Source
r/bicycling•
semanticprecision

AskBicycling: pannier rack on a road frame...

Hello!

I'm going to start bike-commuting again in a week or so. I'm a spandex kinda guy, on a road frame (Klein Quantum Race) without any special trunk threads.

It's going to be 12 miles each way. I used to do 11.5 with a Chrome bag, but that was back when I was gainfully employed, and only needed to carry some clothing (left the shoes at the office). Now that I'm a poor graduate student, I'll be needing to bring shoes, clothes, textbooks, notes, lunch... the list goes on. So sidebags are practically necessary.

I picked up some sweet Ortlieb Back Roller panniers, and I dug up a rack at Performance. Trouble is, since I don't have trunk threads, I'm stuck -- as best I can tell -- with a rack that attaches to the seatpost and nowhere else. This isn't a big deal in and of itself, but the weight limit is only 25lbs. So some questions for those who may know:

  • If I want to bring books, notes, food, etc. with me, is a 25lb limit okay? Realistically, it'll probably do 35, but I don't want to hit a pothole and [not] see all my shit disappear.
  • Are there sturdier pannier racks that don't require those special holes on the seat stays? I haven't found anything yet that, say, attaches only to the seatpost and over the skewer. Know of anything?

Thanks!

Edit: I've discovered that by "trunk theads", I mean brazed-on eyelets.

Posted Feb 9, 2010, 4:01 AM UTC · edited

411
cldellowSurly Big Dummy•

Use p-clamps and mount the rack to your stays. You still wouldn't want to load them down with a lot of weight, but it'll be sturdier than a seat-post rack.

See this article for more.

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semanticprecisionOP•

Cool; anything involving hardware store addenda is win :)

1
futpoo•

I have this setup on my steel racing frame, and I have carried enough weight to bend my Jandd expedition rack (a lawnmower, jeez i'm an idiot). You have to change the pclamps out once in a while though (every 8 months or so), because the rubber gets eaten through by the constant vibration from the metal brackets.

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_jameshales•

I'm currently riding into uni on my road bike. I'm a spandex kind of guy too and I ride about 37km along a hilly coastal road to get into uni, so you could say that weight reductions are important to me.

Do you really need to carry all of that stuff in and out of uni each day? Personally I find I don't need to bring most of my books to lectures, and only really need them for revision or studying in my own time. Since that's the case, I try to keep most of my stuff at home, and anything that I might need while I'm at uni I keep in a locker there.

My recommendation is to get a locker on campus and keep all your stuff there. I hired a locker in the recreation centre on campus, which is conveniently located next to change rooms and showers. I keep my shoes, books, notes, pens, etc. in the locker so all I carry with me when riding is my tool kit and a change of clothes in a gym sack. If I need any of the books contained there in for studying, I try to do that studying on campus, rather than taking it home.

If you still need to haul some stuff in and out every day, then you can use the panniers. But if you only carry what you really need for a given day, 25lbs should be more than enough.

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[deleted]•

Seconding this comment. Dump your mega-laptop. Get a light notebook/netbook. Books rarely need to travel. Use a single notepad. Buy lots of pens. They seem to get lost a lot.

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semanticprecisionOP•

Fair point; I should quit planning worst-case scenarios and just go with normal daily use. Worse comes to worst, I can't lug a bag on my back, too.

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semanticprecisionOP•

You're more than a little correct: I don't need to carry all my gear in every day, but on those days when I'm just cramming... Part of it is that I'm a first-year PhD right now, so even though it's rare that I bring my library, when I do I'm dragging a bunch of 1000-page books around -- next year should be much better (more research, less studying)!

That said, it's probably worth trying with the 25lb rack. I can get a locker at the gym, provided I'm waiting in line 4:30am the one day in the quarter they sell them off. Performance did guarantee that if I don't like it, I can just drag it back (standard, but good to hear), so I'll give it a shakedown and see what happens.

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_jameshales•

I can get a locker at the gym, provided I'm waiting in line 4:30am the one day in the quarter they sell them off.

If you're a PhD student I'd suggest asking the school or faculty you're with whether they have locker or shower facilities available in your building. At least at my university, most buildings have super secret locker and shower facilities hidden away for staff use. Most offer lockers for free, which is good since locker fees in gyms can be considerable. They tend not to advertise these facilities because they tend to be scarce and aren't for undergraduate use.

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zj5u3n3•

Old man mountain makes a few racks that don't require eyelets.

2
fab13n•

Have you considered saddle-mounted panniers such as this?

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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[deleted]•

Axiom Streamliner Road DLX. Mounts on the quick-release skewer, or you could futz around with P-clamps. Really nice for road bikes, because the mounting "tabs" push the rack to the rear by about 5-6 inches.

And before anyone chimes in about shear force on the QR skewer, I've been running this setup with 50+ lb. loads and have not had any issues.

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