If cost is not an object, and since you're building it up yourself, you could very easily order the frame plain/unfinished and paint it yourself or have an auto shop professionally paint it in whatever color and finish you want. Should cost very little compared to a full car, especially if you give them the bare frame to start with.

Imagine having your bike painted in Mazda Soul Red, or Ford Mystichrome?

Heh, interesting suggestion. :twitchy:


Cost is still a factor, just not the most important, or otherwise I would go with XTR gear over XT gear. :p


Also I like the notion of going with the stock colour the manufacturer paints the bike, rather than change it, if the colour is to my liking.

Suit yourself, mystichrome/chameleon paint is awesome on a bike! :)

Hah! You'd get a kick out of an old thread in which I was contemplating purchasing a rack and trunk bag and spent what seemed like a year going back and forth with different models, finding something wrong with everything. I drove the folks here at the forum crazy. Finally, someone said something like "Stop whining, buy the Topeak, and shut up!" That was the best advice I have ever gotten on this forum!

Another vote for the Topeak. Although I sometimes use the Topeak top bag, most of the time a pair of Ortlieb panniers do the trick. For big shopping trips, I add the Topeak top bag, and a pair of Thule front panniers (no mount points on my bike up front, so I have a Thule up front). The special topeak connector works well; but I like to pack more in the panniers than would easily fit with the topeak (so I went with the top bag only, no stealth panniers). Arkel's connector is better than Ortlieb (and I've got a lovely older Arkel backpack pannier). But I bought nearly all my panniers used, and hardly anyone sells their Arkels ... Orlieb is next best, followed by Thule. My Timbuk2's are lovely bags, but the connectors keep breaking.

I'm excited!

USPS will arrive by 8:00pm for item XXXX28969009038306YYYY. Latest status Out for Delivery 02/20/2018

Now I'm depressed.

The bag showed up and the zipper that allows the main compartment to expand is damaged. I don't see a way to fix it. I've contacted the seller and I'm sure it will be taken care of, but now I have to reassemble the box, tape it up, drop it off to the shipper, etc.

Booooo!!!!!

That said (and you're going to want to punch me for saying this after the fact), the zippers on the Topeak bags are definitely not the best quality out there. It hasn't been a problem for me because I go very easy on my gear. Others who tend to really beat on their stuff have had Topeak zippers fail.

I know you're disappointed in the Topeak right now and you might even be questioning your decision to buy it, but trust me, this isn't a deal-breaker! If you bought from Amazon, they will probably ship you a new one and pay the shipping for the return. If not, hopefully the company that sold it to you will handle the return just as professionally. They really should have noticed a bum zipper before shipping the item!

I'm hoping they handle it as well. If not then I'll get Topeak involved and let them know they have a seller who is damaging their reputation.

So.....what happened?

It's on the way back to the seller. When they get it they will issue a refund. Then I'll start over again with an order. I'll have it all ready to go so when I see the funds I'll pull the trigger.

Next week is when I was going to do a shortened commute so it would have been nice.

Always got on well with the Topeaks, upgraded to a Tunis on my tourer, their guarantee is wonderful!

I'm paraphrasing the below. It was long and drawn out and very frustrating. It was almost "Would you like some water?" "Sorry sir, I don't like flying in planes." And so forth.

"You can return it, follow the directions sent ..."
"I did and none of the six locations I went too can handle the size of my package" <-- Snicker

"OK I've ordered a replacement, keep the old one. go look at your orders"
"That's the wrong product"
"Thanks! Is there anything else I can help you with today?"

Wash, rinse a repeat a few times, with corrects and "I don't understand, sorry..." here and there... You can return it, sorry wrong thing, please check oh sorry not that item, I thought, etc.

Finally ...
"Oh that product can't be sent an automatic replacement you will have to send the product back, follow the directions ...."
"**Response removed for decency**"

"OK I will arrange for pickup from your home...."

"Waaaiiiiiitttttt a minute, I could have had this picked up from my house?"

" more stuff ..."

I have two MTX Explorer racks - one disc, one regular. The only issue I have is that they barely allow clearance for fenders. Maybe it's my bikes? I don't think so.

I didn't use any MTX accessories for a long time, then my wife bought me the basket. I use it on quick runs to the grocery store. It's quite convenient to shop with.

I'm not sure WonderMonkey mentioned fenders, but I agree that the rack is set kind of close to the wheel. For your own info, I have seen extenders that enable you to mount the rack substantially higher, leaving room for your fenders.

I’m a big fan of the Tubus racks, I have a Logo Evo on my ANT and I had a Fly Evo on my previous Bianchi.

It’s probably overkill for what I carry but I know if I really have to load it up the rack will be up to the task.

WonderMonkey: Sorry you are having so much trouble with your vendor. Amazon would have bent over backwards to fix the issue.

Still, when this is all over and forgotten, you won't be sorry for having chosen the Topeak system

Online gear that comes damaged is outrageous. Trying to pass on a problem to you. Even reputable companies are doing it. I ordered some cycling bibs from Performance Bike and they came with the original tags removed, which raised my suspicions. Sure enough, the pad was stained with bodily fluids. Someone obviously returned them used and soiled.

I've not thought about fenders just yet. When I do, no doubt it will be a massive effort in research, buying, them not working, me throwing them across the road, going to get them, and then just not using any.

This WAS Amazon! Normally things go very well, but not this time. I take it as the exception. Generally, I am VERY pleased with Amazon.

Crap! I must have missed that post! I've never had any problems with Amazon and returns.

Anyway, the good news is that we tend to forget these bad experiences once we are out there on the road, listening to our work keys jingling in the pannier behind us.

Yes it's all minor in the scheme of life. This coming week is sketchy for weather and I'll probably just do some opportunistic lunch rides to build my miles up a bit, so it's all good.

So what the heck is up with your replacement Topeak bag? This seems to be taking forever!

The scheduled pickup didn't happen. Amazon rep rescheduled it for today but I don't know if it happened until I get home. When it makes it way back to "wherever" I'll get notified and they will release funds. I'll then order another or see if my LBS has it in stock.

Just as a warning, when I do get the replacement I expect the longest and weirdest stretch of weather that has ever been witnessed, just to keep me off the bike. I'm going to apologize to us all in advance.

Yeah, we've had temps 20 degrees above normal in New York, and even one day in the mid 70's and sunny. I should have gotten on the bike that day, because there's been nothing but rain and gloominess ever since. Later this week, the forecasters are looking out for a Nor'easter that could dump several more inches of rain on us.

Update: It is 7:23 pm and the package has not been picked up yet. I've had packaged delivered later than that so I'm not declaring it abandoned today.

No pickup. Contacted amazon via chat and the rep let me know that no pickup was scheduled for Friday or Monday. I have chat transcripts that say it was, yet nothing was actually done. So .... six places to dropoff attempted, none could take it. Two "apparent" pickups scheduled. In the end they refunded my money, against normal policy.

Yet ... they refunded my entire order, and the bag was just one of three items on the order. I got back on chat to tell them and they won't break it out. Though I am happy with the refund on the bag, I didn't want the extra money.

Take the extra money. You will probably need it to buy the bag in a retail store.