Pannier Help!

[Flybye]

For mother's day my husband and kids got me a trunk rack for my bike but I am not sure that it is what I want so I thought I'd ask for a little help......

My bike is a carbon frame Specialized Ruby (Comp).

I need storage for long rides like century rides and training - there is only so much room in a jersey for my cell phone, sunscreen, snacks, 15 energy bars, chap stick, pepper spray, nun chucks, and 35mm (kidding on the last two). I feel like the hunchback when I get all packed up and ready to go.

I also need space for clothes when it may be necessary to change - I live in Idaho and it seems like all we do is change clothes. Windy one minute, snow later in the day, and then BAM 70 degrees. We do a lot of riding in the mountains and it would be nice to have a place to put a jacket and tights if the weather changes.

I also commute occasionally with a laptop.

I would like something that I can take off and on easily, with a quick release. I really don't want to have to get the tools out if to take a rack off if I decide to go on a speedy 20 miler.

Trek seems to have a nice interchange system. Does anyone use this system or one like it? Reviews? Can I use it on a carbon seatpost and a carbon frame? Where do I find the rack online? I can't find a picture of it. I rely on the internet and can't cruise around to different bike shops and check different systems out because we have two bike shops - one to the north 25 miles and one to the south 25 miles.

I have done some research and the overall suggestions seem to be "don't go with the cheap systems" - without being able to see them in person, I have no idea what is cheap and what isn't!

Thanks!

[sbctwin]

I have/had the trek interchange. I really like it. But, operator error (me) has caused me to have only one pannier left. My trunk rack bounced off one early morning because (I assume) I didn't click it in correctly. This was at 4:30am and by 5am, theives were already using my charge cards. Then, on my first commute this year, I again (I know this to be the case) didn't click my bag on correctly and was going down a hill, hit a pothole and the bag bounced off. I didn't know I lost it and a guy in a truck caught up to me and told me. It got lodged under another vehicle and all but destroyed.

That being said, I really liked these bags. I have/had them for 3 years and they were/are (the one pannier bag left) is very handy, has a built in rain cover and clicks on/off easy.

Operator error was my downfall, but I have to admit, they are nice.

[Zen]

If it weren't for the fly-in-the-ointment laptop I'd say get a medium sized handlebar bag.

And no, it never pays to be cheap.

[GLC1968]

If it weren't for the fly-in-the-ointment laptop I'd say get a medium sized handlebar bag.

And no, it never pays to be cheap.

I was thinking the exact same thing.

Would you consider a handlebar bag (Topeak has a nice quick-release type) for most of the uses, and then perhaps a laptop backpack for commuting when you need to carry the laptop? I have the small Topeak bag that Veronica has on her bike in her avatar (I believe) that works GREAT for long rides. I can stuff clothes, tools, food and a camera in there...and I can get to these items without dismounting, too.

Then I keep a Timbuk2 laptop backpack with my laptop so that I can just grab it when I need to ride anywhere with it.

[uforgot]

I love my rack for commuting. I've had several kinds, and no matter which kind you get, if you want one that will hold over 20 lbs, you will have to have tools to take it off. The only quick release ones I have seen are those seatpost ones and others have reported problems. I also have the Trek interchange system and it's a good one. The Trunk just snaps on and off and the panniers (I have a grocery one and a Detours) go on easily. I just recently purchased a Topeak small trunk and their quick release, and it's just as easy as the Trek.

Just a thought: What kind of a rack did you get? Maybe we can help you find what you want for it. If my kids had gotten me a rack for mother's day I would move heaven and hell to get a bag and trunk to fit the rack they picked out. They're grown now, and I have never regretted wearing Macaroni necklaces in public or using whatever they got me no matter what.

Edit: I also commute with a laptop. I use a timbuk2 laptop sleeve. The one with handles and I just put a stabilizer strap on it, the one that comes with the messenger bags, and wear it like a messenger bag. It feels very secure.

[OakLeaf]

If my kids had gotten me a rack for mother's day I would move heaven and hell to get a bag and trunk to fit the rack they picked out.

Good point. Sounds like Flybye needs a touring bike to mount that rack on! Really, you don't want to use that pretty carbon bike on commuter roads, potholes, jumping curbs, etc., now do you?

Not true. Old Man Mountain makes racks for any bike, whether they have braze ons or not

I'd still be extremely hesitant to clamp those band clamps to carbon. (I learned the proper term from the Old Man Mountain site ) Besides the wear issues that I mentioned earlier, it occurred to me after I posted that there's a strong possibility of cracking the stays if the clamps are overtightened or if the rack is overloaded, creating a stress on the stay in a direction it wasn't meant to be stressed. Never mind that carbon stays are often not round, which would mean extra stress on the contact points for the clamps, as well as extra places for grit to get in and wear.

There's a very precise (and very low) torque spec for the seatpost clamp on a carbon bike, for instance. Who's going to give you a torque spec for the band clamps? Not the rack manufacturer - who probably couldn't even get the technical data they'd need, and in any case wouldn't be legally smart to take responsibility for a bike manufactured by someone else - and not the bike manufacturer, who will just tell you not to do it.

[OakLeaf]

I'd be very hesitant to strap a rack to a carbon frame.

