Seat-post carriers?

Maury Markowitz said:

I do almost all of my riding in and around Toronto, so I bought myself
a road bike to do it. I do get out of town to tour, however, and I'd
really like to stay on the same bike -- I have access to a nice MTB
with dropouts and such, but they all make my hands go numb.

None of the road bikes have braze-ons for a pannier, but the local
bike shop suggested looking at a seat-post carrier. I don't carry much
-- typically a pair of jeans, socks, and a few shirts. They thought
I'd do fine, but I have scary dreams about doing downhill turns and
having the carrier swing over into the wheel.

Any other options? Does anyone make a "classic" pannier rack that can
be used without braze-ons? It would *seem* simple enough...

What are your seatstays made of? There are vinyl covered 'P'-shaped
clips available at most hardware stores that will let you mount
regular racks for panniers to most bikes with metal stays. With
carbon fiber there are some concerns about exerting too much
compression to the tubing.

Maury Markowitz said:

Any other options? Does anyone make a "classic" pannier rack that can
be used without braze-ons? It would *seem* simple enough...

The Tubus "Fly" rack is designed for road bikes -it connects to the
brake bridge. It's a bit pricy.

Other than that, MEC has various bits and pieces to attach racks to
bikes without dropout mount points (p-clamps, etc) and used to have a
gadget to go around your seat post ofr a conventional , but I can't
located it online. (And since they reorganized and moved their bike
department, they seem to have fewer of these fiddly little parts,
sadly.) If you're downtown, it may be worthwhile to drop in and ask
the staff.

Brian Huntley said:

The Tubus "Fly" rack is designed for road bikes -it connects to the
brake bridge. It's a bit pricy.

Thanks for the tip! I'm going to check one out ASAP. The images seem
to suggest they need holes at the rear dropout though, but I'll check
to be sure.

Quoted message said:

Other than that, MEC has various bits and pieces to attach racks to
bikes without dropout mount points (p-clamps, etc)

I thought about this too. It really seems too obvious... have a
clampish device that connects to both the downtube and the chainstay
(so it's stable in two axis) with a little braze-on hole at the back.
I can't be the first one to think of this!

Maury

Maury Markowitz said:

I do almost all of my riding in and around Toronto, so I bought myself
a road bike to do it. I do get out of town to tour, however, and I'd
really like to stay on the same bike -- I have access to a nice MTB
with dropouts and such, but they all make my hands go numb.

None of the road bikes have braze-ons for a pannier, but the local
bike shop suggested looking at a seat-post carrier. I don't carry much
-- typically a pair of jeans, socks, and a few shirts. They thought
I'd do fine, but I have scary dreams about doing downhill turns and
having the carrier swing over into the wheel.

Any other options? Does anyone make a "classic" pannier rack that can
be used without braze-ons? It would *seem* simple enough...

Maury

a regular size knapsack should do just fine; the load on your back
allows you to quickly transfer the weight with your body meaning you
can jump over pot holes while riding than riding through them.
Further, if you park your bike to go in somewhere, you don't have to
worry about some stranger rifleing through while you're away. It can
cushion your landing if you get "bumped" by a car. mountain co op
should have a nice selection at a good price for you

Maury Markowitz said:

I do almost all of my riding in and around Toronto, so I bought myself
a road bike to do it. I do get out of town to tour, however, and I'd
really like to stay on the same bike -- I have access to a nice MTB
with dropouts and such, but they all make my hands go numb.

None of the road bikes have braze-ons for a pannier, but the local
bike shop suggested looking at a seat-post carrier. I don't carry much
-- typically a pair of jeans, socks, and a few shirts. They thought
I'd do fine, but I have scary dreams about doing downhill turns and
having the carrier swing over into the wheel.

Any other options? Does anyone make a "classic" pannier rack that can
be used without braze-ons? It would *seem* simple enough...

Maury

Seatpost clamp-on racks work fine, as long as you don't overload them,
they're typically rated for 25lb. I have one and find it handy for bikes
that I don't want to have a rack permanently on. I use it with a top
mounted rack bag rather than a pannier.

Maury Markowitz said:

I do almost all of my riding in and around Toronto, so I bought myself
a road bike to do it. I do get out of town to tour, however, and I'd
really like to stay on the same bike -- I have access to a nice MTB
with dropouts and such, but they all make my hands go numb.

None of the road bikes have braze-ons for a pannier, but the local
bike shop suggested looking at a seat-post carrier. I don't carry much
-- typically a pair of jeans, socks, and a few shirts. They thought
I'd do fine, but I have scary dreams about doing downhill turns and
having the carrier swing over into the wheel.

Any other options? Does anyone make a "classic" pannier rack that can
be used without braze-ons? It would *seem* simple enough...

Yes.

Go to "http://tinyurl.com/y8vrky" and look at "Quick Release Rack
Mounting System" and "Tubus Stay Mounting Clamps".

While it says that these adapter devices are for Tubus racks, they
should work with all other racks as well.

Just be careful if your bicycle is carbon fiber, as you don't want to be
putting clamps on the frame.

Also look at "http://bicycleluggageracks.com/" and you can see some
mountings to the "brake bolt" hole (if your frame has one), or just go to:

"http://nordicgroup.us/rearracks/rackimages/outlookrack.jpg"
"http://nordicgroup.us/rearracks/rackimages/expeditionrackmount.JPG"
"http://nordicgroup.us/rearracks/rackimages/IMG_0329.JPG"

All of these center mounts were made of 1/8" x 0.75" aluminum flat bar.
The last one I covered with black heat shrink tubing.

As to it being "simple enough" it actually gets less and less simple due
to decontenting of bicycles.

As frames have been weakened, putting clamps on the tubing gets dicier.
On non-road bicycles, the increasing use of disc brakes makes it harder
to attach rear rack because the disc brake in the rear is in the way (so
there are new racks that route the support strut around the disc bake.

Changes to frame geometry make the use of extended length seat stay
brackets necessary, but rarely are they included with the rack, or even
available at all. Sometimes there are braze-ons but they are angled
strangely and are unusable unless the seat stay bracket can be bent.

Maury Markowitz said:

I do almost all of my riding in and around Toronto, so I bought myself
a road bike to do it. I do get out of town to tour, however, and I'd
really like to stay on the same bike -- I have access to a nice MTB
with dropouts and such, but they all make my hands go numb.

None of the road bikes have braze-ons for a pannier, but the local
bike shop suggested looking at a seat-post carrier. I don't carry much
-- typically a pair of jeans, socks, and a few shirts. They thought
I'd do fine, but I have scary dreams about doing downhill turns and
having the carrier swing over into the wheel.

Any other options? Does anyone make a "classic" pannier rack that can
be used without braze-ons? It would *seem* simple enough...

Maury

Take a good look at this picture from another current thread.
orion.neiu.edubent seat post.jpgOpen ↗
The seat post clamp doubles a a front mount for a rack. I have these clamps, but only for a 31.8mm seat tube. The rear stays can be P clipped onto the seat stays.
Dan Burkhart
www.boomerbicycle.ca