A typical commute for me would involve carrying a pack on the rear rack, and having the ability to put some shopping in some folded grocery panniers.

Of the 3 bikes I've done this with, all have had issues with heelstrike on the panniers.

So I've been looking a bit, and it seems like beefy touring bikes are the only ones with long enough chainstays. Do I really need to get a touring bike just to avoid heel strike? My feet are size 9 and I'm 5'7", so below average size.

The Salsa Casserole looks good - it seems to be tuned for a pleasant unloaded ride. But I can almost guarantee the 425mm chainstays would be too short. So I'd have to forgo the nice ride for something like a Long Haul Trucker or Vaya. Not that those aren't sweet bikes. They just don't seemed tuned to an occasional grocery pickup on the way home, like the Casseroll would be if the chainstays were long enough.

The Specialized Tricross looks good too, but again I would like longer chain stays!

Even with the smallest commonly available cranks, 165mm, I think the Casseroll and Tricross will have heelstrike issues, especially on flat pedals and normal shoes which is how I ride.



So, I have a two part question here. Firstly, can you think of any long chainstay road bikes that would match my criteria?

Secondly, (posting my dreambike spec here), does something like this exist?

Vertical rear dropouts and eccentric bottom bracket, 450mm or greater chain stays, rack and fender mounts, at least a rear disc brake, not a heavy tourer? The vertical dropout is for a rohloff I have built on a mtn bike, but would like to put on an everyday all weather commuter.

Thanks!

IMHO, best option, I also attached the geometries for you:

The City by Tout Terrain (check out the "brifters" that run the Alfine)

https://www.en.tout-terrain.de/bicycles/the-city/

How about:

acidfast sure has posted a great looking bike!
I have a Trek 7.5FX disc which has 445mm chainstays, a Topeak Super Tourist disc rack and Axiom Cartier bags. I never have any heel strike problems and I wear a size 13.
I also just noticed that Trek does not offer the 7.5FX disc for 2013, looks like they replaced it with a new model called CrossRip which looks just like mine except the CrossRip has drop bars.

For the first part, you don't need a bike with longer chainstays, but you might need a longer rack that works with your panniers. Although I have an LHT with the long chainstays, I still had problems with heel strike with my old trek rack. Now, the new bontrager backrack deluxe I have allows me to put the load waaaayy back. The Jandd Expedition rack also has a long top rails to allow the panniers to sit way back but it's a pricier rack than the bontrager I have.

----

Now, if you're just looking for someone to tell you you need to get a bike with longer chainstays because you want an excuse to buy a new bike: you need a new bike with longer chainstays!

I forgot about the Tout Terrains! I think their Silkroad is the prettiest bike I've ever seen. I do like the integrated rear rack on the City, will definitely take a look at this.
JC Koto, thanks for the idea on extending the rack. I've always had bike shops put them on (most of them involved some nonstandard clamp work and I'm not very mechanically inclined / don't have a lot of tools and parts) and assumed that they were where they should be. But your example of heelstrike with the LHT really illustrated that it's not always chainstay length!

2 Piece, part of the problem is my insistence on grocery bag panniers. They don't have any cutouts or allowances for the foot; they are simple rectangles. But I love their versatility.

Aadhils, I thought about that but realized if I needed to carry that much I would save it for the weekend and maybe get a trailer for the bike, rather than go the Xtrycycle route

Thanks folks.

I agree. I find "The City" a very interesting bike, to say the least.

I'm trying to save 0.01€ from every km I ride (in a glass jar, no less) and buy a Silk Road when my current bike breaks (I also take all bike purchases out of the jar, so that keeps me honest.)

I think a loaded Silk Road is the best bike I've ever seen (you guys ... assuming US ... can now get them much easier from Peter White, it seems). When I have the money saved, I'll take the train down to Freiburg and pick up the assembled Silk Road and do a small Swiss/France loop back to Frankfurt.

I'm off to commute into work ... and to drop some more cash in the jar

Good luck with your hunt

^^^^^ This ^^^^^

I have a bike with 410mm chainstays, 175mm cranks, and I wear a size 48 (13½) cycling shoe. Even with my Arkel Shopper grocery panniers, no heel strike.

It's all in the rack. I've run a Jandd Expedition and currently have the Bontrager Backrack Deluxe.

But if you want a new bike, buy a new bike. There's no need to make justifications.

