Views on Beam / Seat post racks please

Drummybuich

Hi, I am planning a r'elatively' fast LEJOG next year - 6 days with overnighting at B&Bs and with friends. Obviously I want to travel as light / fast as possible so would prefer to take my carbon race bike (Canyon Ultimate ) over my heavier "other" bike (Planet-X Uncle John)
The only way that would be possible would be to swap out the carbon seatpost and fit a beam / seatpost rack. Can you use these rack on a carbon frame? Has anyone got experience of using these for multi day tours / LEJOGs etc? Any problems with these? Am I setting myself up for a fail and would be better off with the Planet X bike and a regular rack?

andymiller

Bear in mind that the maximum weight limits are fairly low (10kgs?) and the weight is relatively high up. If say you were literally carrying just a washbag and a set of evening clothes it might not be too much of an issue. But is the weight saving from taking the carbon bike really going to make that much odds?

wasp707

I've used a Delta Postporter in the past for lightweight touring with no problems. The last time was a 2 week touring trip in France.Probably carried about 6-7kgs on it. Used on an alloy frame so can't comment on compatability with a carbon frame. Make sure you pack light and you shouldn't have a problem.

GyatsoLa

Beam posts are in general heavy and lack stiffness. I think there are much better options.

I'd suggest a 'proper' rack that can fit onto a light road bike - Tubus do very light racks like the 'Fly' with attachments for bikes without rack eyelets (see the accessories list)

http://www.tubus.com/Tubus_Katalog_2012.pdf

If you can go lightweight, and don't mind spending a bit, there are custom makers of high quality seatpost mounted bags along with bar bags which have a very good capacity, and allow you to spread the weight across the bike much better:

http://theporcelainrocket.wordpress.com/

andrew_s

Ye olde traditional saddlebag works better than beam racks, and carries more.

Here's mine with camping gear.

amaferanga

I did a 4.5 day LEJOG on my Kuota carbon bike with a seatpost rack and an Agu rack bag. I used this Pletscher rack, but I got mine from Decathlon and it was only about £15! I'm certain it's exactly the same rack.

It worked well - just enough room for the bits and pieces I needed (though I wish I'd taken more contact lens solution and my specs with me - got an infection in one eye so couldn't put my contact in for the last 2 days which made it interesting to say the least)). I had no issues whatsoever with stability. I did swap out my carbon seatpost for an alu one though just to be safe.

pdstsp

Did a longer (11day) LEJOG this year with a bontrager seatpost rack and travelled very light - under 4kgs in compression bags. Felt a bit top heavy getting on the bike in the morning and was a little careful on the first few descents until used to the weight but had no problem.

flester

I was behind someone using a beam rack recently. With quite a small bag on it ( we were on an overnight trip), the bag/rack seemed to waver around way too much. I'd imagine all that movement would fatigue the rack or the seatpost way too much and cause one or other to break. Might have been a cheap rack though.

amaferanga

flester wrote:

I was behind someone using a beam rack recently. With quite a small bag on it ( we were on an overnight trip), the bag/rack seemed to waver around way too much. I'd imagine all that movement would fatigue the rack or the seatpost way too much and cause one or other to break. Might have been a cheap rack though.

Surely that issue would be easily solved by better attaching the bag to the rack (e.g. by adding a bungee cord or two)? As well as using my seatpost rack for LEJOG, I used it for commuting for over a year and nothing broke (nor did I ever think anything was going to break).

Drummybuich

Cheers guys - a lot of useful information here. I'll let you know what I decide to do..