Any road bikes with rack mounts? Will a rack fit here?
 

Are there a few models or brands out there (hopefully available in Canada) which provide the holes for a rack but on a "real road frame"? Ideally a frame with carbon stays and fork? I'm not concerned about front fender or disc brake mounts, just a method to attach a rack to a road bike.

Would a seat post mounted rack be the only answer if there are no holes provided on the frame?

Essentially I want the speed, and lightness of a road bike, but I want to commute on it for 8km each way.

Also, picture attached is from a 2006 Devinci Amsterdam, a "performance hybrid". I like the frame and all, but I think I prefer drop bars. The spec sheet says there is an eyelet on dropout and seat stay... which hole do you think it is? Any advice on this bike, the local seller is asking 800CAD.

Thanks !

You can mount a rear rack on any bike by using "P" clips at the frame/rack
mounting points. Not to worry, mate. :thumb:

Yes a rack should fit on that. those look like eyelits to me. If they are not, get a rack that is basically clamped onto the seatpost. They aren't good enough for touring and panniers but will do the job for a trunk bag or just to run to the stores or keep stuff on it. 15lb weight limit I assume. Most mountable racks are limited at 25lbs-25Kgs..

Any road bike can take a rear rack. Brazed-on eyelets are more convenient, but you can mount a rack without them. Yes, there are road bikes that have they eyelets. They were harder to find a decade ago, but there are many road bikes in the bike shops now that have them. They won't be the racing or imitation racing bikes though. More like light tourers and they may be equipped with a triple (but that's probably the perfect all-around road bike anyway).

http://www.thetouringstore.com/index.htm

These people have various racks and attachments for this as well.

Has the mounts on the seat stay. Has holes by the drop out so it looks like it is ready for rack. Hard to tell from the picture if they have threads. If they do you need to run a tap though it and clean the paint out of the threads (bike shop can do that for you). Worst case you may need to use a nut.

My current problem is my bike only had one set of holes in the drop out. Got my rack on but I need to figure out a good way to mount fenders that I hope to go get this weekend

If commuting is going to be the primary purpose of your bike you might want something a little beefier than a typical road bike. If road / club rides are going to be the main thing you want to do with the bike, and you also want to do a commute on it then you may want to go with something that clamps onto the seat post (if you aren't carrying too much weight) to make it easy to remove when you just want to ride the bike fast.

If you like the Devincis but want drop bars, try the Caribou. Its a touring bike, has the eyelets, and is a lighter than most touring bikes. It comes with 700x28 tires which I think are great for commuting. I wouldn't want to use racing bike tires for commuting unless your roads are really smooth.

Also keep in mind though you can use P-clamps to mount a rack on any road bike, with the geometry of some of them you'd be stuck using a really tiny pannier or else striking your heel on the bags.

thanks for advice!

I'll try to find something that attaches to seat post. I was buying used, so I only have choices of what comes along, that devinci amsterdam looked pretty good, but I ended up getting a Cdale caad8. I used a shoulder bag today, it was a little sweaty, but as my friend pointed out once, you get sweaty anyway so what's the big deal.

I'd still prefer to use my rack mount bag on something though.

thanks again for tips

Yeah, you may get sweaty anyway, but there's a noticeable difference between carrying a bag on your bag vs attaching it to the rack. Get your rack mounted and you'll enjoy your commute a lot more.

The 2007 Giant OCRs will take a regular rear rack, although the support pieces that attach to the seat stay, where the eyelets are, need to be particularly long. I pirated mine from a Topeak Explorer rack.

I just did an overnight camping trip on my OCR1 with about 30 or 40 lbs of gear on my rear rack. Not exactly the most stable setup, but it worked.

Modern road bikes are extremely strong. Wheels are the only potential weak point. Of more practical concern are the handling and heel clearance when weight gets added. That and the rather tight tire clearance.

I think on a bike you're looking for a seatpost mounted rack is the way to go. Anybody who has much experience with carbon bars knows that Carbon is beastly strong when used as designed but it's really easy to crush and ruin it by over tightening your levers. You could be careful with the p-clips and be OK there but it's tough to know what the load on the side of the tube is going to do to the carbon tube.

I've got a super-light old Aluminum road frame (Alen glued-and-screwed) that I was thinking of mounting a rack to with p-clips but then decided it was a bad (or at least risky) idea. I like the frame and don't want to ruin it. I would guess you'd feel the same way about your new $1000+ carbon frame!

edit: oops, missed that you already bought a bike. My comments still apply.

Chris