It's an XL Specialized Sirrus with 700c wheels, and I didn't have to bend the supports at all.

Mine are 700C wheels and my eyelets seem to be in the same place as yours. I don't like the look of these things when bent. I'm really hoping mine will mount like yours.
Thanks for the info.

In the old days before small dig cams, I use to carry a cheap Pentax K1000 on occasional rides. I put it in a handlebar bag and placed some foam padding I cut and taped together to fit the bag and camera, never had a problem. I liked the K1000 because there wasn't anything to worry about breaking being all manual. But today with small dig cams and no moving parts except for the zoom lens feature, are virtually impossible to break riding a bike even if you do crash. All one really needs to do with a small dig cam is to put in a nice small cushioned camera bag, the kind you would carry in your hand, then put it in a plastic ziplock bag due to the possibility of water getting into the bike bag, and your good to go. Or, if your in the market for a new camera, Olympus and Panasonic both make really nice water and shock proof cameras (Panasonic adds freeze protection), no need for cushioning or worrying about water entering the bike bag. I have the Panasonic for that purpose.

dSLR are the only still cameras I have used in the last 10 years or so. Before that, SLR.
I own 6 Pentax k1000. The first one I bought new in '78 or '79. You almost had to pry that camera out of my hands to make me make the leap to dSLR. I still have an absolute love affair with the K1000 and I own dozens of lenses for it. Both my current dSLR are Pentax though they do not compare to the service I got out of the K1000. If it weren't for the exceptional old glass, I would have moved away from Pentax with the first dSLR though I still nail down a good shot every now and then.

North Shore Road where I ride:

Seems I hijacked my own thread. LOL.
Anyway, bicycles are new to me since last May but picture taking is why I'm getting the rack and luggage.

That was a great pic you took, the lighting and exposure was spot on, great job.

I'm not a pro photographer by any means, I bought the K1000 sometime in the late 70's to use on camping and riding and whatever so any abuse I dished out to it would do nothing. Later when I got married my wife couldn't figure out a manual camera to save her life so I eventually I bought a Canon Eos Elan in the early 90's. Both of those cameras work really well, but I like to fiddle with old stuff and have complete control over the settings, so I kept using the K1000 and my wife the Elan. But when Panasonic came out with that shock, water and freeze proof camera I switched. It takes up way less space in my handlebar bag and I don't even have to worry about foam padding or putting it in plastic baggy. Picture taking wise it's not bad, it's not a film camera but for what I do with it it works out great. I think that 35mm film is still the idea format for taking heirloom quality pictures, but dig is great for everything else, and I can preview it and only print the pics I want and delete the ones I don't.

I just wish they made film for my Polaroid 48, especially B & W, that camera took great B & W shots, not so much color, but Polaroid never did make a great color film format.

Disappointed. There is just no way in the world this Topeak Explorer rack is going to fit on my bike no matter how you twist the mounting brackets. Glad I had time to cancel my two trunk orders.

It's hard to beat Tubus when it comes to racks (unless you're Bruce Gordon). I run front panniers on my commuter, and even on dirt roads/trails, I've never had a problem or experienced any handling issues. I started out with a rear Tubus rack, but found that my bike handled better with front low-riders.

Well, as it is, I wasn't able to cancel my Amazon order so I have $147 in rack and trunks I have to return. I can't use a front rack because of the way I have to place my bike in the parking rack at work.

OK. It's been a hard ride but I think I'm going to have a rack and bags soon. I found a seat post adapter that looks nice and I sure it will fit. My LBS has put away a couple bolts for the axle level bolt holes for me as these bolts are smaller than the (sheeez) "One Size Fits All" Topeak bolts supplied. I'm pretty sure it will be a nice looking set up as well.

I've sort of locked myself into Bontrager racks since my favourite quick release trunk bag is one of theirs. My only issue was that you could only use a trunk or panniers but not both.

Until now:


My LBS got the new Bontrager Backrack Deluxe. After they can confirm which size I need I'll go pick one up tomorrow. Separate rails for the Trunk and panniers. Also more room for j-hooks / bungees near the bottom. The lower rails are at the height of the rails on the old rack, so the trunk will sit 1.5 - 2 inches higher.

it's a economy versus longevity thing ..

If you have the Scratch , and need a good way to haul a U lock
TUBUS Locc, is a bigger variation of their Cargo rack
but is made to clip Abus U locks on the inside of the left leg.
Granit is the best locking mechanism Abus offers,
positioned at the top of their price range..

I received an adaptor in the mail yesterday and now have a very sold and very clean Topeak install. I will order the Super Tourer rack, no spring, non disc as soon as it becomes available. I too like the idea of separate bars on the rack.
After two weeks of waiting to get my rack installed, I have to say it looks pretty sharp and is as solid as a rock.

For full rack, the Racktime Addit. It's lighter and cheaper than the Tubus chrome moly racks but you can add a rack top pack like the Arkel Tailrider (there is a new version coming out next year that has expandable panniers).

https://racktime.com/en/rear-carriers/addit



Or, if you can get away without panniers, then the Arkel Randonneur rack. They also will have a new backpack at 2200 cubic inches that will slide onto this rack. That could be a way to carry a fair amount of stuff without panniers.

https://www.arkel-od.com/us/all-categ...neur-rack.html



As far as photography goes, I use my Arkel Tailrider for that. It will take my prosumer body (Canon 40D) and a 70-200 on board no sweat. Would probably also take my pro body (1Dmk3 but haven't tried it).

Here's the link to Arkel's 2012 catalog. Some really interesting stuff in there.

J.