Rear Rack & Luggage advice

jarrvo

Hi once again

Im after a little more advice this time regarding a Rear Rack and luggage options.

I have a Specialised Allez 09 which i would like to use for light weekend tours mostly but with the possibility of longer 2 week tours both in BB's/Youth hostels.
Ive been looking at rear racks and panniers but im a little lost with the myriad of choices!

I was thinking of going with the Tortec Ultralite Rear Rack and the
Altura Arran Rack Bag

Anyone have experience of either?

Would i be able to add a pair of rear panniers for extra storage in the future if needed?

thanks in advance

Dave-M

I'd have thought you'd need a bit more storage space than 7 litres? I'm also looking in to this type of thing and reckon I need about 25-30 litres? I have a 25 litre day sack I use a fair bit and reckon on needing similar space.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

As for racks, I quick like the click on ones such as this:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Topea ... 360006687/

..however, I'm a bit of a novice and don't really know what I'm taking about!

jarrvo

Thanks, my problem i have no idea how big 7 litres is, let alone 25!
Thinking how big a 5 litre bottle of water is maybe 7 litres might be border line.

Basically the items i will be taking, pair of trainers, jeans 2 tshirts, waterproofs & little items such as toothbrush.

huuregeil

20-25 litres for that kind of thing is about right - think small rucksac/daysac size.

In which case, you're better off with side panniers rather than a racktop bag - not just for size reasons, but also load stability due to lower centre of gravity.

In which case, the Ultralight rack is a little too lightweight. Although it's rated to 25kg, you'd be better off getting something like a Tortec Tour, which is more durable and stable. This will also see you right for longer tours in the future, should you chose. I'd say the Ultralight is really only suitable for racktop duty. The weight and cost penalty of the Tour over the Ultralight is minimal.

In which case, the best thing to do is probably look at a pair of 25litre panniers (50l in total). If you're going very lightweight, you can just take one, and it will be half empty. For a few days touring, take two and they will be half empty (better to have the load balanced either side). And with them both full, you should be good for some relatively serious touring. This way, you've covered all your bases. Slightly more cost up front, but cheaper overall than buying more bags later. And you might find yourself using them for more things than you imagined - e.g. supermarket trips, etc. The only danger is that you have to be self-disciplined when packing - if you can take too much (because you have extra space, over and above what's strictly necessary) you need to make sure you don't take too much :-)

jarrvo

huuregeil thanks for your advice it makes things a lot clearer

I will go for the stronger rack and lok for some panniers.
This is starting to cost more than i expected are there any reccomendations for cheap but good panniers?

thanks

amaferanga

If you can travel light (i.e. skip the trainers and take some flip-flops instead, leave the jeans and take some lightweight trousers, etc.) then you could probably squeeze all you need into the rack bag. I used something that size for a 5 day tour this summer staying in B&Bs and youth hostels and I wouldn't need any more stuff for a couple of weeks. Advantages are that since you're not carrying much gear then you can travel quicker/further and there's less stress on your bike so less likely to pop a spoke (a very real possibility if you start carrying two panniers full of stuff on your Allez). Obvious diadvantage is that you'll be wearing the same civvies off the bike every day so you'll need to get them washed (along with your cycling stuff).

If you take two panniers you will likely fill two panniers. Your bike then becomes heavy and slow and you'll be crawling up hills at a few mph. But you'll have more stuff for off the bike.

So it depends what's more important to you - enjoying being on the bike, or having all the stuff you'd need off the bike.

Since you're bike has mudguard eyes then I wouldn't bother with a seatpost mounted rack. The Tortec Ultralite is a really good rack and more than up to carrying two full panniers should you decide to go down that route. 25kg is a LOT of stuff. In fact, if you've got too much stuff for that rack then (unless you're cycling across a continent or around the world) then you've got too much stuff.

jarrvo

amaferanga thanks for the advice,
i am trying to travel as light as possible so thought the panniers might be overkill but i need the trainers & jeans for a night out on sat and unfortunately i just cant walk in flip flops i would fall over and kill myself in 2 minutes :P

I want to enjoy riding the bike more rather than just feel like im moving stuff from a to b, so i will travel as light as possible but finding the right blanace of gear & luggage is proving more difficult than i thought.

huuregeil

What amaferanga says is also true. Going light is always the winner!

