Wanting a beam rack so that I can occasionally take my rack trunk with a DSLR on my road bike. Usually I just take a pocket camera that fits in my jersey pocket.

Right now I have a mountain bike with a full size Blackburn rack and a large padded trunk, for when the main objective of the outing is photography. It can swallow my 50D with a 70-300 attached and has room to spare.

Port Bolivar by Yo Spiff, on Flickr

I'm going to be doing some longer road rides this year, in scenic areas where having the DSLR along would be nice. Thinking of a beam rack. If it could hold my current trunk bag, great, but a slightly smaller trunk bag would also do if that is necessary. It does not have to hold the camera with the big zoom attached, just a more modest 18-135, along with the roadside emergency items normally in my seat pack. Here's what I want to carry it on:

Celeste by Yo Spiff, on Flickr

I browsed around on Amazon, Performance & Nashbar. Many of the beam racks have negative reviews regarding clamps that don't hold. Any recommendations or feedback? Thanks.

We have a Topeak MTX A-type on our road tandem (we had to get the A-type to go up over the rear wheel, hence we had to get an MTX-series rack). I cannot fathom that the clamp wouldn't hold. I'm a little concerned that you don't have enough seat post height, so you may want to shop in person. You could do an E-type (straight back) and possibly a V-type (slight drop), both of which are available in RX (road) forms. We use an RX-series EXP (I think, it appears to have been discontinued) bag, and it should be fine for a 50D with 18-135 (and a few primes if you were so inclined).

Love the Bianchi!

On the camera carrying, why don't you just get a good backpack, they even have one special made for cameras and gear too.

Look, I am newbie on bicycle and camera, and here is what I carried on a 30 mile round trip. Crazy, but it worked..




That is a camera bag carries like a backpack, with straps around my waist too. That is a Manfrotto tripod case, with an 055X Pro inside, along with the head too. Yes, I carried that in sling rifle style too. In the camera bag I had a Nikon D5100 with 18 x 55 kit lens, and a Tamron 70-300 lens, all safely in the bag.

I had a good outing, I can't take picture worth a dam, but I had fun. Now, what learned from that ride was this. To make the picture taking ride with a DSLR more comfortable, I could carry the el-cheapo small tripod in a case. The el cheapo tripod is way smaller and lighter. Plus, I like to keep my road bikes clean, as you have your Bianchi.. No panniers, baskets, or bags hanging off. Back pack is able to carry everything..

Just my 2 cents..

Carradice bag, bikepacking bag, or some similar large-volume seat bag?

This seat post mounted rack from Arkel won't swing around at all.

A 10 liter/650 ci saddle bag.

But you may have clearance issues with one or the other, if not both, so maybe a handlebar bag?

Used one in the past, but it caused other issues with things like computers & lights that also want to be up there. I do know my seat height is an issue with this. Having a longer upper body and stumpy legs puts me on a frame with the saddle somewhat low. Thanks.

I'll probably go try out the Topeak racks and bags to see how well they work.

I have a Topeak Trunk Bag and I love it. It includes a shoulder strap so you can use it as a walk-around camera bag when you get to your destination. You should have no trouble mounting a regular (non-beam) Topeak Rack if you have eyelets by the rear wheel. The eyelets probably aren't threaded so just use a M5 screw and lock-style nut through the eyelet hole. Use Rubber P clamps to connect the rack up top.

One more possibility- the Revelate Pika. https://www.revelatedesigns.com/inde...=4&ProductID=7

For a person like me that doesn't like bags hang off my bike, I could deal with this one!! Looks like it can carry a lot of volume, and most important it can be taken off and used as a back pack. Also, it is no pernament fixture on my bike. Only thing that is a downer, is the price..