Pannier load for Specialized Sirrus

ForumNewbie

I am going to start commuting to work occassionally (as 19 miles each way) and thinking of taking change of clothes and lock etc. in a pannier bag on rack on my Specilaized Sirrus. I only have one pannier bag and think I only need one, but I am a bit concerned with all the weight being on one side of the wheel as regards handling and balance. My pannier bag fully packed with stuff for work weighs about 7lbs.

Although I bought a budget rack, the guy in the shop told me it can take up to 25lbs, but even with a 7lb bag, the back of the bike feels really heavy. I am also concerned about punctures with this additional weight on the back wheel as well as being concerned that the weight is all on one side.

Also not sure if the wheels of a Sirrus are capable of handling this sort of additional weight on a regular basis?

Any advice would be appreciated.

tgotb

The bike should be fine; I'm sure someone a stone heavier than you could ride the bike quite happily, and that would correspond to about 7lbs per wheel.

You may notice the handling effect of the additional weight (though you'll get used to it very quickly); the fact that it's on just one side will barely be noticeable.

Agent57

I've never yet noticed any sort of handling problems just using one pannier, even when it's fully laden and heavy. The additional weight shouldn't really have much effect on punctures, I think - 7lb is only half a stone; you could put that on over Christmas, and you wouldn't then get ont he bike thinking "Oh, I'm a bit heavier, I might puncture", would you?

Norky

I have a 2008 Specialized Sirrus Pro with a cheap rack of indeterminate brand and Mavic Aksium Race wheels (I wore the original wheels out over winter due to salty road crap and lack of maintenance, not overloading). I've used the thing to tote a car battery weighing 13KG home. Along with a stuffed pannier I was carrying perhaps 15KG (~33 lbs) on the back. Because the weight was mostly on top of the rack it raised the centre of gravity and made the handling a bit tricky, especially climbing a steep hill on the commute back, however I wasn't worried about the ability of the frame or wheels to bear the load. Having ridden it with a more normal load of one pannier I've never found a problem with balance.

Oh, also, leaving stuff at work is a good idea. I usually take the road bike in nice weather, and use the Sirrus & panniers every week or two to transport several sets of clothes, towel and whatever other gubbins I need. Before I had the road bike I'd often remove and reattach the rack (though for dog's sake don't do what I did and knacker one of the fixing points by over-tightening a bolt :oops: )

edit: spelling fail

iPete

No problems, especially if my Allez can handle this...



http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12702169

Underscore

Norky wrote:

Oh, also, leaving stuff at work is a good idea. I usually take the road bike in nice weather, and use the Sirrus & panniers every week or two to transport several sets of clothes, towel and whatever other gubbins I need.

+1 (though mine is a 2001 Sirrus)

RufusA

FWIW I take a Altura Urban 17 as a pannier on my circa 2007 Sirrus.

It's stuffed with a laptop, chargers, lock cable, lights, paperwork sometimes even heavy books etc.

You notice when it's on, but no real detremental handling that I've noticed, just keep the tyres well pumped.

Two things to watch out for:

1) Within about 6 months the welds on the pannier rack went on one side (which I didn't notice), I had to upgrade to a more expensive rack to take the weight.

2) I popped 3 spokes in about 6 months and ended up replacing the rear wheel as it was beyond rebuilding. This many have been a result of therack with broken welds knocking the spokes, or just the additional weight.

Since upgrading the rear wheel and pannier rack I've had no problems.

Top tip though - don't try pushing the bike one handed with the pannier still on!

HTH - Rufus.

The Rookie

Most racks are rated at 25Kg (not lbs), and the bike will handle that fine, it will feel horrible and heavy when you are off the bike (you are adding about 1/3 of the current bike weight high up and at one end), on the bike you will struggle to notice 7lbs on the back.

Simon

davmaggs

I regularly carry a laptop and clothing, or on other days shopping on one pannier. All done with no dramas as I have 80kg of me countering a few KGs of stuff. You'd have to carry a really large amount to tip over.

