Panniers

Paula Bates

Can I put panniers on a Boardman Alloy Comp road bike (the one with carbon forks)?

andymiller

A bit more information will make it easier to answer your questions. Rear panners or front and rear. Does it have any fittings for mudguards? (if not you might be able to use 'p-clips' and a special sort of seatpost clamp (m:part do one).

Paula Bates

Thanks for the response, I haven't bought the bike yet, looking at what to get for end to end, so haven't got the specifics but it would be rear panniers only trying to go as light as poss so probably Tubus fly or such like.

andymiller

Paula Bates wrote:

Thanks for the response, I haven't bought the bike yet, looking at what to get for end to end, so haven't got the specifics but it would be rear panniers only trying to go as light as poss so probably Tubus fly or such like.

The specs talk about 'mudguard clearance' and there do seem to be mountings for mudguards.

It's not the ideal choice as a tourer - something with a triple chainset for example might give you a bit more flexibility - although this should be OK if you are. Travelling light and not too hilly (or you are very fit).

A word on racks. I love my Tubus Fly - it's an elegamt minimalist design and it's a great rack for a city bike and light touring. However racks like the Tubus Cosmo let you mount the panniers a little lower and the lower centre of gravity may well mean better handling - and this advantage could offset the bit of extra weight.

cycladelic

My son has had a few of these Broadman bikes. The older model had bosses on the front forks for a rack - which he fitted okay - and also bosses for a rear rack. He recently told me the new models don't have the front bosses, but if you found an older model somewhere you should be fine. Having said that, like Andy, I don't think they are really an ideal tourer, even though my son did load his up and tour the UK a bit... I was surprised the wheels stood up to all the weight

MichaelW

The Comp seems to have mudguard eyelets but not seatstay rack eyelets. This means that you need a 3-point mount (using the brake or) or P clamps.
The chainstays may be a little short for panniers. You will have to use small sized ones or with a significant heel cutout profile.

If you are planning to fit a rear luggage rack then get a bike with a full set of eyelets. There are plenty of bodges to fit racks, from P clips to seatpost clamp racks but a proper rack (like the Tubus Fly) is lighter, stronger, stiffer and better in every way.

deal

Paula Bates wrote:

Thanks for the response, I haven't bought the bike yet, looking at what to get for end to end, so haven't got the specifics but it would be rear panniers only trying to go as light as poss so probably Tubus fly or such like.

in that case leave the panniers at home

GyatsoLa

You can fit a panniers onto almost any road bike using either a Tubus with their axlemounting attachment.

For attaching on the other side, I'd strongly recommend the M-Part seat clamp, especially for smaller framed bikes:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=19012

The seat clamp means less chance of damage to the stays and a neater 'line' between the rack and attachment.

GyatsoLa

Oh, and I forgot to mention - oldmanmountain racks are also excellent for use on road bikes - they have a built in axle mounting.

Paula Bates

Thanks that's handy to know, I'll get on to it once I've bought a bike-I'm rethinking the Boardman now.

dilemna

Why do people buy road bikes and then want to deck them out as tourers?
Buy something like a Dawes Galaxy, Ridgeback Panorama or Condor Fratello or even a Roberts Roughtsuff instead which are drop handle bar bikes designed for touring and carrying panniers. I don't see the point of buying a superlight road bike with matching geometry then sticking panniers and a bar bag on it.

deal

dilemna wrote:

Why do people buy road bikes and then want to deck them out as tourers?
Buy something like a Dawes Galaxy, Ridgeback Panorama or Condor Fratello or even a Roberts Roughtsuff instead which are drop handle bar bikes designed for touring and carrying panniers. I don't see the point of buying a superlight road bike with matching geometry then sticking panniers and a bar bag on it.

not everyone has the budget/space for multiple bikes.

dilemna

Who said anything about multiple bikes? Just because the market is awash with plastic road race bikes doesn't mean you have to succumb to the marketing hype. 10-15 years ago bike shops only stocked MTBs and how many bought those when they were totally unsuitable for the use they were put to? Go for a decent tourer such as a Galaxy.

Paula Bates

Thanks I'm now looking for a galaxy,

andymiller

I agree about not putting panniers on a superlight road bike, but between the superlight road bike and the dedicated tourer there are a lot of what you could call multi-purpose bikes. A lot depends on what sort of touring you plan on doing and how much etc etc.

