Use Road Bike for Camping?

[NadiaMac]

I did a 500 mile loaded tour on my bianchi eros donna road bike equipped with panniers. I found a rack that could be mounted through the quick release and onto my caliper brake mounts for the rear (axiom) and a front rack that mounted through the quick release and braced onto my carbon front fork (Old Man Mountain). My wheels were sturdy ksyriums and I had no problems with the wheels (but carried extra spokes and truing equipment just in case). My load was about 55-60 pounds.

A note on gearing. I had a standard road triple on this bike (30-27 largest gearing), and it was a bit of the grind on the steeper climbs we encountered (we had sustained portions of 8 and 10 percent grade, and even up to 12% grade. This was a bit of a grind for me. I powered through it but my friends with touring bikes (and thus more mountain bike gearing) spun up those climbs with greater comfort and less overall fatigue. This may not be an issue for you depending on the terrain you encounter, your strength, daily mileage etc.

I ran into folks with trailers on the tour and this seems like a decent option as well. I'm not sure how easy it is to travel with the trailer though. It was pretty easy to remove the pannier racks for boxing and shipping. Something to consider.