Also carried 30 bottles of Stella on sunday in one pannier. I don't recommend that as you sound like a milk float and it strains the pannier itself.

CarlosDSanchez

Don't worry about it, I use fully laden paniers both sides, just on one side or roll up my lunch in my waterproofs and bungie it to the top of the rack. Not had any problems (was 95kg when I started, now 82kg)

fossyant

I've just fitted a rack to my fixed. Went for a Topeak rack as you can use their slide in pannier bags.

The rack is very sturdy - Super Touriste DX. As for loading, make sure you put heavy locks in the bottom of the pannier bag, rather than in a top bag - the lower down the heavy stuff goes the better. Oh and keep that rear tyre pumped up.

fossyant

I've just fitted a rack to my fixed. Went for a Topeak rack as you can use their slide in pannier bags.

The rack is very sturdy - Super Touriste DX. As for loading, make sure you put heavy locks in the bottom of the pannier bag, rather than in a top bag - the lower down the heavy stuff goes the better. Oh and keep that rear tyre pumped up.

richardabulmer

iPete wrote:

No problems, especially if my Allez can handle this...



http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12702169

Nice, i never would have thought an Allez could handle that.

What kind of rack are you using, and how come you aren't using the bosses on the seatstays ?

iainment

ForumNewbie wrote:

I am going to start commuting to work occassionally (as 19 miles each way) and thinking of taking change of clothes and lock etc. in a pannier bag on rack on my Specilaized Sirrus. I only have one pannier bag and think I only need one, but I am a bit concerned with all the weight being on one side of the wheel as regards handling and balance. My pannier bag fully packed with stuff for work weighs about 7lbs.

Although I bought a budget rack, the guy in the shop told me it can take up to 25lbs, but even with a 7lb bag, the back of the bike feels really heavy. I am also concerned about punctures with this additional weight on the back wheel as well as being concerned that the weight is all on one side.

Also not sure if the wheels of a Sirrus are capable of handling this sort of additional weight on a regular basis?

Any advice would be appreciated.

I did a similar length commute on my Sirrus, regularly had one very full/heavy pannier and never had any particular problems. And I'm a lardarse too.
So you should be fine.

ForumNewbie

Thanks for all the replies. I've since realised that if I travel a bit lighter, I could fit my stuff into a rackpack that I have. They don't seem to be as popular as panniers, but as it sits right on top of the rack, it seems to me like the bike would be better balanced than with one pannier - but then again maybe it is best having the bulk of the weight lower down at the side of the wheel in a pannier rather than on top of the rack. What's your views on rackpacks?

The heaviest single thing that I will be carrying is a thick cable lock and I was just a bit concerned about that weighing down the pannier as it is too awkward to attach it to the frame anywhere.

Norky

ForumNewbie wrote:

What's your views on rackpacks?

Fine things. Slightly higher centre of gravity than panniers, but if we're talking a few kilos at most I should not worry too much. Single pannier having the weight on one side should hardly be noticeable either. Try one on one day, the other the next, I'd be surprised if you noticed a great difference if you're travelling light (change of shirt, pants and some lunch, that sort of thing?).

dilemna

ForumNewbie wrote:

Thanks for all the replies. I've since realised that if I travel a bit lighter, I could fit my stuff into a rackpack that I have. They don't seem to be as popular as panniers, but as it sits right on top of the rack, it seems to me like the bike would be better balanced than with one pannier - but then again maybe it is best having the bulk of the weight lower down at the side of the wheel in a pannier rather than on top of the rack. What's your views on rackpacks?

The heaviest single thing that I will be carrying is a thick cable lock and I was just a bit concerned about that weighing down the pannier as it is too awkward to attach it to the frame anywhere.

If it's that combination cable lock in the pic - ditch it as they are crap. Your bike would be more secure if you used a cheesy string instead. Get yourself a decent Abus D-lock such as a Granit X Plus otherwise your bike might not be there when you come back to it. Infact get two and put one in each pannier, so you can lock front and rear wheels through the frame to a bike hoop, then you needn't worry about balance with weight only on one side as in carrying a single pannier as you'll have one on each side. The best things in life come in pairs ............

