Trek 1.7 - No lugs, silly tourer?

bjmerry
bjmerry Posts: 31
edited January 2009 in Tour & expedition
Hey,

This summer a few friends and myself are cycling down the west coast of France. I have 3 different bikes but nothing that is an out and out tourer.

GT Zaskar - V. small frame

Trek 1.7 - No pannier lugs

Ridgeback 604 GX - Mess!

Would it be silly to use p-clips and attach a pannier to my road bike (Trek 1.7) and is this a secure way of attaching a pannier? Also, are the seatpost attaching racks any good at holding weight or not even worth the money?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • SBezza
    SBezza Posts: 2,173
    There are mounting points on the rear seat stays for either panniers or mudguards on the Trek 1.7 (well there is on my 2008 version), have you tried fitting panniers to the frame.
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    I think the 1.7 would be okay. P-Clips can work, but more secure is to use a Tubus quick release adapter for the bottom fitting (you get a skewer with two plates, the rack attaches to these rather than around the stays - very secure, puncture repair takes about 1 minute longer). It also has the advantage of moving the rack more rearward, which helps with heel clearance which can be compromised on non-touring bikes.

    Tubus QR adapter:

    tubus-extension-adapter-assembled-M.jpg

    tubus-quick-release-adapter-M.jpg

    For the top use an M-part seatpost clamp with integrated rack bosses. Failing that, for the top, Tubus make some very superior p-clip type fittings for the upper mount.

    Obviously, the rack of choice is a Tubus one that has two lower mounting holes each side, to fit the QR.

    I have used this setup on long camping tours, no problem whatsoever.
    Seat post clamp:

    3041.jpg

    Tubus rack mounts:

    2007_08_09_12_05_47_5.jpg
  • bjmerry
    bjmerry Posts: 31
    SBezza

    Have you used your Trek for touring before SBezza? How did you mount the rack at the top?

    Cheers for the info alfablue.
  • bjmerry
    bjmerry Posts: 31
    SBezza

    Have you used your Trek for touring before SBezza? How did you mount the rack at the top?

    Cheers for the info alfablue.
  • newburb_1968
    newburb_1968 Posts: 114
    I fitted some panniers to my Trek 1.7 (2008) in the summer.
    I used a Topeak rack which screws to the frame, however I used a old light bracket, that connects to the seatpost and connected that to the top half of the rack. (Which stops it falling over the wheels onto the ground).

    This has been quite succesful holding a fair bit of weight in both panniers.

    The only thing that has backfired though was the connection on the seatpost, considering it's carbon by xmas it splinttered and finally snapped as I was removing it.

    I have now purchased two Seatpost:>
    1> Carbon (When not commuting and using the bike for leisure and long rides)
    2> A cheap Alloy post (Which I have now connected the pannier rack too).

    I will see how I get on with this.
    As for foot clearance I was quite surprise, how much room my feet had.
    I hope this helps you in your quest.
    Barry
  • bjmerry
    bjmerry Posts: 31
    Superb, thank you very much.
    Think I will have to invest in another seat post as well. Just don't trust carbon, even though it isn't under a lot of pressure from the rack. Good idea.

    Is the seat post attachment you used similar to the one posted by alfablue?
  • SBezza
    SBezza Posts: 2,173
    bjmerry wrote:
    SBezza

    Have you used your Trek for touring before SBezza? How did you mount the rack at the top?

    Cheers for the info alfablue.

    Hi

    No I haven't tried fitting panniers, but as mentioned above, it appears as though the seatpost mounting will cause the bigger grief.
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    bjmerry wrote:
    Superb, thank you very much.
    Think I will have to invest in another seat post as well. Just don't trust carbon, even though it isn't under a lot of pressure from the rack. Good idea.

    Is the seat post attachment you used similar to the one posted by alfablue?

    Yes, I had the M-Part one (I think there is a different brand, but they are the same item), and I used the Tubus P-Clip things (with some rubber between them and the frame). Both worked fine, the seat clamp won't stress your seatpost at all (just tighten the clamp to 6-9nm as you do your current clamp).
  • pneumatic
    pneumatic Posts: 1,989
    How strong are your wheels? Seriously, I've seen a friend's road bike loaded for touring collapse at high speed after hitting a bump. It was all a bit messy and we had to abandon the tour.

    Just a thought! :(

    Fast and Bulbous
    Peregrinations
    Eddingtons: 80 (Metric); 60 (Imperial)
  • bjmerry
    bjmerry Posts: 31
    They are the standard bontrager wheels that came with the bike?
  • pneumatic
    pneumatic Posts: 1,989
    might be worth getting some advice on their load bearing capacity, just to be sure. If they're not actual race wheels, they'll probably be ok, but the back one, in particular, is going to take a pounding on tour.

    Fast and Bulbous
    Peregrinations
    Eddingtons: 80 (Metric); 60 (Imperial)
  • GyatsoLa
    GyatsoLa Posts: 667
    I'd agree with pneumatic that you should look carefully at the wheels, its one weak point for touring on a light road bike. Might be worth investing in a tougher rear wheel, something like an Aksium. I've just returned from a tour on my Cannondale R600 - the wheels were ok, but did need a little trueing, and I was going relatively lightweight (about 8 kg of kit on the rear).

    BTW, might be relevant to what you're doing, but I used an oldmanmountain rack (these rest on the skewers), with p-clips for attaching to the stays. I found that the pressure made a very slight indentment on the stays, so I'd recommend getting slightly larger sized p-clips and then use lots of rubber protection before tightening the clamp.
  • bjmerry
    bjmerry Posts: 31
    Thanks for the advice Gyatso.

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