It seems pretty much right on topic to me. There is nothing else supporting the saddlebag. This is how Carradice saddlebags were originally designed to be used, many times they would simply rest on the mudguard/fender. Then Carradice introduced the various support racks like the Bagman for bikes with less clearance and also various "lowsaddle" saddlebag versions. I ride a 56 cm bike and the Carradice Camper has a couple of centimeters clearance from the back tire, so it's tight. Mounting without any other support will only work on a fairly large bike. Things like the Bagman have had issues because they do cantilever the load out from the saddle and there are stories of them failing.

The complicating factor in his case is the use of disc brakes on the rear. That requires a rethink on the skewer rack arrangement because of the distance required to clear the disc (if you look at normal retail racks that attack to an eyelet, they have "wings" that move the bottom of the leg out an inch or more).

The alloy post is a simple, cheap and elegant solution.

I don't buy the arguments about too much lever stress on a CF post anyway unless is it rated for 160lb and the rider is 185lbs.

I may have to buy one then, :). I like the design better than the revelate bags. I may run lower riders though up front though. I like the way the bike tracks with the weight down low.

The Revelate saddlebags are smaller than the Camper, which is 23L, but also lighter because they are made from nylon rather than cotton duck. But the Carradice saddlebags better bits of luggage, IMHO because the big flap and opening lets you get at stuff easier. The bikepacking design is better if you are going off road though. If you are using panniers up front a Nelson Longflap (15L) will probably be plenty large.

I can use google too
http://brokenbikeparts.com/wp-conten...n-seatpost.jpg

I admire your setup. do you sleep in hotels?

my personal philosophy is to go lightest I can with the cheapest most disposable stuff, and still have a tent and stove.

Go see Post 171 in your other thread. Tent and cooking gear and all.

that is dope
http://previews.123rf.com/images/vec...-emoticons.jpg

Yes I sleep in hotels, and with warmshowers hosts and in my sleeping bag inside my tent. There is a Tarptent Contrail, NeoAir sleeping pad, Exped pillow and Montbell down hugger sleeping bag in the saddlenbag......plus some other stuff.

but still, I'd like to have the convenience of a rack.

Wish I could put these in my signature...

oh, that's some high dollar lightweight gear. that's where I'd branch off to get something cheaper. my gortex bivy/klymit pad/generic air pillow/blanket/sleeping bag costs probably less than $200 together, and weighs around 5 lbs. without the alfine 8 shifter clogging up the front, I could probably put the sleeping gear on the bullhorn handlebar, kind of like yours, to help distribute the weight

A bivy or tarp are pretty inexpensive, but getting a sleeping bag that's light and compressed really small is still expensive.

If find racks to be inconvenient. They get in the way when you have to take a wheel off and just add weight. They are a real pain when you travel by plane or train with your bike. Also needing a rack limits the type of bike you can use.

on a long tour, when there are many miles in between cities, and you have to carry food extra food for camping, how do you manage to do it?

the big plus about a rack for me is that it provides a nice platform to strap things, and to me, that's worth the extra pound

I eat in restaurants when I can, but I carry food in my handlebar bag. The larder that I always have is

Couscous
2 x Ramen
4 x instant oatmeal
Energy bars/candy
Dried fruit and nuts
Earl Grey tea bags

this is enough food (once hydrated) to keep me going for 2 days.

in jersey pockets usually bananas or apples and more energy bars.

If there's a long stretch without resupply I'll add tortillas, cheese and salami which I stuff in the food bag in my handlebar bag.

If I stop at a supermarket at night I carry bigger items like cans of soup, beans, pizza etc under the saddlebag longflap. I have also use that method to carry a couple of extra liters of water. There's also room in the handlebar bag for a small bottle of soda, but that generally just goes in my back jersey pocket along with the candy and bananas. If I need even more carrying capacity I have a 2oz nylon backpack.

I suppose you could strap anything around the saddle bag with a bungie cord... how would you strap a pizza box on there though?

have you ever considered using an expedition support? also, aren't those slits coming off of the saddle usually made of plastic or something soft? are they up to the task of supporting a 20 lbs load for an extended period of time?

Make your own quilt. There are kits, but you can just tape the perimeter together and use a tagging gun for stabilization, or the yarn bits. One of the ideas behind quilts is to make them somewhat disposable so that when the loft starts to be lost you toss them. Not really how I roll, but they have a point. Quilts are less likely to wear out anyway, since you aren't lying on them so if you don't like that idea, it isn't required.

