Originally Posted by
neilfein
Sounds like you're getting heelstrike on the panniers? Sounds familiar.
Odd on a 20" bike.
One solution seems to be to ditch panniers and use a tall, skinny trunk rack. A taller rack helps. (I started a
thread on just that fairly recently, and the folks here threw me some links that led to a few other links... and so on.)
You could also spend some time going through
this guy's photos. He's got a bit of a frankenFoldingBike, but he's given a lot of thought to racks and adapters for mounting touring bags on a 16" folder. A lot of this stuff adapts well to commuting. (A handlebar bag and a small trunk bag makes for a dandy commuting rig all by themselves.)
On a 16" bike, you have to do all this stuff to even use a trunk rack, but on a 20" bike, I'm thinking it would let you comfortably use small panniers. Anyone here have experience with touring racks?
Thanks for that link. Yes, I had the heelstrike problem this morning. I solved it by moving the pannier bags back to the last hookable space on the rack. This is really my first time using racks and panniers. I've just installed them on two other of my bikes but haven't rode them yet. Racks and panniers are the bomb! No more backpacking for this dude!
This is right on time too since I plan to fold (bicycle) through downtown this Sunday.
Ernest
PS: That tall rack is a good idea. I fixed that heelstrike problem but I like the way that guy pimped his folder. Even has speakers on it.