Anyone with the above mentioned Bontrager rack care to take a couple of quick measurements? Like the length of the platform, length of the side rail, and how far back from the front the side rail starts?

Never could justify swinging the $80 or more for a Jandd Expedition, but I might be able to on the Bontrager...

This diagram is with a 52cm LHT with 26" wheels and the small backrack deluxe. The large and small versions of the Bontrager backrack deluxe have the same platform and rail dimensions, but the small version sits back on the bike a bit further. You can clearly see how far the rack sits back over the rear wheel.



The top rail is 15" long, the bottom rail is 12.5" long and the top of the rack is about 5.5" wide. I forgot to note in the picture, the bottom rail starts about 4" behind the forward lip of the top platform. I thought the other measurements might be of use to someone since I wanted them when shopping but they weren't available at the time.

For the record, the bottom rails work very well with Arkel's pannier mounting system but the upper rails don't work so great since the aluminum brackets Arkel uses are slightly too tall. I don't know how this rack would work with other pannier mounting systems, but I wouldn't anticipate any serious problems.

Does similar to fitting a Tubus Logo rack on ,

NB: if you shift the mounting points on the bag forward

the bag moves further back..

^^Thanks for that^^. Now I just gotta figure out if I want the L or the S. According to the product specs, it says I should go with an L because my frame is a 22" one. However, with 26" wheels and 16.3" chain stays, I'm wondering if the S wouldn't make more sense.

Longer chainstays help distribute weight between both wheels. Shorter ones can fit panniers, with a good rack, but it will all be on, or even behind the rear wheel axle. That is less than perfect. But it does work.

I see quite a few Cargo Bikes (XtraCycle.com) Long Tails chained up outside of hipster havens in DC. Look sort of goofy, but really practical if you live in the city and don't own a car.

EDIT: I actually see the Cargo Bikes/Xtra Cycles Free Radical Bolt On extension a lot more than the Long Tail. I just poked around the site and saw that Long Tail is a complete bike and Free Radical was bolt on

You just need a rack where you can set the bags further to the rear. Have you looked at the Salsa Vaya? I bought it vs the Casserole and I love it I was going to change the tires (came with Cont Sport Contact 37mm) to like a 32mm tire or maybe even a 28mm but the bike is plenty fast with the Sport Contact, and it has a smooth comfortable ride on rought roads

You could use a trunk bag or smaller front panniers on the rear rack. Shifting the weight back too far can result in shimmy.

Touring bikes ride just like any other road bike, except for the tires. So get yourself the touring bike you're afraid of, put some spiffy 28s on, and have fun.

Ortlieb panniers works great for me. I can adjust where it hangs on my rack. Which means no heal strikes!

I have an identical bike size with a cheap Axiom rack. 70mm cranks with size 9.5 US shoe. Loads of clearance.


Have you considered getting a walds or two and mounting them farther back on the rack? This will make the bike rather squirrely if you have an upright riding position.

Also, Why not use a touring bike? Yes it's heavy to carry up and down steps (which I do every day : P) but on the road they're very comfy. Weight is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. . . at least when it comes to commuting. There's something awesome about riding around a "tank" too.

There's also the Kona Minute - lots of room but not as long as an xtracycle...

Schwinn Trailway sold at Target. It has a 450 chainstay; has a huge turning radius the first time I road it. Then again, it's probably a little heavier than a touring bike, unless you upgrade out the heavy parts.

If you find one at a Target that has been assembled incorrectly, like the fork is backwards, you can haggle for up to 20% off.

450mm chainstays, disc brakes, lots of braze-ons, very stable, mtb spacing, good tire clearance.

So many options! Thanks for those. Even though it is primarily a commuter, my longest projected ride is 102 miles, and I would like to be able to take it with me on tours. I just did about 600 miles in the Netherlands on a rental and my right hand is still numb 6 days later from the lack of hand positions. I'm thinking not going with the Rohloff to drop the weight by 2 pounds or so.

The upcoming Travel Vaya looks saa-weet! I like that Kona Minute too. So many bikes, so little money

I ended up getting a Salsa Casseroll frame off of eBay. Using the rack suggestions above I think I will be ok! Thanks folks.

Might be a stupid suggestion (coming from a guy whose newest bike is from 1994) but what about an old cromoly MTB? I look at my GT Outpost, and there's inches of space between the seat tube and tire. Might be an idea to take a look at something like that.