carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

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mnichols
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carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by mnichols »

What is the best way to carry luggage on a carbon bike with no rack mounts?

Its for a 2 week credit card tour of about 1200 miles

The question is for a friend who will be travelling with me - my bike has rack mounts so i take light panniers

He was thinking of buying a new bike, but seems a shame if there are other options

I should add he doesn't want to carry stuff on his back
SteveHunter
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Re: carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by SteveHunter »

I have a friend who toured for 2 weeks, including some hotels and some camping on a carbon bike with a seat post mounted rear pannier. It can be done as long as you pack light.
Richard Fairhurst
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Re: carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

I've said this one or two million times before, but look into the Xootr Crossrack as a nifty way to mount a single pannier on your seat post. Anna and I both have them on our folders and swear by them. Two weeks? I think I could, at a pinch.
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beardy
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Re: carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by beardy »

Carradice do some large saddlebags around 23-24L

Camper Longflap, Super C or (secondhand/NOS) Carradura.

Either hung from the saddle or on a support rack.
Chat Noir
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Re: carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by Chat Noir »

I put a Brooks saddle on a carbon bike for a Dolomite trip and simply hung a Carradice saddle bag. Worked perfectly with the bonus of being comfortable and light. Also got cheered by some Sky vans in Italy at the time, who else but Brits would be slogging up long hills with bulging saddle bags ...
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RickH
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Re: carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by RickH »

Mike Hall did his Round the World trip (setting a new record under the rules at the time) on a Planet X bike loaded like this

Image
(from here)

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Douggie954
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Re: carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by Douggie954 »

IMG_0310.JPG
This is a carbon road bike with no rack fixings. The rack is fitted through a a special hub on the back wheel, not sure if thats what it is called. It cost about £80 fitted at the LBS. On my tour last year two of my friends, this is one of them, used them.
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honesty
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Re: carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by honesty »

Racks that mount on the quick release axle are available, so you could do that, or get a small trailer is also an option like an extrawheel or something
tatanab
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Re: carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by tatanab »

beardy wrote:Carradice do some large saddlebags around 23-24L

Camper Longflap, Super C or (secondhand/NOS) Carradura.

Either hung from the saddle or on a support rack.
Just like we did some years ago, before they invented credit cards or carbon fibre come to that. A saddlebag also announces to most Europeans that you are British. For a summer tour I can still get all I need in 3/4 of a Campers Longflap.
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foxyrider
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Re: carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by foxyrider »

you need an Ambrosio seat clamp http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/ambrosio ... 58949.html and the Tubus mount system http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/tubus-di ... 40585.html then you can fit any rack to the CF bike without loss of carrying capacity. Works on anything that doesn't have mounting points. :D
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bikes4two
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Re: carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by bikes4two »

foxyrider wrote:you need an Ambrosio seat clamp http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/ambrosio ... 58949.html and the Tubus mount system http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/tubus-di ... 40585.html then you can fit any rack to the CF bike without loss of carrying capacity. Works on anything that doesn't have mounting points. :D


Some neat ideas there but what stops the rack carrier brackets from swiveling around the QR axle?
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RickH
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Re: carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by RickH »

bikes4two wrote:Some neat ideas there but what stops the rack carrier brackets from swiveling around the QR axle?

You attach the front of the rack to the frame by some manner - P clips, seatpost clamp with rack mounts (example), adapter to brakes, etc. - much the same as a normal rack. The front mounts of a rack are not, generally, load bearing to a significant extent.

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mnichols
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Re: carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by mnichols »

foxyrider wrote:you need an Ambrosio seat clamp http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/ambrosio ... 58949.html and the Tubus mount system http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/tubus-di ... 40585.html then you can fit any rack to the CF bike without loss of carrying capacity. Works on anything that doesn't have mounting points. :D


It says for bikes with disc brakes...not sure why

Can you get them for bikes without discs?
beardy
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Re: carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by beardy »

It says for disc brake bikes because the disc brakes prevent you using standard racks with normally positioned eyelets. These brackets enable the rack to be fitted to the eyelets in the bracket which avoids the calliper getting in the way.
So they are being sold to avoid the particular problem of disc brake callipers interfering with standard racks, they were pointing that out by saying "for disc brake bikes", rather than excluding their use with other bikes.

The tubus racks and those rack fittings have two holes in, so you connect them with two bolts on each side to stop them rotating at the bottom, one bolt very tightly clamped could also stop it rotating but not totally reliable. This is additional to having the rack fixed at the top in some way.
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Mick F
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Re: carrying luggage on a carbon road bike

Post by Mick F »

One-word answer to the OP.

Trailer.
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