Use Road Bike for Camping?

[Dog]

I'm very interesting in doing some touring. Currently I own a Bianchi Veloche and use if for casual riding, century rides and occasional work commuting. I'm very interested in doing some overnight trips but I'm not sure how much I can load on my bike (it's not a touring bike). Has anyone done this before? I don't want to invest in a touring bike until I know for sure that I enjoy camping off the bike.

[Grog]

I don't know that bike specifically. Have you figured out a way to put panniers on it? Or another kind of bag?

How far do you want to go? How autonomous do you want to be? Do you want to go alone or with someone (sharing the load, tent, food, etc.)?

[oxysback]

A trailer might be a better way to go. We have a Burley cargo trailer that carries up to 100 pounds. I think I'd rather pull the weight than have it on a rack and panniers.

(Plus, dh usually pulls the trailer...so BONUS for me!)

Actually, we probably should get another one. We have an emergency preparedness plan and we use our trailer to store supplies in case, for whatever reason, we have to evacuate on our bikes. That alone makes a trailer worthwhile to have, for us anyway.

[Dog]

I've looked at panniers and trailers on REI's web site. I guess my primary question is whether a road bike (aluminum with carbon forks and seat post) is sturdy enough for some light touring & camping. Wondering if any of you have used your lighter road bikes this way? I would like to try it out with my Bianchi before I spend $ on a second bike (such as a Trek 530 or Surly LH).

[Grog]

I've looked at panniers and trailers on REI's web site. I guess my primary question is whether a road bike (aluminum with carbon forks and seat post) is sturdy enough for some light touring & camping. Wondering if any of you have used your lighter road bikes this way? I would like to try it out with my Bianchi before I spend $ on a second bike (such as a Trek 530 or Surly LH).

Of course it depends on your definition of "light" but frankly unless you leave for more than 2-3 days, or unless you have a tendency to pack on the heavy side (including the kitchen sink), I think sturdiness is not going to be your main concern.

However you may find that finding a rack that works for your bike is more of a challenge. Not impossible, but more challenging. Of course you could just go for a big Carradice-style saddle back with assorted support, which is probably simpler, but still not totally straightforward.

Certainly worth the effort, though, compared to shelling out minimum $1000 for a new bike.

[Tri Girl]

Before I found a touring bike, I used my Giant OCR1 road bike for some commuting. I didn't do an overnight tour, but did commute quite a few times with panniers. I found a Blackburn MTN rack that actually fit my bike and worked quite well. Attaching it at the bottom required a little help from the LBS since there weren't extra braze-ons for the rack alone. It worked, tho.
Definitely try that before buying a new bike.

What kind of touring do you want to try? Overnight by yourself? Fully supported or semi-supported? Just curious, as I love to hear anything about touring.