Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
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 run front & rear panniers whenever possible and try and keep the weight down. Only resorting to a trailer when the weight creeps up there. With the kids behind us for at least the next few years panniers are the only option.
Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
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.
I'll look into that as those racks sound good. I am possibly planning on trying my larger, typically rear panniers on my front low mount racks and my smaller front panniers on the back. I'll see how that goes?
Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
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.
Size 11's make that a little tough.
Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
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.
Ya, my thoughts were to run the rear wheel set up as it is for a shorter trip and see how it holds up but I have thought about doing exactly the upgrade you mention.
Full re-grease in the winter plans. Snow will be here in just over a month! Ughhhh!