MOVE IT

I’M NOT GOING TO bore you with a list of the improvisations we used for luggage in the ‘60s – you’ve probably never even heard of ammo bags. But I will say that there is a veritable cornucopia of stuff available nowadays to lug your gear around. I have – wait for it – four tank bags! And they’re all from different manufacturers, and they all have different advantages (and very few disadvantages). So dig into our listing of gear, here, and I’m sure you will find just exactly what you want. Before that, though, here are a couple of bits of advice.

PACKING IT

When I prepare a bike for a decent ride – maybe a week or so, and over various road/track surfaces – I make certain assumptions. These include: I will fall off in the dirt at some stage; I will get a flat tyre; I will run out of fuel… ah, that will do for the moment. Usually none of these things happen, but if they do I want to be ready for them. That means setting the bike up and packing it appropriately.

Let’s start with falling off. You can actually pack for this, believe it or not. What I do is use soft bags as panniers, and a hard top box. The top box gives me water- and possibly even dust-proof storage for things like my photo equipment. It’s also good for anything else that’s breakable.

But why soft bags? When you fall off in the dirt, there is a good chance that at least one of your panniers will be torn off. If it’s plastic it may even be smashed; aluminium panniers are sturdier, but even they can be buggers to re-attach if mounts are bent. It’s easy with soft bags, if the worst comes to the worst you can tie them back on with Andy Strapz or bungees. Yes, it’s a good idea to carry a couple of extra ones. If I’m staying on tar for more or less