with 9 low gears loaded touring uphill's and 9 gears for everything else. It is not a case of switching front rings back and forth to get the next gear. My front is now 22-42 and the back is 32-12 so I have a low first gear and a lower top gear. and I changed the length of crank arm from 170 stock to 153 mm so I have all the power and a smoother spin. You need to do a ride or two loaded to see what your needs for gears / brakes / comfort really are. Have fun out there .

Had to re-read your details. Those bags are huge. I also have a Giro 20 and have opted for the pricey underseat rack. But 25L-TOTAL for two bags there is about it...maybe 32 or 35L...but that'd be pushing it. Any larger, and rubbing the ground with the bottom of the bags is a concern...especially in corners. I'll likely go with 25L for underseat (Terracycle's rack), and add a couple of small panniers on my Tubus rear rack. Solid weight distribution counts for a great deal too...especially for multi-day self-supported outings. It was nice to get a visual of what a sane/reasonable amount of gear looks like packed and ready to go on bent just like mine. The tent is really what can put a guy over the edge on capacity and handling. Thankyou

Nice to see someone who has done their homework. It’s amazing how much stuff you don’t really need. Same lessons learned from backpacking as well. Went from 44 pounds to 15. (Backpack)

Nice and simple set-up 👍 It's always best to center panniers over the hub and on the rack like you've done.

Thanks for the video. This is something that I want to do.

Great job: I just got a Giro myself and was wondering what a touring pack set up would be and found your video. Thanks so much!!

The lower clip on the pannier should face backwards

Great job!!! What type of kick stand are you using?

What brand is the yellow bag, I have the panniers added to my Amazon wish list already!

Nice video. What make pannier bags are those?

Since when did you have 2? What is the red one? many recumbents can have additional racks under the seat so you can have 2 additional panniers. There is also the radical banana bag option

what brand of panniers are you using.

May I ask what Bacchetta that is? I am considering making that transition to a recumbent but overwhelmed with the choices at the moment.

What I really missed when I switched from upright bike to bent was a handlebar map case. Have you found any decent options? I'm riding an old RANS F5 Enduro. Ie, how do you look at your map when riding?

Hi Cory. Can u share what is the best bicycle shoes with cleat for beginners?

Is that all the toilet paper that was left at the supermarket? But seriously, you should take a full roll, it's useful for bandages and cleaning dirt or whatever off your face and hands. Duct tape helps with the t paper bandages after gravel rash, amongst other things.