Touring - Bicycle seat rack for light touring

Hi All,

I'm planning to do some light touring this summer (2 day weekend trips). Curretly, I carry my stuff (rain jacket, bike lock, maps, etc.) in a backpack. This works pretty well, but my back gets super sweaty throughout the ride.

I'm using a road bike (I bought the bike last year before I knew anything about bikes) and although it does have braze ons for a rear rack, I was thinking about buying a seat post mounted rack that I could use with a trunk bag to store my gear.

Anyone have any experience with these types of racks? How durable/stable are these? I wouldn't be carrying too much stuff, just a light jacket, a T-shirt, some running shorts, etc.. I found one listed on e-bay,

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160121582520&ssPageName=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX&refitem=160120383994&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refwidgettype=osi_widget

I have used seat tube mounted racks around town and they work OK if the load is light enough. I don't know anything about this particular rack, but some of the Bor Yueh stuff is kind of flimsy.

Nah, I wouldn't get a seatpost rack. They move around too much and can even cause a crash.

Get a good alu rack at your local bike shop-- ask them for the best way to mount it and the hardware to do it. Put your trust in somebody who's mounted a bunch of racks. I can't see your bike, so I can't tell you. Mounting a rack is sometimes harder than it looks, so don't be shy about profressional help.

Take all your gear when you shop for a trunk or panniers--- see it all all fit before you buy it.

And happy riding!
Tacomee

I've tried a seat-post clamp-on rack for commuting. If you're going to use it with panniers, you need one with pannier brackets. The ebay rack does not have them. This limits you to using a rack trunk. This clamp-on rack from Performance is similar to the one I have. (http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=19330&subcategory_ID=2325)

I noticed the rack may have a tendency to rotate slightly. And depending on the size of your panneirs and feet, you may have problems with heel strike. So you may not be happy with this solution. If you have a carbon seat post, using a clamp-on rack is not recommended (may damage the post).

You can use p-clips to mount a conventional rack to a frame without braze-ons. Delta makes them. Nashbar, Performance, and other online vendors sell them, and you can find them at hardware stores (if they are bare metal, use scraps of old inner tubes to protect the bike frame).

Another option is to use a front-fork rack, possibly with a small handlebar bag.

A good option (but total cost may be OK compared to buying panniers AND a rack AND p-clips) may be one of the saddlebags sold for light touring. I have not tried one but they look interesting. Search threads here and in the commuting forum for more ideas.

There is this myth that every bike has always come with braze-ons where appropriate to the type. More comon in the old days was that every object you wanted to mount, from water bottles and pumps, to racks required a messy little metal band of some sort. Custom, or the highest end frames, might have had some braze ons in the past. So don't worry about the fact that your bike doesn't have the BOs. Many racks come with this hardware, or a well stocked bike shop should have it.

I haul groceries around 25-45lbs with a blackburn rack with P-clips since it doesn't have braze ons on the seatstays. P-clips work fine.

I use a Carridice Barley. Its fairly light but I can really stuff it and attached extra loads to the top if I need to and it does not flop around. Its mounted on a small rear rack but the Bagman support attaches to the saddle rails and does the same job. Check out Wall bike or if they are not in stock SJS Cycles in UK has them.

I tried a seat post mounted bag but found it too load limiting.

hi all,

Thanks for the replies. As I mentioned in my original post, my bike already has braze ons in the rear to support a rack, but I was thinking about the seat post rack as an option. However, I like the Carridice bags. I might invest in one - however, I'd have to change my seat out since my current seat does not have the eyelets for the saddle bag straps.

I use a Delta Post Haste with pannier supports seatpost rack. Works great. I've had it loaded to the suggested limit of 25 lbs and had no problems with the thing moving too much. My bag is a sunlite toploader 3 which has drop down panniers. For what you're describing, you'd be fine with a seat post rack and a small trunk bag. I may get another bag without panniers just because the drop down panniers are added weight when not in use and pannier storage pockets are useless since theyr'e already being used. But for my commute, the bag is perfect because I can get a change of clothes and shoes in the panniers and a meal in the insualted main compartment.

You dont need a Brooks B17 to use Carradice. They make some seatpost clamps with QR saddlebag mounts. These are much better than the std seatpost-mounted racks, there is much less metal and the weight is not cantilevered out on the end of a pole.