Carrying 30 pounds of groceries on the rear rack...

drastically changes the handling of the bike, and not in a good way! Especially when said rack attaches to the seatpost. Usually when I get groceries things aren't nearly so heavy, but I had three half-gallon jugs of milk today and that's the main thing that increased the weight. It was an interesting trip home from Stop & Shop today--the load made the bike feel wobbly and top-heavy, to the point where I quickly decided standing up to climb was a very bad idea! Then things got even more interesting about 1/3 of the way home--all of a sudden I felt the load shift and heard a loud noise that sounded just like somebody on some sort of motorized scooter was right behind me (there wasn't anyone, and the sound turned out to be a strap from my backpack rubbing against the rear wheel); I pulled over and had to rearrange everything that was falling over and re-attach the bungee cords. However, I managed to get home without falling over or dropping anything, and was able to climb the steep hill on the way home without standing up or getting off to walk, so all in all it was a successful trip. Just thought people might find the incident amusing--I'm sure some of you have had your own!

Not fun! I'm glad you're ok, that could have turned out really badly.

I did a fair bit of poking around before I bought my rack, because my grocery loads can get pretty heavy (45 lbs is not unusual). Ended up with a Jandd Expedition rack, which I'm liking a great deal. Every local bike shop blanched at the thought of a seatpost rack with my usual grocery loads.

Thats a pretty awesome climb up a hill!
I keep telling my partner I need a specific commuting bike - probably a steel road race one - with panniers and "carry-stuff" facilities... and this is a perfect example of why!
I'd simply fly up hills if I had to carry all that extra weight in my training!

Glad you were able to balance and rebalance everything and not lose anything along the way.

Just gonna repeat myself again - AWESOME ride home up that hill!

You might want to shift some of the weight to the front- that can stabilize the handling/steering issue.

I'm really impressed you made it home with 1 1/2 gallons of milk on your bike. If I have to carry more than about 10 pounds, I bring the bike trailer along instead of trying to attach it all to my bike.

Great job!

Definitely look at a real rear rack instead of a seatpost beam. If you apply enough torque to the seatpost you could crack it. Not good. Also, a rack with panniers gets the weight down low near the axle, which is where you want it.

But still - amazing job hauling all that home! :)

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Originally Posted by Torrilin

Not fun! I'm glad you're ok, that could have turned out really badly.

I did a fair bit of poking around before I bought my rack, because my grocery loads can get pretty heavy (45 lbs is not unusual). Ended up with a Jandd Expedition rack, which I'm liking a great deal. Every local bike shop blanched at the thought of a seatpost rack with my usual grocery loads.

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Maybe I should look into a different rack if loads like this are going to become a regular occurrence (usually my grocery loads are more like 15 pounds). Would having it attached lower on the bike rather than to the seat post make a big difference in the handling when loaded? The load would still be up fairly high because I put it all in that plastic crate that I've attached on top of the rack (today it was piled quite high, which didn't help the weight distribution).

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Originally Posted by RoadRaven

Thats a pretty awesome climb up a hill!
I keep telling my partner I need a specific commuting bike - probably a steel road race one - with panniers and "carry-stuff" facilities... and this is a perfect example of why!
I'd simply fly up hills if I had to carry all that extra weight in my training!

Glad you were able to balance and rebalance everything and not lose anything along the way.

Just gonna repeat myself again - AWESOME ride home up that hill!

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Thanks! Really, it is a fairly short hill but it is pretty steep and is in a place where one doesn't start the climb with all that much momentum (the road slopes upward gradually from a turn and then gets steep). I was surprised I didn't have to get off and walk today, since I'm not great at going uphill anyway and then had a lot of extra weight. I'm sure the next time I ride up that hill it won't seem so bad!

Very impressed here, too !!
Here's how I do my hauling:
http://www.resourceroom.net/pcc/bigloadplusmay29.jpg

Xtracycle's the way to go... seriously, it handles infinitely better than carryign the load higher, and as long as I remember to fasten the straps, things usually don't get caught anywhere

Don't things bounce out of the extracycle side pockets? Just curious - they've always looked to me like they would....:cool: :cool:

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Originally Posted by Jolt

Maybe I should look into a different rack if loads like this are going to become a regular occurrence (usually my grocery loads are more like 15 pounds). Would having it attached lower on the bike rather than to the seat post make a big difference in the handling when loaded? The load would still be up fairly high because I put it all in that plastic crate that I've attached on top of the rack (today it was piled quite high, which didn't help the weight distribution).

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I carry my stuff in Axiom Seymour panniers. Most of the weight is balanced along the axle. Looks a bit like Geonz's Extracycle, but without the extra wheelbase.

I find the handling does change. The bike feels more stable in back, and I have to give the rear wheel a bit of help with curbs and stairs. The front does start to feel twitchy if I'm near max load. My rack can handle up to 70 lbs, but that's assuming I have a front rack on the bike... the 45 lbs limit I use is more reasonable for it as a single rack. If the back were loaded down with 70 lbs, it would be really easy to pop a wheelie that I wasn't planning on. Not good.

I haven't used anything like a basket on the back. I'm not super flexible, and I'm clumsy, so I'd probably kill myself trying to get a leg over a milk crate :D. When I was poking around, most of the commentary on baskets made it clear that they were not a good solution for the kind of weight I haul.

If I start to haul more than 45 lbs at a time on a regular basis, I'll look at a different solution. My partner bikes too, so a rack on his bike would increase our hauling capacity. We may get a trailer. I may end up on an Extracycle or with a touring bike eventually, since both of those have better capacity than my mountain bike. I may also be able to replace the front fork on my bike to get rid of the suspension and get eyelets for a front rack. *wanders off in a fog dreaming of the ultimate utility bike*

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Originally Posted by Torrilin

I haven't used anything like a basket on the back. I'm not super flexible, and I'm clumsy, so I'd probably kill myself trying to get a leg over a milk crate :D. When I was poking around, most of the commentary on baskets made it clear that they were not a good solution for the kind of weight I haul.

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Amusing mental image! Maybe I should point out that my bike happens to have a step-through frame, avoiding the problem of swinging a leg over the crate (if I had to do that I'm sure I'd be constantly kicking it too).

The xtracycle was designed by a bunch of stanford engineers with grant money so it's evolved a bit ... and to my surprise, stuff doesn't bounce out unless I've paid *no* attention to where I put it. Most of the time groceries are in a bag ( http://www.reusablebags.com/ of course :)) so it's not as if oranges and sundry gewgaws are trailing me, but it could happen :) There are also velcro flaps and pockets for stuff that I don't have a bag for, and a zippered mesh pouch.

Oh, and I am also not the queen of flexibility... but the load's 'way in back and doesn't matter for that.

I got a 36-spoke wheel and disc brakes, so pretty much I'm ready to haul the 250 lbs. the Xtra's capable of ... though perhaps not up hill...

Try steering with a watermelon bungeed to your aerobars! Mmmmm, watermelon...

I really like the BOB trailer for grocery (or whatever) loads, though handling with 80# can get a bit rough. Very easy to attach and remove and cars give me a little more room especially if I have the flag on it.

What feels sketchy now should become more reasonable feeling with more experience. :)