Panniers or Trailer?

[DesertRain]

Greetings! I am planning to bike the Camino Frances in March 2011. (Hopefully quieter than 2010 seems to be!) I will be riding as much on the "real" camino as possible and have a good mountain bike that will do the job. I will have plenty of time for the trip and it won't be a race.... It is a sabbatical (same word origin as "sabbath").

My one main question is.... Should I use panniers or a trailer (e.g. BOB Ibex) to carry my gear? I know that there is heated debate about this issue in general on various adventure biking forums (fora?), so I am looking for Camino-specific opinions. Would one or the other work better on the Camino? What have people's experiences been like? Why do you prefer one over the other? I have read that trailers are sometimes the preferred option while off-road and panniers preferred for on-road use.

I would appreciate any/all opinions on this topic.... as well as any other advice people have for the trip. Thanks.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I saw both on the Camino, but more people had panniers.

I'm not a biker, except locally, but I think panniers would be more logical. I guess in the end it depends on if you'll be going on the trail or on the road? The nice thing about a trailer is you could take a tent!

 

[sillydoll]

Brrrrrrrrr......... could be too cold in March for a tent!
I'd think panniers are the answer.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I will be riding as much on the "real" camino as possible and have a good mountain bike that will do the job.

Bicycles with trailers seem to stay on the road or improved path. Mountain bikes without panniers, weekend riders mostly, seem to find some stretches of the "real" Camino a challenge, so panniers will be more suitable. Of course, I haven't ridden a bike on the route either, so maybe someone will comment who has cycled.

 

[NowStime]

Greetings:
I cycled the Camino in 2009 from Burgos to Santiago and saw most of the bikers using panniers on or off roads.
As of yesterday I have began my next (2011) Camino trip by purchasing my airline ticket on line. This time I will be starting my bike challenge from Pamplona on or about 18 June 2011.
I would like to hear from any bikers about the availability of Alburger beds (June-July 2010) for bikers from Sarria to Santiago. More questions to come later.
NowStime

 

[newfydog]

We just use rear panniers. You should not need any more room than they offer. We ve gone from Pamplona to Santiago twice with such rigs, 98% on the trail, with very little pushing.

The trailers seem popular in the US, but I find them to be a heavy, awkward gimmick. We have done much of the Great Divide Route in the US and the BC Transcanada with just an old man mountain rack and rear panniers. Several times a friend with a BOB has joined us.

Everytime, they have gone to panniers and left the BOB home the nest year. They are just not worth the weight and hassle. We just got back from the Colorado New-Mexico portion, and where trailers were nce dominant on that route, this year we saw 9 riders with rear panniers, only two with BOBs. My wife, a middle aged recreational biker, cleaned Fleecer Ridge on the Great divide, and left a bunch of strapping young men with Bobs in her wake.

Don't even get me starterd on lifting them over gates, fitting them in a rental car, etc.

We have found the best rear rack to be the Old Man Mountain. It does not break and has no gear wobble. Expensive, but the last two trips were a clean sweep--all the cheap racks broke.

 

[geoffandgwyneth]

I'm not a strong cyclist ( female, mid-fifties, fattish ) but found my 'Extrawheel' trailer from Poland was the answer when carrying camping gear through Holland, Belgium, France and on the Camino last Spring/Summer; bike panniers always feel heavy to me,and detract from the pleasure of cycling. The 'Extrawheel' performed so well both on and off road that I forgot it was there; there's no noticeable rolling resistance -the wheel is the same size as my bike's. It has 2 capacious and waterproof bags ; my sleeping bag kept dry when I didn't, even in Galicia. Security-wise, I had no problem detaching it to lock it next to the rear wheel overnight; it takes up no more room than the wheel,and safety-wise it has a cheerful bouyant yellow flag to warn lorries of a 'vehiculo largo'. My husband had a similar trailer, and shares my surprise that we only saw one other 'Extrawheel' on the entire trip.