Rear rack for MTB

in message <[email hidden]>, Brian

(') said:

Assuming that I'm going to go for the Claud Butler Rock in 22" frame,
what
sort of rear rack would be recommended? Not sure if the frame has
mounts for a rack or not though.

Why would I want a rack on my mtb? Well one of my plans is to do some
cycle camping, so being able to split the load of tent + camping gear
between backpack & panniers would be good.

I'd strongly advise against carrying any significant weight in a
rucksack when cycling. You can injure your back most unpleasantly that
way. Keep the weight as far as possible on the bike (or, better but
more expensive) on a trailer. The Claud Butler probably has rack
mounting brazeons; if not, you can get racks (e.g. Old Man Mountain
<URL:http://www.carradice.co.uk/old-man-mountain-racks.htm> which fit
onto the brake bosses.

If you're carrying significant weight on the bike it will handle better
if you balance the weight between front and rear panniers, although
again this is more expense.

Quoted message said:

Is there such a thing as a
"quick release" rack? So I could only use it when I need to?

Ish. You can get racks which mount onto the seatpost with a
quick-release clip but they won't take much weight, and wouldn't be any
good at all for what you want to do.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; This email may contain confidential or otherwise privileged
;; information, though, quite frankly, if you're not the intended
;; recipient and you've got nothing better to do than read other
;; folks' emails then I'm glad to have brightened up your sad little
;; life a tiny bit.

In message <[email hidden]>, Simon
Brooke <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Brian

(') said:

Is there such a thing as a
"quick release" rack? So I could only use it when I need to?

Ish. You can get racks which mount onto the seatpost with a
quick-release clip but they won't take much weight, and wouldn't be any
good at all for what you want to do.

Even a bolted on rack shouldn't take long to fit or remove.

Just 4 (or sometimes 3) Allen bolts to undo/do up - can be on or off in
couple of minutes
--
Chris French, Leeds

Brian said:

Assuming that I'm going to go for the Claud Butler Rock in 22" frame,
what sort of rear rack would be recommended? Not sure if the frame
has mounts for a rack or not though.

Why would I want a rack on my mtb? Well one of my plans is to do some
cycle camping, so being able to split the load of tent + camping gear
between backpack & panniers would be good. Is there such a thing as a
"quick release" rack? So I could only use it when I need to?

A normal proper rack will do the job better and will only take a few
minutes to refit. The _initial_ fitting can be fiddly as adjustments need
to be made but not all the screws will need undoing when you take it off
again.

Blackburn TR-1 TrailRack* is one that should do, although you might
possibly want something stronger/different.

* url:http://www.settlecycles.co.uk/bespoke/blackburn/PRtr1.html?pid=70

(I think it comes with clips for frames without braze-ons, or they might
be available separately).

~PB

Simon Brooke <[email hidden]> wrote in news:tut2u1-s7a.ln1
@gododdin.internal.jasmine.org.uk:

Quoted message said:

I'd strongly advise against carrying any significant weight in a
rucksack when cycling. You can injure your back most unpleasantly that
way.

Oooh, I'll keep that in mind then - possibly just put spare clothing in the
rucksack, rest of the camping gear on the bike.

Thanks for the reply - I now know that quick release racks won't be
suitable - I'll probably just keep the rack on.

cheers

--
Brian

Brian said:

Assuming that I'm going to go for the Claud Butler Rock in 22" frame, what
sort of rear rack would be recommended? Not sure if the frame has mounts
for a rack or not though.

The Boor Yueh cheap knock-offs of Blackburns are, IME, fine. That's
what graces my MTB, anyway.

Quoted message said:

Why would I want a rack on my mtb?

To carry stuff? As with any bikes bar those used for maximum speed, the
main reason /not/ to have a rack on an MTB is fashion and peer pressure
(they don't look sporty).

Quoted message said:

Is there such a thing as a
"quick release" rack? So I could only use it when I need to?

Unless you're getting seriously serious I doubt you'd notice an alloy
rack is there, aside from it keeping a bit more mud off you. You can
use a seatpost rack or an SQR bag, but a rack with multi-point fixing
will be more stable and not let the luggage move around so much with
"interesting" balance results.

Quoted message said:

Also looking for suggestions of decent panniers (I do have an old pair of
Edinburgh Bicyle Panniers but i'll be sellign these with my old bike)

For mountain biking, where being able to clean cack off and keeping
things dry will be more important than on the road (where one tends to
ride through fewer rivers), so you could do far worse than Ortlieb roll
tops. The shiny ones are a little cheaper, a bit heavier and a bit
tougher than the "plus" models. Vau De do similar, IMHO the Ortliebs
are a bit nicer and the fixing systems are easier to use, but OTOH the
Orts do cost more. Ortlieb also sell a rucksack conversion, so on trips
with less kit you can take one pannier and if you want to change it to
"sprung weight" for balancy bits then swap it onto your back.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

In message <[email hidden]>, Peter Clinch
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Brian said:

Assuming that I'm going to go for the Claud Butler Rock in 22" frame,
what sort of rear rack would be recommended? Not sure if the frame
has mounts for a rack or not though.

The Boor Yueh cheap knock-offs of Blackburns are, IME, fine. That's
what graces my MTB, anyway.

