Topeak Roadie vs Beamrack?
 

Hey guys,

I have a '95 Trek 750 I tossed a Topeak MTX rack and DXP bag on, and love it. I want to use my road bike for commuting a bit, and want to be able to toss my bag on. Which Topeak rack would you use for my '88 Schwinn Prelude? I've used a cheapo seatpost rack before, and it swivelled all over the place, though I may have just not known what I was doing at the time.

Roadie:
Topeak® Cycling Accessories ? Products - Roadie Rack, Black

Beamrack:
Topeak® Cycling Accessories ? Products - RX BeamRack w/side frame (V-Type)

The Roadie looks like it wouldn't have swivelling problems, but it looks fairly fragile and mounts at the brake bracket. The Beamrack mounts on the seatpost, but that's it...

Also just noticed that the Roadie only lists compatibility with the Trunkbag EX, the smaller bag. Anyone that can verify this? The plastic things on the down-legs seem like they would hold the bottom straps for the panniers, but pics only tell so much...

RX and MX are not compatible. I tried to do what you want to do but the MTX compatible beam racks had too big a clamp. I ended up going with an Arkel randonneur rack and picked up an old trunk bag from craigslist. Rack is secure but I miss the easy clip-on/off of the topeak system.

IIRC, the RX bags will fit on RX and MTX racks, but the MTX bags will only fit on MTX racks. This is to allow use of any bag (RX or MTX) on the heavier duty line of racks (MTX), but to disallow use of heavier duty bags on the lighter duty RX racks as to prevent overloading to the point of failure.

Thanks guys, that really clears things up for me. Kept me from finding out the hard way!