Paula Bates

It's for end to end, self supporting, for someone 5'9" according to claculations wants a 53 top tube not that bothered about a bling factor but prfer something that doesn't look like a shed. Looking to spend as little as possible of course! but £600 for somrthing second hand I thought should do it, there's nothing on E-bay which is leaving me a bit stuck. Thanks for the input so far.

andymiller

Paula Bates wrote:

It's for end to end, self supporting, for someone 5'9" according to claculations wants a 53 top tube not that bothered about a bling factor but prfer something that doesn't look like a shed. Looking to spend as little as possible of course! but £600 for somrthing second hand I thought should do it, there's nothing on E-bay which is leaving me a bit stuck. Thanks for the input so far.

One thing to bear in mind is that women (IIRC) have proprtionately longer legs than men (and shorter torsos) - so the calculation might give slightly different resuls. But you're right to focus on top-tube length.

I think people sometimes sell bikes via the CtC and this site. Otherwise maybe Gumtree?

mz__jo

There are a lot of frames now that have rack mounts but still have chainstays too short to be much good as tourers (speaking as someone with size 11 feet who doesn't like the centre of gravity outside the axles, front or rear). If the rear triangle is too short a big old-fashionned saddlebag may do the job (if the saddle is high enough to fit it over the rear wheel) or else fit panniers at the front (this excludes carbon and most aluminium forks) like my french clubmates do. Mudguard eyes are a must though; with them you can usually make something work (with apologies to OMM and Tubus but I like to leave the luggage in place when repairing punctures).
In 40 years cycletouring I have had only one frame with rack mounts, my mtb, and I haven't yet fitted panniers to the back of it.
I appreciate that a lot of female cyclists have smaller feet, thus avoiding the "heel touching the pannier" syndrome this isn't always the case (as my 3 daughters prove).

iPete

Yes, yes you can. There are all sorts of ways to add a rack, I used an M:part seat clamp to get around my brakes that got in the way of the eyelets. At the bottom end you can get QR mounting or P-clips if there isn't standard mounting.

Did 1400 miles in 18 days on this:



Worth noting that if your carrying a tent it could be difficult to place on top of a Tubus fly.

Why buy a road bike and load it up? Cos I owned it already, this thing has crossed the Alps, been to Rome, done the work run, got the groceries and it doing its first Triathlon next month, so why not!

dilemna

Paula Bates wrote:

It's for end to end, self supporting, for someone 5'9" according to claculations wants a 53 top tube not that bothered about a bling factor but prfer something that doesn't look like a shed. Looking to spend as little as possible of course! but £600 for somrthing second hand I thought should do it, there's nothing on E-bay which is leaving me a bit stuck. Thanks for the input so far.

You might consider a Ridgeback Horizon and also Panorama if I am correct. Similar thing to the Dawes Galaxy but a bit cheaper. There is also the Trek 520 but not sure if it has drop handle bars or not. There is also the Kona Sutra which has drops and cable disc brakes but it costs about £1k new. Not sure if any of these bikes come in a women specific size although Trek are pretty good with their WSD range of frames.

How about asking Josie Dew if you can borrow her Roberts RoughStuff? Mind you I think she is a bit shorter than 5'9". Plus she might be riding it as we speak with sprog(s) in tow.

Good luck.

andymiller

iPete wrote:

Yes, yes you can. There are all sorts of ways to add a rack, I used an M:part seat clamp to get around my brakes that got in the way of the eyelets. At the bottom end you can get QR mounting or P-clips if there isn't standard mounting.

[...]

Worth noting that if your carrying a tent it could be difficult to place on top of a Tubus fly.

Why buy a road bike and load it up? Cos I owned it already, this thing has crossed the Alps, been to Rome, done the work run, got the groceries and it doing its first Triathlon next month, so why not!

It's also worth noting that the Tubus QR accessory only works with some of their racks (the Cosmo and the one that's the like the Cosmo but in normal steel).

You can tour on pretty much any bike - but if you're buying a bike with the aim of using it for touring (at least some of the time) then it's worth taking that into account before you buy the bike. At the very least you'll avoid having a lot of faffing.

cycladelic

Here are some bikes on eBay that could possibly fit the bill... depending on your size:

Cannondale hybrid:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Superb-Cannondale ... 2a113c0349

Specialized:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SUPERB-SPECIALIZE ... 1c1c7fb721

Trek Navigator:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Trek-Navigator-T1 ... 1c1c7f6aaa

Marin:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2009-10-Marin-wom ... 1c1c740b27