Road Bike Rack Brackets

mattthemuppet2 said:
Nice work! I remember those soft ride bikes, there was a lot of inventiveness early on in road bike design.

Rather than triangulating with the soft ride beam/ saddle I would suggest making a bracket that triangulates with the down tube or futher up the seatstays (above the brakes?). That beam is designed to flex to provide a measure of suspension, so if you hit a bump it'll force your panniers backwards. You can potentially have alot of weight high up on a relatively flexible platform so think about that when you design the rest of it. You may be fine in a straight line, but any sharp maneouveres (crazy dog, pothole etc) will have the back of the bike wagging the front around like crazy.

Also try and get the rack as low and far forward as you can get it, while still clearing the tire and your feet. Mudguards wouldn't be a bad idea either as riding in the rain is not much fun, but it's even less fun when you're getting soaked front and rear from road spray.
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I think the bike is really cool. The wheels are pretty close together which makes is not the most stable, but after a year of riding it, I don't notice it much. Pretty comfortable to ride, and while not a full carbon bike, it is pretty light. I paid $200 for it so I am pretty happy.

That is an interesting design point. The rack and clamps are rather robust so I don't see it leaning sideways much, but with some weight in there, maybe it will more. I was hoping that the connection to the seat beam would only keep the rack from leaning forwards or backwards and any flex in the beam would cause flex in the steel straps. Yeah, maybe it would move the rack a little but wouldn't matter much.

I think I'm going to put a hold on the Softride right now and get the other bike ready. In the long run, having the rack option might be nice and I'll leave my custom brackets in place.
 
I think you will be happier on the hybrid. The fact that your wife is in better shape and riding a faster bike is a plus too as it will be postive for marital harmony.

For charging I use one of those little usb paower packs but since you are staying in lodgings try to get it so you are only carrying one charger that will work for everything. Test it on everything before the ride. I like using things that take AAA batteries because I can pick them up as needed carriying only a few spares.

If there are C stores along the route you can cut down on most of the hygiene and medical stuff as they can be purchased as needed.

I try to keep things as simple as possible. Simple if fool resistant, nothing is fool proof. And remember, it isn't an adventure until things go wrong.
 
SlowDave said:
I think you will be happier on the hybrid. The fact that your wife is in better shape and riding a faster bike is a plus too as it will be postive for marital harmony.

For charging I use one of those little usb paower packs but since you are staying in lodgings try to get it so you are only carrying one charger that will work for everything. Test it on everything before the ride. I like using things that take AAA batteries because I can pick them up as needed carriying only a few spares.

If there are C stores along the route you can cut down on most of the hygiene and medical stuff as they can be purchased as needed.

I try to keep things as simple as possible. Simple if fool resistant, nothing is fool proof. And remember, it isn't an adventure until things go wrong.
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We do pretty good on this kind of stuff thankfully. When we stop talking it is time for everyone to eat something :D

Only thing I'm worried about is a mechanical malfunction that would leave me walking to the next town. Between the spare tires and tubes and a master link for the chain, I think we should be OK.
 
Mike:

Very nice job on the bracketing. Sorry to see you're not taking that bike - but your hybrid sounds like a far better choice.

On your check list you might want to think about taking a couple more small, lightweight items:

A tube patch kit, bike computer, reflecting strips or vest (if you're going to be riding anytime near dawn or dusk), and a pair of HFT nitrile gloves (for fixing flats/chain derailments and also to wear under full finger gloves for warmth, especially in the rain).

You guys have a great trip. We look forward to a full report upon your return.

Bill
 
bill70j said:
Mike:

Very nice job on the bracketing. Sorry to see you're not taking that bike - but your hybrid sounds like a far better choice.

On your check list you might want to think about taking a couple more small, lightweight items:

A tube patch kit, bike computer, reflecting strips or vest (if you're going to be riding anytime near dawn or dusk), and a pair of HFT nitrile gloves (for fixing flats/chain derailments and also to wear under full finger gloves for warmth, especially in the rain).

You guys have a great trip. We look forward to a full report upon your return.

Bill
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Hi Bill,

Thanks for the advice! I do have a tube patch kit, although I'd rather swap in a spare if need be and patch later. Bikes do have speedometers/odometers. No reflective vests unfortunately, but the bikes have reflectors and the packs have hi-vis strips.

Should be a fun week. Not looking to kill ourselves here, but just et out of the house for a while

Mike
 
Sounds like a fun trip!
Good choice to take the other bike - Is there a sag wagon on the ride?? Many organized rides that’s part of the fee and they have all the tools and some common spares in case of breakdowns.
I did my share of bike touring/camping in my youth pre-family days when I had more time and in better shape. Now I’m happy to sneak in 15-20 mile rides on the local pathway when the weather is nice. Bought an e-bike last spring and absolutely LOVE it. The cool part is it still requires you to actually pedal so you can leave the assist off or add it as you need. I can get a good workout in and also have fun depending on the mood.
On the subject of racks, wth were they thinking on the design of this one? Appears more of a fender mount than a useful rack. The bag in the pic is a temp rig but now have a Topeak cantilever seat post mounted rack and bag and it’s great. On your flex frame maybe could you triangulate somehow from the rack forward and down to the same tubes your machined bracket clamps too?? I’d be leery with the long term reliability and flexing being mounted to the seat.
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Cheeseking said:
Sounds like a fun trip!
Good choice to take the other bike - Is there a sag wagon on the ride?? Many organized rides that’s part of the fee and they have all the tools and some common spares in case of breakdowns.
I did my share of bike touring/camping in my youth pre-family days when I had more time and in better shape. Now I’m happy to sneak in 15-20 mile rides on the local pathway when the weather is nice. Bought an e-bike last spring and absolutely LOVE it. The cool part is it still requires you to actually pedal so you can leave the assist off or add it as you need. I can get a good workout in and also have fun depending on the mood.
On the subject of racks, wth were they thinking on the design of this one? Appears more of a fender mount than a useful rack. The bag in the pic is a temp rig but now have a Topeak cantilever seat post mounted rack and bag and it’s great. On your flex frame maybe could you triangulate somehow from the rack forward and down to the same tubes your machined bracket clamps too?? I’d be leery with the long term reliability and flexing being mounted to the seat.
ada04c30c6121522b4720ae0f965872a.jpg


982e63c5b1a77d0b1cdae81aa2b2ecfa.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Nice bike!

It will just be the two of us on this ride, so a little more planning needed to happen to bring the necessary repair equipment between our two bikes.

Is that actually a rack? I agree it looks like a fender.
 
Got it for some reason I thought it was an organized group ride. In that case I agree a well planned tool kit is in order. Another thing to consider packing is a first aid kit.
Ye the “rack” that came on the trek is a glorified fender mount.


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