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05-11-09, 11:50 AM
I was wondering if anyone could share their experience with putting a rack on their full carbon road bike.
Last Tuesday I was heading over to a friends place but it was raining off and on and about 60 degrees so I put on all my rain gear - jacket, hood, pants, shoe covers. Once I got going the rain subsided to occasional drizzle. I would have taken off the pants and hood but I couldn't because I didn't have anywhere to put them, so I started to overheat (already had the pit vents open, etc etc on the jacket). I must have made a poor judgment call, because I went to go from the street to the path at the end of someone's driveway and one second I was fine, the next I was down, sideways, and my right arm was bleeding all over the place. I don't think this would have happened if I wasn't overheating and not thinking clearly, and I'm just tired of this bull!@!@ about not being to carry simple important ride items with me on my ride like a rain jacket.
So I'm hoping I could hear from people who have put a rack on their full carbon bike. The two options I'm considering at this moment are the Tubus Fly rack (with adapters) that mounts through the wheel skewers at the bottom and under the rear brake bridge at the top.
http://www.ortliebusa.com/cartgenie/Images/Small/fly.jpg
The other option I'm considering is put a Tubus Disco rack on (comes with wheel skewer mounts installed) and mount it using one of those seat clamp replacement thingies:
http://www.ortliebusa.com/cartgenie/Images/Small/Disco.jpg
http://www.treefortbikes.com/448_333222350411__31.8-Seat-Clamp-with-Rack-Mounts.html
http://www.treefortbikes.com/imgDsp.aspx?fName=ST0684.jpg&tw=300&th=350
http://www.treefortbikes.com/448_333222350411__31.8-Seat-Clamp-with-Rack-Mounts.html
I'm a little concerned with the Fly about mounting a rack onto a carbon fiber brake bridge, about being able to put a trunk bag on the top of the rack securely (don't expect to use panniers), and a friend of mine had a rack with a similar mount and said the rack would sway side to side when it was loaded. However, it is the lightest, least visible, and specifically designed for a bike without rack mounts.
The Disco is heavier, bigger, and a little less svelte looking being mounted (particularly with those struts running from the rack to the seatpost adapter). However, I wouldn't have any worries about getting a trunk bag onto it, or issues with attaching to the carbon fiber brake bridge, or concerns about it rocking side to side because of one mounting point.
So if you have experience, could you please post about your experience? Thanks!
P.S. If you have a response other than "I tried it and here's how it went", I would really appreciate it if you could post it in another thread. I'd like to hear about other people's experiences and what they've used. There's been plenty of discussion elsewhere about how you should buy a 2nd bike if you think you'll ever want to carry anything, or that you can't understand why anyone would want to put a rack on a full carbon bike, or using a seatpost clamp rack or a giant saddle bag, etc etc, but after trying several other solutions I'd just like to hear from people who have tried the rack option. Thanks.
Last Tuesday I was heading over to a friends place but it was raining off and on and about 60 degrees so I put on all my rain gear - jacket, hood, pants, shoe covers. Once I got going the rain subsided to occasional drizzle. I would have taken off the pants and hood but I couldn't because I didn't have anywhere to put them, so I started to overheat (already had the pit vents open, etc etc on the jacket). I must have made a poor judgment call, because I went to go from the street to the path at the end of someone's driveway and one second I was fine, the next I was down, sideways, and my right arm was bleeding all over the place. I don't think this would have happened if I wasn't overheating and not thinking clearly, and I'm just tired of this bull!@!@ about not being to carry simple important ride items with me on my ride like a rain jacket.
So I'm hoping I could hear from people who have put a rack on their full carbon bike. The two options I'm considering at this moment are the Tubus Fly rack (with adapters) that mounts through the wheel skewers at the bottom and under the rear brake bridge at the top.
http://www.ortliebusa.com/cartgenie/Images/Small/fly.jpg
The other option I'm considering is put a Tubus Disco rack on (comes with wheel skewer mounts installed) and mount it using one of those seat clamp replacement thingies:
http://www.ortliebusa.com/cartgenie/Images/Small/Disco.jpg
http://www.treefortbikes.com/448_333222350411__31.8-Seat-Clamp-with-Rack-Mounts.html
http://www.treefortbikes.com/imgDsp.aspx?fName=ST0684.jpg&tw=300&th=350
http://www.treefortbikes.com/448_333222350411__31.8-Seat-Clamp-with-Rack-Mounts.html
I'm a little concerned with the Fly about mounting a rack onto a carbon fiber brake bridge, about being able to put a trunk bag on the top of the rack securely (don't expect to use panniers), and a friend of mine had a rack with a similar mount and said the rack would sway side to side when it was loaded. However, it is the lightest, least visible, and specifically designed for a bike without rack mounts.
The Disco is heavier, bigger, and a little less svelte looking being mounted (particularly with those struts running from the rack to the seatpost adapter). However, I wouldn't have any worries about getting a trunk bag onto it, or issues with attaching to the carbon fiber brake bridge, or concerns about it rocking side to side because of one mounting point.
So if you have experience, could you please post about your experience? Thanks!
P.S. If you have a response other than "I tried it and here's how it went", I would really appreciate it if you could post it in another thread. I'd like to hear about other people's experiences and what they've used. There's been plenty of discussion elsewhere about how you should buy a 2nd bike if you think you'll ever want to carry anything, or that you can't understand why anyone would want to put a rack on a full carbon bike, or using a seatpost clamp rack or a giant saddle bag, etc etc, but after trying several other solutions I'd just like to hear from people who have tried the rack option. Thanks.