My Touring Journey: Front Loading
2016 was a great year of travel for me. I explored many different places, but the highlight was touring down a large portion of the Pacific Coast. The Pacific Coast Bicycle Route follows highway 101 from Washington, through Oregon and part of California before jogging over to Highway 1 and finally ending in San Diego. With breathtaking views, small coastal towns, generally mild weather and beautiful beaches, this route offers some of the best cycle touring in the country.
I started preparations for the tour early because I wanted to try a new setup called front-loading. Essentially, it is just what it sounds. Instead of loading your gear on the back of the bike, you shift it to the front. There are many good reasons for this, many of which I learned over my 1,000 plus touring miles running this setup.
Before I could pack on miles with this new setup, I needed to find a new/used bike. My previous bike had worked for rear loading, but as it was an older road/commuting bike, it lacked the front fork mounts touring specific bikes provide. The bike I decided on is a fan favorite, the Surly Long Haul Trucker. I chose the 26in. version over 700c because I like the ride feel and ability to run large tire widths. Once I procured the bike, it was time to find a good front rack. After some research, I decided on the Surly front rack. It’s hefty construction and 60lb. weight capacity, I could throw just about anything at it. It’s wide mounting area allowed me to use large capacity panniers, eliminating the need for rear ones. To round out the setup, I added a large saddlebag with support in the rear and a small one up front. After a few loaded test rides, I was confident this setup would work well on the trip -and I was right.
So what got me hooked on this setup? Well for me, the biggest factor was ride feel. The bike felt much more balanced and maneuverable versus its rear loaded counterpart -more akin to an unloaded bike, apart from the weighty steering feel. The reason for this, I believe, comes down to weight distribution. Just like in a car, the bikes handling is effected when adding weight. The more evenly you can distribute this weight, the better your handling. So by moving your stuff to the front, your gear and rider weight is spread out more evenly across the bike. This also affects another aspect when riding -the push versus pull sensation. When rear loaded, it always feels like you are pulling your bike up hills, and in most respects you are. With front-loading though, this sensation is reversed, making it feel like you’re pushing the bike up hills. Now, this may sound like a small thing, but to me, this improves the overall ride feel. Another overlooked benefit to front loading is easy access to your drivetrain. Because there are no panniers to get in the way, removing the rear wheel, chain, or making derailleur adjustments are much easier on the road. And because your gear is moved to the front wheel [which is more robust than the rear] your odds of breaking a spoke are minimized.
As with any good thing though, there are some drawbacks. Generally speaking, most front racks provide lower mounting points, keeping the center of gravity low and improving stability. The drawback to this is you have to be careful when leaning into curves or you can catch your panniers on the ground. Another drawback to this setup is when you’re parked or are loading/unloading the bike, the front fork gets a mind of its own, swinging anyway it wants to. They do make a wheel stabilizer that can help counteract this, but I haven’t tried one yet.
For me, these drawbacks aren’t a big deal, but for others, it could be a dealbreaker - and that’s totally fine. This setup isn’t for everyone. No matter what touring setup you decide to go with, the most important thing is you stay safe and have fun. Happy touring!