Whatever type of mounting system you use (I'm not aware of anything but the little metal collars that substitute for braze-ons, but I'm not really up on touring gear, either) will tend to rub the frame over time (yes, they come with rubber cushions, but grit will still work its way in there). Some scratches in the paint aren't a big deal if it's metal, but I'd be seriously worried about weakening composite. (The same goes for attaching the collars to carbon stays on a bike with Ti or Al main tubes).

Plenty of roadies on the ride I just did this weekend were wearing fanny packs, especially on the second day when the weather was a little more uncertain and people were wearing jackets. IIRC those things were invented for cyclists to begin with, and it's why they're called "fanny packs" even though most people wear them in front. A moderately sized pack has room for a compact jacket, or the sleeves off a convertible jacket, arm warmers, leg/knee warmers, energy bars or gels, whatever you need. As for a laptop, is your commute too long to wear a backpack comfortably?


ETA: you would've appreciated one of the riders I saw yesterday. She was wearing a wool jersey, probably too big for her to begin with, that had stretched after getting wet, and her pockets were very full. The pockets and their contents were hanging down below the back of her saddle like a tunic

And pepper spray goes best on a handlebar mount, they're available. If you need to spray a dog in a hurry, you don't want to be rummaging around in a pack.

[7rider]

My bike is a carbon frame Specialized Ruby (Comp).

I also commute occasionally with a laptop.

I would like something that I can take off and on easily, with a quick release. I really don't want to have to get the tools out if to take a rack off if I decide to go on a speedy 20 miler.

Trek seems to have a nice interchange system. Does anyone use this system or one like it? Reviews? Can I use it on a carbon seatpost and a carbon frame? Where do I find the rack online?

Thanks!

If you have the braze-ons on your frame for a rack, you can use those.
That doesn't address your "remove it for a speedy 20-miler" issue, but I've seen folks ride plenty speedy with a(n empty) rack on the back of their bike. Looks Fred to those who care, but....well...there it is.

Generally, clamp-on racks (such as this) should NOT be used on carbon seatposts.

If you have no way to attach a standard rack to your frame and have a carbon seatpost, generally, you're SOL for carrying that trunk rack. Sorry.

[Zen]

If you have no way to attach a standard rack to your frame and have a carbon seatpost, generally, you're SOL for carrying that trunk rack. Sorry.

Not true. Old Man Mountain makes racks for any bike, whether they have braze ons or not



,

[teawoman]

I've seen folks ride plenty speedy with a(n empty) rack on the back of their bike. Looks Fred to those who care, but....well...there it is.

What's Fred?

[KnottedYet]

What's Fred?

Unfashionable utilitarian cyclist. Generally able to ride the pants off the fashionable racer-wannabee cyclists.

Curmudgeons with legs of steel (and generally older bikes of steel, too).


Flybye - a SURLY! oooohhhoOOOHHH! [get it, you know you want to] I am incredibly happy with my Surly Cross Check.

[Harley]

Similar problem with not wanting to stuff stuff into back pockets and hating fanny packs and live in the mountains with changeable weather...

I just bought a small handlebar bag, attaches with 2 velcro straps; big enough for granola bars, glove liners, leg warmers, earband, phone, journal and binocs. (i like to stop and look at birds, wildlife, flowers) My windbreaker has zip sleeves, but rolls small in the back pocket if not in use. If it's really chilly a Wool Ibex rolls very small also, but this time of year is usually under my jersey... The bag is soft, nothing fancy, is black (although it did come in pink), not heavy and fits nicely on the Bianchi's C2C's handlebars. My seat bag holds spare tube, pump, small first aid kit, tools, ID & $$ for after/during ride coffee. I'm good for all day 20 or 100 miles.

keep it simple, don't put a rack on that beautiful bike.

[Skierchickie]

Unfashionable utilitarian cyclist. Generally able to ride the pants off the fashionable racer-wannabee cyclists.

Curmudgeons with legs of steel (and generally older bikes of steel, too).


Flybye - a SURLY! oooohhhoOOOHHH! [get it, you know you want to] I am incredibly happy with my Surly Cross Check.

Well now I'm all confused. For some reason I thought the Fred was the fashionable racer-wannabee. Like DH & me, on our Trek 5200s with the USPS paint jobs. Especially DH on that bike with his Discovery jersey & shorts. Worse yet, on his Trek Team Time Trial! How could I have gone so wrong? Turns out it's my Dad! Who is probably out riding in blue jeans at this very moment.

[KnottedYet]

i think it's being used both ways these days. "Fred" (so the urban legend goes) was an old guy in a bike club who rode old stuff, a curmudgeon, etc.

The original Freds probably started calling the poseurs Freds in retaliation for them being called Freds.

Around here I hear "Freds" (curmudgeons) and "Poseurs" (wannabes). I've read "Fred" to mean the all-dolled-up poseur types a couple times, but haven't heard a real-live person say it that way yet.

Now I wanna find out if it's a regional thing. Off to wikipedia I go!

Glossary links: this one has both usages http://www.bicyclesource.com/bicycling_glossary
And here's what I found at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_%28bicycling%29 Wikipedia has a ton of info, and even talks about how the meaning of the term "Fred" has changed over time and the regional distribution.

Cool!