FreddyV

I currently ride into work once a week and am in desperate need of some input.

I need to bring my 2 sandwiches, an apple, a banana, a few granola bars, a small computer repair kit, a 'paper planner', bike repair kit, a towel, a pair of pants, a shirt, underwear and socks, a pair of shoes.

It's pretty hard to store my stuff here at work so I need to bring this all in one ride.

Any ideas on how to stuff this onto a road bike without luggage rack, without stuffing everything into a backpack (not too great of an idea for a 50km ride)?

The reason I ride into work only once a week, is that the distance is currently too much for me to ride in more often. The ride is 50km one way. I tried riding into work by car with the bike in the trunk and leave the car at work and ride home by bike. This however doesn't work most of the time as my sister in law lives in the city I work in, and is moving, so I need to do some moving for her as she's currently in a wheel chair.
The amount of days I ride to work by bike, and the fact that I have some trouble not being able to ride as often as I would like to are not up for any further discussion though. It's all about how to get my stuff to work by bike.

CliftonGK1

A large Carradice bag would fit all of that stuff; something like the Nelson longflap, so you could strap the towel on the outside, underneath the longflap cover with raingear if necessary.

Or you could get a seatpost mounted rack and a trunk with drop-side panniers (Topeak makes one.)

tibler3

Hi Freddy,

Why is your sister in law moving?
And why cant u ride as much as you would like.
Hope this helps

Paulo

Rockfish

If you are ruling out ANY sort of rack or backpack, there aren't many options left!
I second the idea of the seatpost-mounted "beam" rack and a rack trunk, or a large saddlebag like the Carradice or other type of seat-post bag.
The only other option is a large handelbar bag, but your bike will probably handle much better with the load in back than hanging off the bars.
Detours makes a huge seat-post bag: https://detours.us/store/seat-post-bags/high-tail-exp/

10 Wheels

Get a seat post rack

FreddyV

I've had a look at the Carradice and it's super nice. If money weren't an issue I'd get one. No doubt about that.
She's moving because she will be in a wheelchair for at least a year. She lives near my work address, which is about 50km away from my home address. She's going to be living with my in-laws because it's easier for her to live with someone who can take some extra care of her when needed.
Every time I end up taking my bike to work in the trunk, I seem to get a phone call, from someone asking me if I can pick up some gear from her home.
Handlebar bag would be a great option as well, even if the handling would be a bit less than normal. It's a commute, not a race I'll have a look at some different types of handlebar bags, to see if there's anything that wouldn't mess up the road bike style too much. Even though it's not a race, I like to keep in style
I think you just gave me enough ideas, even enough room to go camping next to the work address

Rockfish

Awesome, 10 Wheels!
I can see where you sit, and put your feet, but can't figure where your hands go.
There's even stuff strapped to the drops!

tarwheel 

A Carradice bag would do the trick. I've got their smallest bag, the Barley, and it easily holds my lunch, wallet, cell phone, shirt, t-shirt, underwear, tools, batteries and flat repair stuff. You can buy Carradice bags for much less money (and more selection) from the various British on-line cycling stores like Wiggle, Chain Reaction, SJS or directly from Carradice.

CliftonGK1

I got my Pendle from Wiggle and it was dirt cheap. USA sites sell the Pendle for $100+. Wiggle had it for around USD $55, and I added a Bagman support rack plus some little things to make up the $83.00 for free shipping, and it still arrived in about a week!

Koa C.

This and this would be a good but a little pricey solution from arkel. You could bunjee the shoes on top of everything.

no1mad 

I think 10 Wheels approach is a good one, though toned down a bit. Get a handlebar bag and a large seat bag to balance out the load. Banjo Brothers makes a 400 c.i., waterproof saddle trunk.

FreddyV

The Arkel setup looks good, but is a bit pricey as you said.
I do like the Banjo Brothers saddle trunk, thanks no1mad!

illdoittomorrow

Origin8 makes a saddlebag as well... and it's on closeout right now!

https://harriscyclery.net/product/ori...e-bag-3063.htm

illdoittomorrow

Or, if money was less of an object:

https://www.freeload.co.nz/pages/13/The-System

FreddyV

While cleaning out the shed a bit, I found an old rear rack I once bought for my classic road bike. It's a simple Bor Yueh, similar like this one:

I also found the panniers I originally bought with them, as pictured on my other bike below:

I'm not entirely sure yet whether I want to be seen on the road like this, but it would work I think.
I've tried the rear rack on my Giant OCR, and it fits. Need to trim some hex screws to fit it to the bike without obstructing the gearing or risking a damaged rear hub. Did some searching on how to mount the front end of it, since I do some road riding with friends occasionally and want the rack to be removable pretty quick without having to unscrew the rear brake. I've found a clamp that is used for mounting a simple LED rear light on the seatpost, which should be sufficient for mounting the front end of the rack.
So here's the bike it should go on. The blue in the panniers is actually darn close to the blue in the Giant OCR frame

The seatpost has been swapped by a slightly setback one from the Pro PLT series. The bottle cage has been ditched for two similar ones, pretty simple ones from BBB. Handlebar has been slightly tilted downwards to create a bit more slope for resting 'in' the hoods instead of leaning against them.

I'm still thinking about making a handlebar bag myself, kind of like this one; the Barrel from Banjo Brothers:

Maybe I'll get a little frame pouch as well, like this one. Should be pretty good to have both phone and a granola bar within hand reach.

robyr

I'd say a rack and panniers is far classier than any of the other solutions... why in the world would you be worried about "being seen on the road" with a nice setup like that...

FreddyV

That's the result of being verbally abused for being the fat kid for about...... yeah, 20 years. It basically lowers your self esteem so much to a point that your scared of anything. (It's pretty easy to tell here, as we're all quite anonymous)

jr59

Another good plan;
Here is mine.

FreddyV

Love the classic lines and style of the bike. Wish those bags weren't this expensive. Which exact bike and bag are those?

jr59

It's my commuter bike.

It's a Surly Cross Check, debadged (no decals).
I had a 10 speed Campy chorus group laying in a box, so on it went. Along with my old brooks.
Built it with really strong Velocity Dyads on 240 hubs. 700 x 35 rimbo tires.
Caradice longflap, with bagman rack. I keep the full rack on it because when I want panniers I just attach them.


I know it's over kill, and heavy, but it rides REALLY well.
I'm very happy with it, with just the Caradice bag on it. With the full panniers, not so much!

FreddyV

I just mounted the rack and panniers. Was a bit of a struggle as the bolts were in some places too long and obstructing rotating objects. I shortened them where needed and made sure the rack is fixed securely. Looks good right now, so next week I'll have a test run on a dry day. I'm pretty hyped right now, feeling like riding right now, but the rain and wind is just too much right now. Looks like Tuesday/Wednesday next week will be a good combo looking at the weather forecast, but that can still change.

Off to bed now, catch up some sleep.

FreddyV

And with all of the stuff blended together, I got this:

robyr

Looks great!

tarwheel 

Now that is a flashy commuter bike! Looks nice.

chipcom 

Is there some reason why you can't leave at least a pair of shoes, and perhaps your towel, at work?