Norky

dilemna wrote:

ForumNewbie wrote:

The heaviest single thing that I will be carrying is a thick cable lock

If it's that combination cable lock in the pic

The picture, and presumably the combination lock, is iPete's. I think ForumNewbie is talking about a D/U-lock and cable.

dilemna

iPete wrote:

No problems, especially if my Allez can handle this...



http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12702169

Big front chain ring and largest rear sprocket = premature drivechain wear. There will be another similar gear on the smaller chain ring with a smaller sprocket thus not stretching your chain right across the chain line from one extreme to t'other. If you do this regularly it will prematurely wear your bike's chain, dereillieur, it's larger sprockets and big chain ring unnecessarily. Wear will be a lot quicker if your bike routinely carries a heavy load. Just a tip to help you increase the longevity of your bits .

Nice bike though.

dilemna

Norky wrote:

dilemna wrote:

ForumNewbie wrote:

The heaviest single thing that I will be carrying is a thick cable lock

If it's that combination cable lock in the pic

The picture, and presumably the combination lock, is iPete's. I think ForumNewbie is talking about a D/U-lock and cable.

Thank you for pointing this out Norky. I wondered who would be the first to notice. Clearly not every one is asleep or bladdered, yet .

Norky

dilemna wrote:

Thank you for pointing this out Norky. I wondered who would be the first to notice. Clearly not every one is asleep or bladdered, yet .

Working on it. Both the sleep and the bladderedness.

iPete

richardabulmer wrote:

iPete wrote:

No problems, especially if my Allez can handle this...



http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12702169

Nice, i never would have thought an Allez could handle that.

What kind of rack are you using, and how come you aren't using the bosses on the seatstays ?

It was a close call, at a certain weight it becomes quickly un-ride-able so had to be clever with the packing. The rack was a Topeak Super Tourist DX which wouldn't fit around the brakes, which makes mounting on the seat stays near impossible.

dilemna, fair points, it was a one off, it now carries much lighter work loads. Although wear and tear was the least of my worries vs hauling a fully loaded double up the Alps!

ForumNewbie

Norky wrote:

Because the weight was mostly on top of the rack it raised the centre of gravity and made the handling a bit tricky, especially climbing a steep hill on the commute back, however I wasn't worried about the ability of the frame or wheels to bear the load. Having ridden it with a more normal load of one pannier I've never found a problem with balance.

Hi there, thanks for all the advice. I commuted twice this week with everything in a rackpack on top of the rack. Seems more compact and stable to me than a pannier, and the rackpack itself weighs less than my pannier bag. No problems so far, so I think I'll stick with the rackpack unless I need to carry more gear.

Valy

HOLY SHIT!

Allez can take a rack?

... and yeah - that is also a lot of stuff!

OP - just my £0.02.

I dono how the balance may get affected, but if you are worried about a puncture - get some Schwalbe Marathons/Marathon Plus.

Besides, that's what you should have on a commuting bike anyway! :P

ForumNewbie

Valy wrote:

I dono how the balance may get affected, but if you are worried about a puncture - get some Schwalbe Marathons/Marathon Plus.

Besides, that's what you should have on a commuting bike anyway! :P

I tried Scwalbe Marathon tyres on my Audax bike a few years ago and they were way to heavy for it and I immediately changed them. Not sure what they would be like on the Sirrus.

Valy

ForumNewbie wrote:

Valy wrote:

I dono how the balance may get affected, but if you are worried about a puncture - get some Schwalbe Marathons/Marathon Plus.

Besides, that's what you should have on a commuting bike anyway! :P

I tried Scwalbe Marathon tyres on my Audax bike a few years ago and they were way to heavy for it and I immediately changed them. Not sure what they would be like on the Sirrus.

Yeah they are quite heavy.