trunk rack?

[Brandi]

We are looking to buy some for our bikes for an off road trip. 225 miles to be exact.
We wanted to know if anyone as had problems with the one's you clamp onto your seat post? As opposed to the one's with the bar's that hook onto your frame. We have one friend who has had good luck with his, but was on an off road trip with someone who had one last year and it broke. It was not the same brand as our friends. But I told my dh that maybe our friend is just having good luck with his.

[DeniseGoldberg]

You need to be very careful with the weight you are carrying with that kind of rack. I just checked some of the Topeak racks of this type, and they recommend a max of 15 pounds.

So the real question is how much are you planning to carry? Are you talking about carrying all of your gear (as in clothes, rain gear, toilet articles, off-bike shoes, food, camera, etc.)? If you are then I suspect this type of rack wouldn't be a good match. If you're just talking about snacks for the day and maybe a raincoat then I imagine you would be fine.

--- Denise

[Brandi]

It would be clothes, rain coat. I am also going to have a mule which I will carry stuff in. My husband is going to carry the tools. We won't be hauling our own food except for lunch and snacks which I will keep in my bento box or mule. But I see your point. If I need to load it up for any reason. Like if I hurt my back I won't want a back pack on. I wouldn't want to load up a rack that can only handle so much. Makes sence.

[DeniseGoldberg]

While I do use a Camelbak, I would be very unhappy touring wearing a day pack. My Camelbak is one of the basic ones - enough room for just some small stuff (like energy bars) in addition to the water.

It is individual preference of course - but I would recommend that you not plan on carrying your gear on your back. I find that it's much better letting the bike carry the extra load.

But then again if you're going on a supported tour - which I assume this is by your mention of a mule - you probably don't need to carry that much with you on your bike.

--- Denise

[SadieKate]

I think she means a Mule with a capital M. It is a model of hydration pack from, I think, Camelback. It is one of the larger models.

Editing - yes. From Camelback, 540 cu in of capacity and 100 oz bladder.

[DeniseGoldberg]

I think she means a Mule with a capital M. It is a model of hydration pack...

Ah, and here I thought she was talking about an animal! (I still wouldn't recommend carrying more than water on your back though...)

--- Denise

[Nanci]

I have the Topeak MTX Beam Rack, which they say can hold 20#. It clamps onto the seat post. I have the MTX Dual Side Frame which attaches to the rack, to use when I have a trunk rack with attached panniers. I have two Topeak Trunk Bags, the RX Trunk Bag EX (which will fit on the MTX rack, but MTX bags won't go on the EX rack) which is 170 cubic inches, with a main compartment and two zippered side pockets, which is nice for a long day/century, and the MTX Trunk Bag EXP, which is the smallest of the expandable pannier bags (the pannier bags zip up if you aren't using them) with a capacity of 1030 cubic inches. It holds _a lot_. I love both of them. I have only used them on my road bike.

***You are not supposed to use seat post racks with carbon seat posts.

http://www.topeak.com


Nanci

[Brandi]

I think she means a Mule with a capital M. It is a model of hydration pack from, I think, Camelback. It is one of the larger models.

Editing - yes. From Camelback, 540 cu in of capacity and 100 oz bladder.

Yes that is what I mean. Not the animal. lol. And what i am going to carry in it will probably be small stuff. Like my camera firstaid kit a small book deck of cards. not super heavy stuff