first tour

marcthehammer

Hi
Me and my wife are doing a 5/7 day tour next year and i have a few questions.
Sorry if these have been asked before.
Im riding a road bike with no holes for a rack will i have to use clips?If i use clips do they take enough weight What size of panniers will i need(we are not camping).If i use a saddlebag that fixes onto the seat post will i have to change my carbon one? If i use front panniers how do i fit the rack (or whatever its called) on aero forks? How does a bar bag fit on to drops?
Thanx in advance for your answers.

Aidanw

If you don't have holes for a rear rack then you can eaither use p-clips or special squewers with little screw holes on (links when I find em!)

You can still load up okay, but I would not go much more than 10k-15kg but best to just try it imo.

The size of bags is up to you! how much will you take?! I guess it works a bit like rucksacks in that you should get small ones... cos you just end up filling big ones with stuff you don't need!

I have just got a bike with a carbon seat post and I am not going to use my SQR bag with it, in case it cuts through the carbon, so I would say change it but I am not sure if that is my paranoia or a real worry!

If your front forks don't have fittings for a carrier, then I would guess you would be out of luck with aero forks, p-clips would crush them i would think.

Bar bags fit well on drops if they are wide enough, a fitting goes around the handlebar and they fit inside. Maybe easier with Campag kit as the gear wire is hidden away.

Have you thought of a trailer, I believe that most need no braiseons on the bike.

marcthehammer

Thanx for your info
i dont have enough clearance for mudguards either so i use clip on race blakes.Would there be enough space for the clips?

chrisb177

My mate has a pannier rack that he got from ebay which just clips on to seat post worked a treat

marcthehammer

like this? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=014

alfablue

Personally I wouldn't use a seatpost rack for loaded touring, they can be prone to swinging round, the panniers can foul the wheels, and the load they can carry is limited.

P-clips should work fine, plus you can get an M-Part seat post clamp that has rack eyes for the upper fitting. I use a Tubus rack and thequick release skewer adapter they do to secure the lower rack mount - very solid. Stagonset are a good source for high quality stainless steel rubber sleeved P-clips.

marcthehammer

Thanx for your help ALFABLUE that quick release skewer adapter looks spot on.They look more secure than the p-clips Im guessing i could use those on the front too?

alfablue

Ah, well there are better solutions for the front (there are racks to deal with forks without eyelets), but I am not sure I would mount a rack on a carbon fork (if you have one), I would hope others can advise on this.

RyanBrook

P-clips do the job. I added them to my trek 1500 for touring last year. They come in different diameters so its best to go and buy them from the shop. I got mine from Ribble cycles. I took two smallish pannier bags which I believe held 3kg each. then we had a 1kg coleman tent tied around the rack with one of those elastic rope thingys. The clips arent good for the paintwork so expect a few scratches. I wouldn't do it on a really expensive bike.

alfablue

some p-clips come with pvc covering, or the Stagonset ones (linked above) come with rubber sleeves, a bit kinder to paint, but still take care.

Tourist Tony

I saw someone a couple of days ago with a Spesh Allez, with the hourglass alu alloy seat stays. He had drilled and tapped the seat stays to mount his rack.
I am still shuddering.