Jim from Boston

Sorry to , but you tell that dismal story well, and I hope you can laugh about it now. Other than that, as did we, I hope you had a good trip.

("Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?")

noglider 

It was the trip of my lifetime, of course. When the idea to travel occurred to me, I thought my father would tell me it was a stupid idea. Instead, he said it was an excellent idea. He also gave me some money to add to my savings. He told me to go with no itinerary and to travel until my money ran out. He said he would put me up when I got back. He said never again in my life would I have the unbounded time and the money to travel in this way. I was 20 and didn't appreciate that last point, but of course he was right. My mother also gave me some money.

Really, the flat tires didn't get me down that much. Neither did the incessant rain, the loneliness, the money worries, or anything else. I gained great wisdom and have great memories.

Sorry for the thread hijack. I hope it has been amusing to the others here.

Bike Gremlin

Interesting story.

Wasn't it more convenient to just patch a flat tube, than change? Is there a reason not to do so? Asking because I usually need around 10 more minutes to patch a tyre, instead of just changing the tube. That leaves me with a whole spare tube in case I get a flat during a rainy night - in those occasions changing the tube is the way to go for me.

noglider 

That makes sense for clincher tires. I was riding tubular tires. They use a differently shaped rim. The tires are shaped like tubes. They are held shut with stitching, and there is base tape over the stitching. The tire is glued to the surface of the rim. There is no bead in the tire. When I got a flat, I just ripped the tire off the rim and put a spare on. There was residual glue on the tire and the rim that I was, in theory, safe, though some won't take that chance. Changing a tubuar tire is actually faster than changing a clincher inner tube.

Fixing a tubular flat takes a long time. First, you have to find the leak. The puncture might be in one place, but because the tire is entirely closed, the air might leak out of the tire somewhere else. I don't remember if this happened to me ever, but if so, not many times. Then you peel the base tape off the stitching in the right place. It's hard, because the glue is strong. Then cut the stitching. Then pull part of the tube out and patch it. Then stitch the tire back together and glue the base tape on. Then remove the spare tire from the wheel and glue the freshly patched tire onto the wheel. Do this by applying glue, waiting 20 minutes, then putting the tire on. Wait overnight for the glue to dry.

Leebo

Look at a large sized frame bag, fits inside the main triangle. Revalate makes some good ones. You could also use a handlebar bag or a larger bag that hangs off the back of the seat. Or just get a used commuter bike and make life easier.

snow_echo_NY

i've carried stuff on a road bike in a lightweight backpack and not filling it with too much to a messenger bag in the winter for carrying more stuff. definitely prefer less weight but i think the messenger bag does a nice job of carrying a lot and doing it well while riding. we have the ones that have the stabilizing strap to keep it centered on the back.

mtk

Of course, panniers. But I recently started using stuff from Velo Transit/VenTerra, and it's breathable/comfortable. So I might be solely dependent on that for a while.

CliffordK

That may be a point. Back in the 70's and 80's, there were some pretty low quality town 10-speed bikes, and, some very nice racing bikes, but not much in between. Perhaps a few touring specific bikes, but I never saw them.

Anyway, the steel frame racing bikes could have a rack mounted, and were good for moderate loads.

I'm not sure about racks on CF bikes, but now there are plenty of quality aluminum, titanium, and steel bikes available that perhaps it is best just to get a good general purpose bike rather than adapting a CF bike to do what it isn't built to do.

lunacycle

I was going to suggest getting a backpack...

I was always a messenger bag guy, and I thought I hated backpacks, until on a whim I bought a Banjo Brothers backpack last summer, and man, what a difference! It's cavernous, has a removable waterproof liner, and fits a rider's profile. My commute is about 20 miles each way, and I don't even notice it on me anymore.

I also commute on a road bike.

kengrubb

I have a rack and fenders on my '86 Schwinn road bike. There are eyelets on the dropouts, but no braze-ons on the seat stays. As such, the rack attaches to the seat stays with rubber coated clamps. Don't think I'd load it up with 150 pounds and full panniers, but I ride with a single pannier bag with upwards of 25 pounds in it.

old's'cool

While I prefer "touring" geometry bikes for commuting, there's no reason that a bike with typical road geometry can't be made to do the job [i.e. of carrying cargo], on demand. Regardless of geometry, I prefer to distribute the payload, and bias it forward, as much as possible, in order to move load away from the weaker, more heavily loaded rear wheel, and onto the stronger, less loaded front wheel [speaking specifically of derailleur equipped bikes here]. Level 2 of my scheme involves procuring or building an extra strong rear wheel, which I have done now for two of the workhorses in my stable.
Here is my 1989 Peugeot Versailles, prior to the rear wheel upgrade project:

PatrickGSR94

I tried a backpack a couple of years ago, hated it.

I ended up putting a Topeak rack on my Felt road bike using a Problem Solvers seat post clamp with rack bosses, and insulated P clamps down near the dropouts. I use an MTX trunk bag with fold out panniers. I can't carry as much stuff as I could with real panniers, but I can carry enough, and it works great. I don't notice any difference in handling, despite the extra 15-20 pounds over the rear wheel.

I do recommend wrapping tape around the lower chain stays where the P clamps go. Over time the rubber around the P clamps can work themselves out of place and the clamps will start rubbing the finish off the frame.

bikemig 

+ 2 (1 + 1) on both points (not touring on tubulars and clinchers have become more flat resistant)

Eric S.

I got this seat post mount rack (Schwinn branded) for $17 at Walmart. Works great on my LeMond, but it's a bit of a tight fit for the Nashbar trunk bag I use. If I had a severely sloping top-tube frame, it'd be perfect.

I bought a separate seat & post to throw it on easily whenever I need it.

CrankyOne

These discussions seem like someone saying that they need to start hauling 1200 lbs of landscaping material to job sites every day but they have a Formula Vee racing kart and don't want to buy something different so how can they do it. It can be done but may result in a lot of unfun.

jsonnabend

Am I understanding this correctly, that you have the Axiom Streamliner DLX disc version mounted on a caliper brake bike? I was thinking of doing that, if it works, to get a bit more width on the top of the rack for a trunk.

- Jeff

bikecommuter13

How much load can you put on that seat post rack? Are the panniers secure enough for bumpy rides? I gather you were touring by looking at the pictures.

bikecommuter13

Before I bought my road bike for commuting, I make sure the bike has rack eyelets. I did some research on the Axiom Streamliner DLX, but someone complained about difficulty of fixing flats.

Not having anything on my body is great. I just focus on controlling the bike, without any burden. I carry any where from 10 lbs to 30 lbs regularly.

Klystomane

Yes, that is my setup and so far it's working.

bikecommuter13

It's the opposite for me. Have a bag on my body affects the handling of the bike.

San Pedro

Topeak makes a quick release rack that attaches to the seat post. I would like one and a bag that goes with it, but I just bought a car and the wife will not let my spend any more money on my bike.

PaulRivers

It's not really that much more difficult, it just means an additional step of taking the bags off the rack before changing the flat. That's it. You take the bags on and off when you start or end riding anyways.

Wilfred Laurier

I found your mistake.

bikecommuter13

Ok. It sounds like I misunderstood the complaint. I thought you had to take out the rack in order to fix the flat. If it were just the bags, then it's no different than my current rack -- I take out the bags and turn my bike up side down, and then take out the tire...

PaulRivers

My brother has one on his bike and that's all their seems to be to it. When you take the lower skewer out the rack no longer has support, so you need to take any bags off of it first. An extra step, but not any huge additional complexity.