Buying a road bike with no pannier rack bolt holes

mollymawk14

Hi, I've just put a deposit on a sale Ridley Liz A10 with claris group set for £599. However, my husband made it clear that i could only get a new bike with the option of attaching a pannier rack. I'm wondering if the P-clip option is viable for panniers with items for a week long tour? How lightweight do I really have to pack for this to be an option? The alternative from the shop is that I get a Giant Avail 3 for £650 with the proper mounting holes. What do people think? I need to make a decision fairly quickly.

andy_wrx

You can get beam racks which attach to the seatpost (I'd only put a lightish weight on it as it's mounted high-up on the bike and so will affect the balance - and wouldn't fit at all on a carbonfibre seatpost)

And you can get some which attach via the quick release (which will take more weight, but mean you have to take the rack off if you need the Q/R out eg to fix a puncture)
- these would do for a an occasional tour if that's what you're wanting, rather than being mounted on all year.

Tubus also do some adapters, basically a plate which attach via the quick release and then you bolt a conventional rack to

mercia_man

I used a Blackburn rear rack with P clips on an early mountain bike in the mid-80s with two panniers and carrying emough clothing for a week-long B&B tour. It worked fine.

ugo.santalucia

What I do is I use a Blackburn expedition one disc rack, which attaches via the quick release skewer (supplied). Then the top attaches to a Salsa seatpost collar which has holes to take the rack... it works a treat and no compromises.
Beam racks are junk, don't bother

jordan_217

Have you tried the Giant? If so, buy the one you prefer to ride.

whoof

ugo.santalucia wrote:

What I do is I use a Blackburn expedition one disc rack, which attaches via the quick release skewer (supplied). Then the top attaches to a Salsa seatpost collar which has holes to take the rack... it works a treat and no compromises.
Beam racks are junk, don't bother

Yes.

alan_sherman

Another Blackburn EX1 disc rack user here. I use P clips for the top fixings (which are not weight bearing, they stop side to side and front to back movement). Very secure, they even come with the copilot child seats (so rated at 20 odd kilos). I use mine daily with panniers holding a laptop, also did a week long lightweight tour.

mercia_man

Another good option is a Carradice saddle bag. Far superior and lighter than a beam rack. You fix it to the saddle by a Bagman support which clamps to saddle rails (as long as you don't have your saddle pushed all the way forwards on seat clamp) or a quick release support that clamps to seat post. The larger size of Carradice saddle bags are big enough for a B&B tour.

Paul 8v

I'm leaning towards this solution for touring at the moment. Can fit most bikes:
https://www.apidura.com/shop/

tangled_metal

Anyone use Alpkit's bike bags? They make frame bags and various dry bags with loops for straps. Those dry bags are designed to strap to handlebars, seat and pretty much anywhere. One version has a dry bag closure each.end for some reason.

They will custom make frame bags for your bike. You give them details of your bike such.as frame measurements and they'll make frame bags that fit your bike perfectly. I believe bike packers find them useful as they're a tidy shape for keeping clear when riding off road. They're cheap but you might have to wait for things to come into stock.

MichaelW

If you are buying a new bike with some touring in mind, then it makes sense to get pannier rack eyelets rather than use one of the many hacks designed for people who forgot about luggage capability at the time of purchase.