I don't really buy the whole tarp thing, and then Jardine got really ill with lime disease. But a very simple single wall tent is pretty much the same weight.

Of course you can. My point is that carbon bicycles & bits are NOT overbuilt. Once you get outside of their intended design purpose, which is lightweight racing, you're looking at higher rate of failure. Also to reiterate my position: the material carbon-fiber could be used to overbuild an awesome touring bike. BUT the repurposing of racing bicycles to carry loads (excluding rider) is problematic especially over time.

The loops at the rear of Brooks saddles are metal and form part of the framework for the saddle itself. Yes, they are capable of supporting 20lbs for an extended period of time.

I have a Bagman that I use on other bikes, but I don't need it on the Cervelo so I don't use it. The saddlebag loops on the Brooks saddle are metal and will support lots of weight. My bag weighs 12lbs. To transport pizza I discard the box, Fold the pizza up and put it in a paper bag before strapping under the long flap.

24L capacity in one of those things, I wounder how stable it is compared to one of the revelate designs viscacha bags

They are definitely one option and making one can be pretty inexpensive. I have not found that for me at least they save weight or are nearly as versatile. Quilts are one of those things that I had high hopes for, but they didn't really pan out as well as I hoped. I found that in order for a quilt to work for me it needs to be big enough to either hang over a good bit or tuck under me. That makes them as heavy or heavier than a slim cut bag. I find that a slim cut bag of a similar weight can be warmer and more adjustable.

When it is the warmest I sleep on top of my mummy bag and then as the weather cools down, I partially cover myself with it zipped open like a quilt, then fully cover my body, then climb in, then zip up, then put the hood on, then pull hood drawstring tight leaving only a small opening to breath through. That gives a lot more range of comfort than I got with a quilt.

As far as longevity... down bags can last quite a few decades. Synthetics tend to compact over time and not last as long. That is true for quilts or bags, but yes synthetic quilts may suffer from that less than synthetic bags do on the bottom.

I have a 1 pound 1 ounce bag (Mountain Hardwear Phantom 45) that I have been comfy with in everything from hot weather to the mid teens F. I sleep really warm, wear a layer of or two clothes as needed, and the bivy adds warmth as well.

I am sure quilts work well for some and I'd possibly reconsider a quilt if I did trips where I didn't need as wide of a range of comfort. I'd also consider one if the budget was tight and I didn't already own an expensive bag.

A few points on that. Having lived much of my life where ticks are super plentiful, I have found that ticks tend to get on you when walking around where grass or brush touches you not. They hang out and latch on as you pass by. I have seen no reason to think that they come to you when sleeping on a pad. They may be found on you in a tent or under a tarp after they hitched a ride on your clothing or gear and found you later.

Pretty much the same weight? My tarp is 7 ounces and it isn't the lightest possible tarp. My setup is heavier than that though. I add a bit of thin cord and a few needle stakes I also take a bivy (7 ounces) or a bug bivy (5.5 ounces), so the total winds up being 13 ounces to a pound.

Also on most of my tours they may be rainy sections, but a large majority of the time it is dry. While I pitch the tarp when I have to, I like to cowboy camp when conditions are suitable. It is nice to just throw down the bivy, inflate the pad that is already inside of it, throw the sleeping bag on top, and turn it. If it unexpectedly turns worse I climb inside the bivy. If it really rains hard I pull the tarp loosely over me.

If I tour where I expect it to rain a lot of the time I do take a tent, but if a rain day here and there is all that I expect I definitely like the bivy and tarp.

The stability of a large saddlebag depends on how well it is mounted. The Carraduce bags are mounted transversely and if the straps are buckled on the inside of the bag (rather than on the outside as shown in many photos) so that the bag is tight against the saddle and then the third strap pulls the bag tight against the seat post then sway is tiny. The longitudinal mounting if the bikepacking bags might amplify any sway and I have seen videos where they bounce about a lot. But I imagine correct mounting would minimize that and they they also work well when used correctly.

so the answer is to buy a super overbuilt carbon seat post, or buy a super overbuilt aluminum seatpost. problem solved?

are the straps very durable? I'd hazard a guess that the bag is more stable when mounted straight to the saddle loops and seat post, which has 3 connecting points, as opposed to having the support rack, which really only has one (two if you count each rail), and nothing to keep the thing from bouncing up and down on rough terrain.

My trusted Kalloy seatpost on my touring bike weighs 10.2 ounces vs my carbon seatpost 8.6 ounces on my carbon Trek. Less than two ounces difference! No need for me to experiment.