Fitting the Hunqapillar for touring

[Johnny]

Hey all, 

My father in-law is taking me with him on a mini bike tour down the Oregon coast this summer. It'll be between 10-14 days as we make our way down the coast from Astoria to someplace farther south :)  I'd like to upgrade some of the touring stuff because what I have is either super nice, or very basic and cheap. I did a dirt tour summer before last, a two night three day ride around a bunch of lakes near Mt Hood. It was rad. My bike is set up with some crummy $10 Craigslist panniers on a Nitto campee front rack with a Wald 135 basket. On the back I have a super cheap aluminum rack I strapped my sleeping bag to. Lastly, I have a bedrockbags frame bag, which is gorgeous. 

So... it's upgrade time. What I'm thinking is upgrading the rear rack and bag and sticking with the front cheap panniers. Thoughts on that approach? Or should I just get a nice front pannier set and call it a day? The bike felt overly front loaded the first go round so I was thinking of putting more weight in the back. 

Here are the options I've been toying with in my head:

1) a rear rack and something like a Swift Zeitgeist "trunk" bag

• Pros: Looks cool, probably more usable for the times i'm not touring, slightly less expensive option overall
• Cons: 12L capacity may or may not be enough?

2) a bigger rack and rear panniers 

• Pros: 20L+ capacity, likely a more robust setup, with the front i'd have tons of space
• Cons: more expensive and likely I won't keep a rear rack on the bike all the time because i have a front rack and basket so it may not be as useful overall

I have not done any real touring before so seeking the wisdom and expertise of my Riv comrades. Thoughts and suggestions? Here's a pic from the dirt tour around Hood because all threads without pictures are flawed :) 

Thank you and here's to summer plans with long slow rides for days and days.

 

[John Rinker]

Hey Johnny,

Sounds like a fine trip you've got planned, and that you have been invited by your father-in-law seems a very good sign of your marriage, indeed. 

Your Hunq set-up seems off to a great start with the front rack and basket. I'd go to a Wald 139 as I find this the one indispensable part of my touring rig. I also really love my medium Sackville trunk. Not too sure how it compares to the Swift bag you mention, but I've found that it provides plenty of room for the essentials. For lighter touring, I use the basket and Sackville combo. For a little more luxury (bigger kitchen and more food) I run two panniers on a front low-rider which it seems you have.  Here's a photo of my set-up fully loaded: 

And here's the streamlined version: 

The one piece of touring wisdom that I'm sure many will share with you is: You need far less than you think you do.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, John

[Kim Hetzel]

Sadly, I have never done any bicycle touring with racks and bags. However, my suggestions would be go with Tubus racks: https://www.tubus.com/en/products/

or with Old Man Mountain: https://oldmanmountain.com/

paired with Arkel panniers: https://arkel.ca/

A long time ago, I was planning a bike tour with my daughter back in 2011. However, she injured her knee and in turn we had to cancel the trip.  I bought one set of  used Old Man Mountain racks and two used sets of Arkel f/r panniers. The Arkel GT-52 for the rear and the Arkel GT-18 for the front. I sold my f/r pair on eBay along time ago, However, I still have the Old Man Mountain f/r racks and my daughter's pair of GT-52 panniers. I washed them the other day. They look brand new.

I can proclaim that the Arkel panniers are very well made with lots of compartments with heavy duty zippers and waterproof covers.

Unfortunately, I am unable to share any experience or knowledge of how my Old Man Mountain racks hold up under load conditions.

Dreaming of one day bike camping with my Clem Smith Jr. "L" bike,

Kim Hetzel

Yelm, WA.

[DavidP]

What a great opportunity to spend time with your father-in-law!

The question that came to mind on seeing the photos of the current setup was where the sleeping bag would fit in with the new setup. I wouldn't want it taking up space inside either the trunk/saddle bag or front paniers.

John's photos answered that question. 