Cheap aluminium alloy racks are fine, though I do prefer the Cro-mo tube
racks now such as Tubus etc. However, these are more money so I wouldn't
suggest someone buy one unless they were sure that is what they want.
--
Chris French, Leeds

Simon Brooke said:

I'd strongly advise against carrying any significant weight in a
rucksack when cycling. You can injure your back most unpleasantly that
way.

Come off it. Is this some old wives' tale?

James
--
If I have seen further than others, it is
by treading on the toes of giants.
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/julesandjames/home/

in message <[email hidden]>, James Annan

(') said:

Simon Brooke said:

I'd strongly advise against carrying any significant weight in a
rucksack when cycling. You can injure your back most unpleasantly
that way.

Come off it. Is this some old wives' tale?

No indeed. I have done it, and won't ever repeat it. An osteopath sorted
me out afterwards, but good though osteopaths are I see no reason for
putting any more business their way than is _strictly_ necessary.

Oh, yes, and, before anyone asks, well packed good Karrimor rucksack
with frame and straps properly adjusted for me. Fortunately the
rucksack fitted very nicely on my bikehod trailer, so the problem never
arose again.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

'graveyards are full of indispensable people'

James Annan [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

Come off it. Is this some old wives' tale?

I think that most rucksacs are designed to be used by an upright person.
When bent forward over the bars, the weight may be concentrated on the
lower spine. This is a Bad Thing (TM).

Jon

"Peter Clinch" wrote

Quoted message said:

For mountain biking, where being able to clean cack off and keeping
things dry will be more important than on the road (where one tends to
ride through fewer rivers), so you could do far worse than Ortlieb roll
tops. The shiny ones are a little cheaper, a bit heavier and a bit
tougher than the "plus" models. Vau De do similar, IMHO the Ortliebs
are a bit nicer and the fixing systems are easier to use, but OTOH the
Orts do cost more. Ortlieb also sell a rucksack conversion, so on trips
with less kit you can take one pannier and if you want to change it to
"sprung weight" for balancy bits then swap it onto your back.

Pete.

I used Ortlieb "Bikepacker Lite" rear panniers and Vau De "Roadmaster" front
panniers on a recent trip around Scotland. The Ortliebs kept everything
drier, and went on and off the bike more easily than the Vau De bags. The
Vau Des came with rain covers that stow in the top flap pocket, which were a
nuisance to take off and put on, and not quite as effective as the heavily
sealed Ortliebs at keeping water out.

I've used the Ortlieb rucksack conversion to go for a day hike partway
through a long tour, it's very useful for that.

I bought the Ortliebs a few years back and have been very happy with them.
When I wanted front and rear panniers for the Scotland tour I decided to try
the Vau Des because they were cheaper. Truthfully, if I had to do it again I
would pay the extra money and get the Ortliebs.
--
mark

Simon Brooke <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

in message <[email hidden]>, James Annan

(') said:

Simon Brooke said:

I'd strongly advise against carrying any significant weight in a
rucksack when cycling. You can injure your back most unpleasantly
that way.

Come off it. Is this some old wives' tale?

No indeed. I have done it, and won't ever repeat it.

I am unconvinced that a single anecdote is adequate to advise against
anything. While of course technically true that one "can" injure one's
back doing just about anything, I note that every serious competitor
in the Polaris competition carries almost all their kit on their
backs. Of course it depends a bit on how technical the terrain is, and
what you mean by "any significant weight". What would you consider a
safe limit to be, and do you really think that pushing/carrying a
loaded bike (on unrideable sections) is safer than wearing a rucksack
and handling an unloaded bike?

James

James Annan said:

Simon Brooke said:

I'd strongly advise against carrying any significant weight in a
rucksack when cycling. You can injure your back most unpleasantly that
way.

Quoted message said:

Come off it. Is this some old wives' tale?

I don't know. But I've done it, and whatever the injury possibilities
are I'll avoid doing it again simply because it's hideously
uncomfortable. If you ride to enjoy yourself then it means you've
destroyed the point of going in the first place. Rucksacks on a bike
aren't that good. Big and heavy rucksacks are a Work of Stan, and then
some.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch said:

I don't know. But I've done it, and whatever the injury possibilities
are I'll avoid doing it again simply because it's hideously
uncomfortable. If you ride to enjoy yourself then it means you've
destroyed the point of going in the first place. Rucksacks on a bike
aren't that good. Big and heavy rucksacks are a Work of Stan, and then
some.

But have you tried pushing and carrying an equally heavily loaded
bicycle over technical off-road terrain? I agree that when riding on
non-technical tracks, panniers are generally best. My bad back injury
was caused by pushing and carrying a bike on unrideable terrain.

In answer to the OP, a seatpost-mounted rack can carry a modest load
(probably not everything, but enough to make the rucksack quite a lot
lighter) and is easy to remove when not in use.

James
--
If I have seen further than others, it is
by treading on the toes of giants.
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/julesandjames/home/

James Annan said:

But have you tried pushing and carrying an equally heavily loaded
bicycle over technical off-road terrain?

No. For someone of my MTB abilities (read: modest, plus old rigid MTB)
truly technical terrain is bad enough with no load at all, and I just
wouldn't attempt it with any more than a light load. However, something
like typical Scottish estate tracks are a breeze on an MTB, even with
panniers, while it's merely "possible" on a bike set up for the road.
Camping trips in rough terrain for me means either walking or waiting
until it's covered in snow and skiing.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Thanks for the replies

--
Brian