At some point in time, everyone who heads out on a self-supported bike tour faces the question of whether to use panniers or a trailer - or both. And the same question is one that I've heard from a lot of folks planning to start touring. Actually, it tends to be a set of questions - what do you use? what do you recommend? why?
I've toured with panniers, and I've toured with a trailer, and I imagine I'll continue to choose based on the trip I'm about to take. I don't pretend to have all of the answers (does anyone?), but I'll attempt to present some reasons for each choice. Since this article is based on my touring experience, it includes information on on-road touring with a touring / road bike. I don't have any off-road touring experience, so I'll have to leave the off-road advice to someone else. Sign my guestbook to add your opinions and we should end up with a good set of information for the next new touring cyclist!
I started out in this wonderful world of traveling by bike by taking supported tours. There were two things that made me think a bit before moving into the self-supported touring world. One was my worry about fixing my bike (I didn't have a clue about how to do anything but change a tire, but that was something I worked to change before my first solo trip). And the second was the thought about hauling all of my gear. Now we're getting to the heart of this article...
Back in 1998 I contemplated (and took) my first solo trip. Traveling, relying on my own strength - both physical and mental - to get me and my gear from point to point, and to have fun too. I really didn't seriously consider using a trailer on my first trip. I was way too busy figuring out the bicycle and figuring out where to go - so I just fell into using panniers. It worked out fine, and I didn't even question my decision (or should I say my lack of a decision) until I started to meet cyclists on the road who were hauling trailers. I asked the folks with trailers how they liked them, and everyone I talked to was happy with their trailers. But the folks traveling with panniers were happy too. I didn't get any valid comparisons though, because I didn't meet anyone on that trip who had tried both options!
On that first solo trip, and on my trip the following year, the number of touring cyclists I met on the road who were using panniers still outnumbered those with trailers. I was trying to pay attention to this on my cross-country trip last summer, and I was surprised that it seemed there was an even split between panniers and trailers. I don't know why I was surprised, but I was.