For not much more money than the Zeitgeist but a lot more space, I'd add a Sackville trunk (whichever model best matches the distance between your saddle and rear rack) as John's setup shows.

-Dave

[Brian Turner]

I’m not quite sure why the Zeitgeist bags are as ubiquitous as they are… because they’re actually rather small in my opinion. Fine as a daily saddlebag, but for bikepacking or multi-day touring, it’s just not a lot of volume.

If it were me, I’d start by upgrading the sleeping bag to something that would compress down to a much smaller size, and then go with something like a Carradice Camper or Nelson longflap saddlebag. They’re nicely made bags that look good on Rivs, and quite affordable compared to some of the higher end saddlebag options like BXB, or Fab’s Chest.

Great looking Hunq, by the way!

On Feb 28, 2023, at 8:37 PM, DavidP <dphi...@gmail.com> wrote:

What a great opportunity to spend time with your father-in-law!

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[Michael Baquerizo]

an aside, i love that salmon hunqapillar. such a good color on such a good bike.

[Jay Lonner]

Hi John,

Looks like you’ve taken your Hunq to some pretty spectacular locales, and I’m hoping you’ll share your insights about hitting that Goldilocks level of preparedness — not packing too much, not packing too little, but being just right. I have fairly extensive backpacking experience (mostly dating before the Ray Jardine/ultralight movement) and still retain a “10 essentials” mindset (extra food, extra water, extra layers, etc). All those “extras” add up though, and it’s true that I would frequently take along stuff that I never ended up needing. But of course the whole point of preparedness is to plan for contingencies, especially when you’re in a remote location and help is far away.

So in terms of bringing less than you think you need, what is your personal list of must-haves for self-supported backcountry touring? And where do you think most people go overboard?

Jay Lonner

Bellingham, WA

Sent from my Atari 400

On Feb 28, 2023, at 5:14 PM, John Rinker <jwri...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey Johnny,

Sounds like a fine trip you've got planned, and that you have been invited by your father-in-law seems a very good sign of your marriage, indeed. 

Your Hunq set-up seems off to a great start with the front rack and basket. I'd go to a Wald 139 as I find this the one indispensable part of my touring rig. I also really love my medium Sackville trunk. Not too sure how it compares to the Swift bag you mention, but I've found that it provides plenty of room for the essentials. For lighter touring, I use the basket and Sackville combo. For a little more luxury (bigger kitchen and more food) I run two panniers on a front low-rider which it seems you have.  Here's a photo of my set-up fully loaded: 

<IMG_6440.jpeg>

And here's the streamlined version: 

<IMG_0278 2 (1).jpeg>

The one piece of touring wisdom that I'm sure many will share with you is: You need far less than you think you do.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, John

On Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 4:44:35 PM UTC-8 johnny....@gmail.com wrote:

Hey all, 

My father in-law is taking me with him on a mini bike tour down the Oregon coast this summer. It'll be between 10-14 days as we make our way down the coast from Astoria to someplace farther south :)  I'd like to upgrade some of the touring stuff because what I have is either super nice, or very basic and cheap. I did a dirt tour summer before last, a two night three day ride around a bunch of lakes near Mt Hood. It was rad. My bike is set up with some crummy $10 Craigslist panniers on a Nitto campee front rack with a Wald 135 basket. On the back I have a super cheap aluminum rack I strapped my sleeping bag to. Lastly, I have a bedrockbags frame bag, which is gorgeous. 

So... it's upgrade time. What I'm thinking is upgrading the rear rack and bag and sticking with the front cheap panniers. Thoughts on that approach? Or should I just get a nice front pannier set and call it a day? The bike felt overly front loaded the first go round so I was thinking of putting more weight in the back. 

Here are the options I've been toying with in my head:

1) a rear rack and something like a Swift Zeitgeist "trunk" bag

• Pros: Looks cool, probably more usable for the times i'm not touring, slightly less expensive option overall
• Cons: 12L capacity may or may not be enough?

