Originally Posted by
wphamilton
This is true, you don't really want to put a rack on the lightweight road bike. A backpack with thoughtful design I'm sure works well, but I have in the past gone to some lengths to avoid them on the road bike.
It may be a little off topic since we're talking racks, but a nylon or canvas bag is very easy to rig up as a quick release frame bag and that was my go-to for a couple of years. More recently I've switched to handlebar bags, that I've designed ... but most of my commutes now are happening on the bike with a rack.
Believe me, I've hated using backpacks in the past - most of them trap all your body heat and my back would wind up a soaked mess even after a short ride. The new one I've got is so vastly better that I can't really compare.
That said, I still prefer to put something on the bike instead of my back, but I just don't want to mount anything on my road bike. Maybe a frame bag of some sort would be worth exploring, but it almost seems sacrilegious to put anything like that on such a nice light road bike
Of course, I don't commute on my road bike very often, it's my lightweight fast and fun bike and not meant to be all that practical, I've got a couple of other bikes that fit that bill.