On 5/27/2018 8:29 PM, James wrote:

Why not tow a trailer?

http://www.bobgear.com/bike-trailers/yak

No need for special racks and bags on the bike.Â* By swapping the cranks
and cassette, I could use my otherwise regular road bike to go touring!

I guess they work for some people, especially if you're guaranteed to
never need motorized transport at any point in your trip.

We used the trailer feature of our folding Bikes Friday on our first
trip to Europe with those bikes.
https://www.bikefriday.com/folding-b...th-trailer.jpg
(That's their photo, not mine.) The idea is, the bike is designed to
fit in the suitcase so it flies without hassle from airlines. When you
arrive, you take the suitcase with you, trailer-style.

An upside was that we had nothing but handlebar bags on our bikes. All
our clothing, etc. stayed in the trailer, so we could park the trailer
in the B&B or hotel and use the bikes easily in cities. And of course,
it meant the suitcase that carries the bike on the airplane would be
with us the entire trip; that enabled us to land and depart from
different airports.

Downsides? It's a much bulkier package overall, even when looking for a
place to lean the bikes against a wall. Getting on and off mass transit
was much more of an adventure, and so was finding space on board mass
transit. Squeezing through tight spaces was challenging. There are more
points of failure, starting with extra tires of an odd size. (I once
scraped against a bollard at a bike trail entrance and lost the clip
assembly that held on a trailer wheel. Others have had more serious
failures.) Total weight is higher than a bike with packs, and you
certainly feel it uphill. Tight corners can be a challenge, due to the
trailer cutting the corner. Getting the rig up even two stair steps is a
challenge... and so on.

On subsequent trips, I left the trailers at home. I fitted the bikes
with rear racks and used Rick Steves bags
https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/classic-backpack sitting vertically
above the rear wheel. (I added a clip to help attach the top of the bag
to the seatpost.) We found this to be much more convenient overall.

YMMV.

--
- Frank Krygowski