Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,334
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
Mentioned: 48 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3523 Post(s)
I assume you do not plan to put much weight on a rear rack and not have a front rack since you appear to have used trailers in the past for most of the load. Based on this, the bike should work well.
I use a Tubus Logo for most of my touring but I recently bought a RackTime AddIt rack and used that for one tour. I really like both racks, but the Logo is the stronger one. They both are quite stiff. Both have lower mounting points that allow you to get the panniers a bit lower.
You should set your panniers so that you have just enough heel clearance. If you have more heel clearance than you really need, that will add to frame flex if you have much weight in your rear panniers.
If you plan to put much weight on the bike, consider upgrading your rear wheel to a cassette type hub instead of freewheel, the axle would be much stronger. I assume this is a 126mm rear dropout spacing, you could probably put a 130mm rear hub in the frame without any problem.
The bike looks old enough that I suggest you re-grease both hubs and the bottom bracket if you have not done so yet.
Last edited by Tourist in MSN; 09-22-17 at 08:46 AM.