Three more thoughts:

Rack - I looked at both the ultralight and the tour and ended up buying the tour. The ultralight is very good for what it is and there's considerable overlap. The point really is, you'd never load either up with 25kg, but you might well load with 10kg (e.g. with a sleeping bag, bivvy gear, bottle of wine... :-) ), unless you know you're only ever going to use a racktop bag (in which case buy the ultralight). With 10kg, the tour is definitely the more stable of the two - it will deflect less from side to side under torsion, and this is something you can really feel when you're riding. As for the actually weight of the rack itself, an extra 200g is nothing compared to 10kg!

Bags - have a look on ebay. Quite a few people splash out on bags and then sell them having rarely used them. I picked up my Carradice panniers that way.

At the end of the day, the right combination of kit is something personal depending on your usage and this can only be worked out by trial and error. So, don't stress too much about it, buy something suitable that's cheap and gets you going (and any of the solutions will work, providing you have enough space for your essentials), and refine over time!

pabloweaver

having an allez comp that is used for commuting, winter ( 12 months a year style ) and the like I was considering sticking panniers on it and using it for light touring as well ..

hijacking the thread slightly, but I think it will prob be relevant to the OP ... is the bike likely to be seriously hampered in its handling etc as a result of panniers ?

the comp has no eyelets so p clips and the like are the order of the day but has the benefit of a compact chainset and nice relaxed feel .. change of tyres and away I go..or is it?

in short Im trying hard to fight the urge to buy a dedicated tourer for the sake of a handful of excursions!

i realise this is a touring section asky ...but hey ho !

huuregeil

pabloweaver,

Why not just give it a try?! At the end of the day, a bike's a bike. Handling shouldn't be too much an issue if you're travelling lightweight. The only thing I don't know is how well p-clips function.

Another possibility worth considering is a beam rack, e.g. Topeak Beam Rack, Rixen & Kaul FreeRack or Contour Max.

http://www.klickfix.de/index.php?mod=14&lang=en

Don't have one but they look good and I've seen a few on the road, particularly abroad. I'm very tempted to pick one up.

The Mechanic

I have a Tortec Ultralight on my audax bike and I have just completed a 500 mile tour in hte Highland with two panniers. As previously said the rack is rated to 25kg but I only had 10 kg of luggage. I bought some Creel2peak Discovery panniers from Je James cycles. They have them on offer and they were almost half price. I was very pleased with them. I do not notice any flex in the rack.

On audaxes I use a Carradice Super C rack pack.

Roger_This

Have regularly used Altura Arran 46 (2 x 23 litre) panniers and found them excellent. Not fully waterproof but you'll want to bag up the contents anyway to keep things organized. Never weighed the contents but I'd guess 10k across the two. They come with top and rear pockets which also help with the organisation side.

mididoctors3

jarrvo wrote:

r line.

Basically the items i will be taking, pair of trainers, jeans 2 tshirts, waterproofs & little items such as toothbrush.

well there's your problem

spd compatible shoes... ditch the trainers

forget the jeans pack light weight trousers (umbro sports wear thin cotton jobs or sumfink)

jarrvo wrote:

amaferanga thanks for the advice,
i am trying to travel as light as possible so thought the panniers might be overkill but i need the trainers & jeans for a night out on sat and unfortunately i just cant walk in flip flops i would fall over and kill myself in 2 minutes

I want to enjoy riding the bike more rather than just feel like im moving stuff from a to b, so i will travel as light as possible but finding the right blanace of gear & luggage is proving more difficult than i thought.

if jeans and trainers are a must for a special night then consider the wisdom of dragging around luggage you are going to use once for the trip...

you could always buy a pair of jeans or whatever then post them back to yourself...

how much is all this pannier stuff going to cost?