2) a bigger rack and rear panniers 

• Pros: 20L+ capacity, likely a more robust setup, with the front i'd have tons of space
• Cons: more expensive and likely I won't keep a rear rack on the bike all the time because i have a front rack and basket so it may not be as useful overall

I have not done any real touring before so seeking the wisdom and expertise of my Riv comrades. Thoughts and suggestions? Here's a pic from the dirt tour around Hood because all threads without pictures are flawed :) 

Thank you and here's to summer plans with long slow rides for days and days.

 

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<IMG_0278 2 (1).jpeg>

<IMG_6440.jpeg>

[Marc Irwin]

Looks like you are off to a good start.  I've been taking my HUNQ on week long trips for 10 years now and have reduced the baggage and weight by minimizing the racks.  I was using the Pletscher Inova rack on the back and Surly big rack in front to carry Orlieb front rollers and a x-large Riv Sackville saddlebag.  After years of realizing I was carrying too much, I reduced to a Pletscher Athlete in the rear with a smaller saddlebag and Blackburn low riders on the front.  I reduced by nearly 25 lbs (not that anybody is counting).  The rear bag carries about 12-15 lbs, the front bags are 6 lbs a piece.  In the front, I carry the tent and rainfly in one, the mattress, sleeping bag and pillow in the other.  Everything else goes in the rear.  The mousetrap on the Pletscher rack acts as stabilizer and place to secure food and stuff bought along the way each day.   I have an e-book about my touring available cheap on Amazon if you care for more detail.  The before and after pics of the loading are below.  

[John M]

Here's my erstwhile Hunq in desert Southwest (which is to say warm nights, sunny days) touring mode.  Carradice Nelson Longflap on the back supported by a minimal rear rack for the heavy items, then a Wald basket with a cargo net up front for lightweight stuff like down jacket, sleeping bag and pad.  Food, tools, and phone in the small Jandd frame bag.  Its a minimalist set-up for sure, but the great advantage of bike touring is that you are rarely more than a day or two away from a food resupply.  

[Johnny Burrell]

I was hoping for some advice, but I got that and a bunch of awesome photos. Just wow ya'll. And so many hunqapillars crawling around :) I'm hearing a lighter rear rack and a larger trunk should do me nicely until i get more serious. I'll see what I can find in terms of a sackville or similar. John, comparing the two photos of your gorgeous blue hunq, it looks like you changed the strut position of the rear rack from the lower mount to a mid-mount. Any reason for that? 

John H your dirty bike looks rad. 

Edit, sorry for responding with the entire thread. 

[John Rinker]

Johnny,

No, no real structural reason for the change, just an aesthetic decision. Or, maybe because I moved the light to the dropout. That rack is a Nitto R14 that I bought at BlueLug in Tokyo, and it's very well-built. It's similar to the RBW51 on the Riv site (a little more svelte, I believe). It is entirely adequate for Sackville support plus the sleeping bag, and much lighter than my Big Rack 33R from Riv. 

Jay, 

Yes, I've been fortunate to ride in some pretty special places. Perhaps rather than hijack Johnny's thread here I'll start a new thread "Jay's Goldilocks Packing List" or some such and share a couple of my packing lists. Perhaps there you could also share your 10 Bikepacking Essentials. 

John M,

I agree with Johnny, that dusty Hunq (on the Divide?) photo is sweet!

Cheers, John

[Hoch in ut]

Hi, some great looking Hunq’s. Can someone with a 58 please measure the seat tube length? Center to Top of the seat tube? Thank you! 

[Johnny Burrell]

I measure it to be right at 22 1/2". That's center of bb to top of top tube.

[Hoch in ut]

Thank you, Johnny! 

[Johnny Burrell]

Hoch you thinking of getting one or did you find a 58 and wondering if it'll fit? It took me a few years to find mine so if you find one in your size, be ready to act :)

[Hoch in ut]

Hi Johnny, yes, I’d like to pick one up. I know they’re pretty rare though!