# Our bikepacking tandem DIY gear.



## bakerjw (Oct 8, 2014)

Well, my wife and I have a custom Curtlo mountain tandem bike which has been named by my wife as "Lolly" which is short for Lollypop Blue.
I've made most of the bags on all of my other bikepacking bikes and this one is no different.
All of the latest loaded pics are here on our gallery.
Biking and Hiking / Lolly / Loaded | Beth and John Baker's Photo Gallery

Last night was a shake down ride to see how it handled with a full load on it. The main triangle bag is quite loaded here and she looks pregnant.
But... That has been taken into account.









If you notice the horizontal line in this pic. There is an identical line on the other side. The fabric is looped inside and I have slits in it every 1".
This allows me to lace side to side wherever needed to reduce the amount of bulging. 









The stoker roll bag. This holds the Eureka Midori 2 person ten and sleeping pad. It is made with Goretex that I got very cheap.


















The front handlebar bag is not a roll bag but rather it opens to the front. It was an early iteration that I used on the Tour Divide in 2017.
With the Jones bar, it loops on the front and rear parts of the bar as shown here and is rock solid. It just isn't color coordinated.


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## Megashnauzer (Nov 2, 2005)

nice.


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## ddoh (Jan 11, 2017)

That is nice stuff.

I'm kind of curious how that handles crosswinds.


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## leeboh (Aug 5, 2011)

The chains go on both sides? Cool.


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## bachman1961 (Oct 9, 2013)

Stunning !

We'll be packing up the 3 row suv soon for a roadtrip but I'm not sure it hauls any more than your lolly blue contraption.  

Trial time or temporary matching seats ? 
ie- What are the chances any two people like the same bike seat ?


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## bakerjw (Oct 8, 2014)

It handles crosswinds pretty well. On our first shakedown ride, we had a decent wind coming across us and couldn't feel it much at all. We're bumping about 80 pounds and that presents a lot of mass to be moved with an occasional gust.

One thing that I have done is to make some 4" diameter stuff sacks in a few different lengths. Pack them full and they stand up in the main frame bag quite nicely and really cut down on it puffing out. With the exception of our down, rain and wind jackets, all of our clothes take up about half of the main frame bag space. I have discussed with my wife that just because we have more available storage doesn't mean we have to take more with us. she's been really good at coming to grips with how little that we are taking. But then again, she's seen my gear load outs when I've ridden the Tour Divide route the past 3 years.

We have a pair of Brooks B17 Imperials on our road tandem too. My wife's is a B17S which is a bit different form factor. I don't have much issues with the B17 but I will likely swap it out for my Rivet Imogene saddle that has served me well in all kinds of offroad conditions.


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## bakerjw (Oct 8, 2014)

*There and back again...*

Well, we made it there and back again. Right at 300 miles over 5 days.

Mechanically the bike was flawless. We had a couple of spokes loosen a bit but they were able to be tensioned well enough in the field. The brakes never acted up and stopped us well whenever we needed them. The bags held up very well and rarely needed adjusting.

A momma bear with cubs, mountain goats, some spruce grouse, many many deer and a wolf rounded out the encounters.

ETA VVV Elk pass on day 1 VVV


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## She&I (Jan 4, 2010)

bakerjw said:


> Well, we made it there and back again. Right at 300 miles over 5 days.
> 
> Mechanically the bike was flawless. We had a couple of spokes loosen a bit but they were able to be tensioned well enough in the field. The brakes never acted up and stopped us well whenever we needed them. The bags held up very well and rarely needed adjusting.
> 
> ...


Congratulations on a successful ride! Sounds worthy of a full report. Cough up the goods, man.


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

Congrats. I'm glad you wife was able to heal up and get out there on the trip.


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