shane22

I am planning to go on a trip to the South of France from England on my carbon fibre racing bike. I would like to be able to put some of my belongings in a rack and pannier rather than carrying a bag - does anyone have any advice regarding panniers on racing bikes and how much weight you can carry without jeopardising the bike? Thanks so much

Dave Nault

I think I'd look into a BOB trailer that hooked onto your rear skewer and never touched the carbon part of your bike. I have seen that done though the whole thing seems risky. But thats just me.

valygrl

This question gets asked on a regular basis, here's the answer I always give - see post #4, I can't figure out how to link to a specific post.

The site linked in that post also carries Lone Peak panniers, which are a great lightweight pannier solution. I put the Lone Peak p99's (my front touring panniers) on the Tubus Fly rack on my ti road bike and did a short tour in the rockies. any small front pannier should be fine, though. Make sure it's narrow front-to-back or your heels might hit it.

In terms of weight limit - for that rack solution the limiting factor is handling (too much weight in the rear of the bike) and gearing (can't get up the hills) - I'd give it a wild-*****-guess of 15-20 pounds before you're sorry about it, you probably have to do some trial and error on that one. If you are not planning to camp it will be easy to come in under that - I came in at 11 including the bags for my trip.

I would not put a bob trailer on a carbon race bike - the trailer is so heavy, you pay a huge penalty for just carrying it around that you don't need to pay. With road bike gearing and riding in the mountains, it doesn't sound like a good idea. The rack above weighs only a half pound and the panniers are about 2-3 for the pair - so that's about 5 pounds instead of the 15-ish for the trailer & bag.

Dave Nault

The real question is, Does your bike have any eyelets on it or would you be using P clamps to hold your rack on. There is a huge difference between Carbon and TI bikes. The reason I ask that is because my carbon bike doesn't have any eyelets at all which means it was never engineered for anything like racks. I have spent 25+ years manufacturing with Carbon so I speak from experience.
I learn something new everyday but like I said, this seems risky. Not impossible but risky.

nun

I'll play my old record........why not use a saddlebag. There are a couple of options for attaching and supporting one from a non-Brooks saddle. Combine that with a handlebar bag and you can carry a lot.

https://carradice.co.uk/racks-and-att...standard.shtml
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Ca...ag/5360042585/

Dave Nault

Good Idea.

cyclezealot

Steel is real. At least when it comes to touring. Unless you're doing a credit card tour.

Fishy

Axiom makes a rear rack for bikes with no eyelets and short chainstays - the Streamliner Road. It extends back about 4 cm from the axle for a little extra clearance and it mounts to the caliper brake mount. I would never want to clamp anything to carbon fiber, so models using hose clamps made me nervous.

I think I paid about $40.

Randochap

As I point out on my touring bikes page, a racing bike is probably the most unsuitable machine of all for touring. Some of the issues have been pointed out -- short chainstays, no braze-ons/eyelets -- but the drawbacks are many.

You probably can't fit wider tyres and certainly not fenders deserving of the name. Carbon fibre makes it even more difficult, because who wants to put P-clamps on a carbon fibre frame?

Let's not even get into gearing -- which is likely to be wholly inadequate for hauling loads over hills.

It's just wrong.

toolboy

Trailer.

10 Wheels

I rode a 500 mile tour with mine.

nun

This is a very negative reply. My attitude is that the most important thing you need to tour is desire. Then take the bike you have and adapt the way you tour to suit. I just completed a tour on two speed bike with 69" and 39" and had a great time riding and pushing up some 25 % grades. Using a saddlebag and ultralight camping gear you can tour unsupported carrying 20lbs of gear on a racing bike and if you are a strong rider you won't need a gear below 35". A saddlebag and handlebar bag remove the need for islets and the issues with heal strike. Riding 23 or 25mm tyres isn't optimal, but it isn't the worst thing either. My setup for "loaded touring" is a sport touring bike with 20lbs of gear (this includes tent, sleeping bag, pad and cooking equipment), 28mm tyres and 42/26 x 11/34 gearing, 90% of my time is spent riding the 42t ring because I'm not loaded down with 60lbs of gear. Here's a picture of my bike and gear.

LeeG

I can't speak to your specific bike but the lighter the load the better. Look at nuns and 10speeds layout,,don't do panniers but see how you can get the weight centered. Whether it's lots of water in the middle or bags. My buddy and I rode down the coast of California on road bikes with rear racks and small duffle bags strapped to the bars with two 16oz water bottles in the main triangle. If you aren't planning on carrying a tent, cookware,stove and 4changes of clothing you can travel light and fast. I did a few Ca. tours on a steel road bike with a similar setup as nuns but instead of a saddle bag it was sleeping bag/pad/small duffle crammed up lengthwise against the seat and behind my legs. On the handle bars was one small duffle bag bungied on.

It all depends on how much you're carrying,,i'd be mighty shy about clamping on metal brackets onto carbon stays.

snaproll

I used the Fly rack on a 740 mile credit card trip on my CF Cannondale road bike and it worked fine. The weight of the rack pack was about 10 lbs loaded. I'd have preferred a steel frame touring bike with more appropriate wheels and gearing and a little more gear, but I don't have one and wanted to make the trip. I raised the handle bars for the ride and wouldn't do that again. Changing my riding position a few days before a tour with some long days of riding, including a four day marathon of 120, 102, 130, and 125 miles, was a bad idea.

Lake_Tom

Great pic, 10 Wheels, I saved it for future reference. Do you suppose that you could "resize" it to be narrower? As it is, it causes the whole page to run off the side of the screen and I cannot read the text without using the scroll bar on the bottom. thanks

shane22

thanks for all feedback on this - am considering putting some slicks on the mountain bike and taking that with camping gear as a safer option...wil not get the same speed but wil be easier on th ebikes and givs more options to take kit along. thinking the next trip wil deserve a touring bike - fit for purpose! thanks!

monsieuroctagon

My only bike right now is a 85 Simoncini with some hellishly steep-ass geometry. It also has no braze-ons and really low clearance on the fork and seat tube (about 1.5 inches max, all the way in the dropout). Do I have any hope of mounting a rack and fenders to this bike?