Adding Panniers to Carrera Zelos Mens Road Bik

[EmilyBuller]

Hi everyone!

I’m hoping to get some tips on adding a pannier rack to my Zelos road bike. I’m going to Amsterdam in a few months and would like to use panniers rather than carry a rucksack but am struggling to know where to start. I’ve read on the Halfords website that this bike has no pannier mounts but wondered if there was still a way to fit a rack to the rear of it?

thanks so much!

 

[Paulus]

With the design of the rear stays it might be difficult to fit a rack even using 'P'clips. It might then be difficult to find a rear rack to fit the compact frame.
Maybe try taking it to a bike shop and tell them what you want to do and see if they have any ideas.
There are seatpost racks that can be bought, even Halfords sell versions.

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bi...ks/halfords-seatpost-pannier-rack-688126.html

 

[steveindenmark]

Have a look at Tailfin. Expensive but excellent. Great on roadbikes.

 

[Dan Lotus]

What age is the Zelos, have you verified it has no pannier mounts?

The current Zelos appears to have lower mounts:

You could then buy something like an Ortlieb quick rack (20kg limit), which would do the job.
They have little screw on pegs that go in those holes above, and then the rack clamps onto them, and at the top much like the Tailfin, you have an arm that secures to the seatpost.

I would echo the recommendation for the Tailfin pack (using one on my own bike with no mounts), but I suspect it might end up costing more than your bike is worth!

This is the best price I can find for the Ortlieb:
Ortlieb quick rack at Westbrooks

Tredz have it for £2 more but often have £5 off codes knocking about
EDIT: One just appeared - GAARKEKWHP
Don't forget to go through Topcashback for a few % back - pretty sure Tredz are on there, not sure about Westbrook.

 

[cyberknight]

I have a vanquish disc with no upper mounts , i use a seat post clamp adapter to add upper rack points

 

[Ian H]

Go for a large saddlebag? There are various ways to mount them, even on small frames. They can carry as much as medium size panniers.

 

[EmilyBuller]

Thanks so much everyone. Understanding a lot more about the types of storage I can use on the bike. I’ve taken some photos of my bikes mounts so if anyone could take a look and see if the ideas above still fit that would be fab? I’m ideally trying to do it cheaply as the bike wasn’t expensive but can look for second hand ones.

Have also added pictures of my friends bike who’s coming with me (white one) if anyone had any advice for her? She seems to have more mounts for a rear rack?

Thanks so much.

 

[Dan Lotus]

Looks very much to me like both of your bikes have full pannier mounts! I'll try and edit a couple of pics to highlight them.
Is your bike 2nd hand, as it looks like from the paint rub it is likely to have had a rack fitted previously.
The only caveat here, which is less of a problem that it used to be, is that for your disc braked bike, you'll need to ensure the rack is compatible, as it has to clear the calliper/rotor - they normally say in the write up, and are a little bit wider than one required for a rim braked bike.
P.S not a fan of crocs, but those yellow ones are 🔥 🤣
Your bikes rear lower pannier mounts:

Your bikes upper pannier mount(s) only the one pic, but the same will be on the other rear stay at the exact same height:

And to be fair, it's pretty much the identical situation with your mates bike, although she doesn't already have bolts in her top mounting points, but from memory racks usually come with fitments, though if they are too big or small you might need to get some new ones.
*Your mates bike has more mounting points lower down, on some bikes you'll get mounting points for both a rack and mudguards for example, but it's not really necessary, as there's nothing to stop you (if you have long enough bolts) mounting them both through the same hole.

Just to add, the Ortlieb I posted above is very good, and super fast to fit/remove, so if you want simplicity, and ease that might be worth a look.
Having said that, once you have a rack setup for your bike, and align the top struts where they need to be, it is 'only' 4 bolts to refit/remove, so maybe that's not worthy of the extra cost, plus a 4 bolt one will almost certainly have a higher kg rating that the Ortlieb's 20kg.

Here is an example rack that happens to be compatible with disc braked bikes, if you can see the bottom holes (highlighted in yellow) are stepped out, so they can clear the disc brakes, these would fit to the first two pics I posted with your lower mounting points.

The top mounts I've put in one red circle - these secure to the rear stays, which I only put one pic up of, but it would be one each side.
These are often adjustable/bendable so you can get the exact fit.
Normally you try and get the rack almost perfectly vertical, I think most guides I have seen say to have it very marginally tilted down at the front, though the reason escapes me.

*I'm not saying this is THE rack you should get, though I have used Tortec before and found them good, I just used it to highlight where the mounting points would mesh with your bike.

Sorry, another thing to add - when I came to fit a rack to my partners Liv gravel bike, the holes were there, but because they had paint in them, it felt impossible to get the bolts in - I took it back to the shop and they used a 'tap' screw like device, to clean out the threads.
Yours might be fine, as it may have had a rack on it already, but your mates white one looks untouched to me - even so, she might get lucky.

 

[raleighnut]

Looks very much to me like both of your bikes have full pannier mounts! I'll try and edit a couple of pics to highlight them.
Is your bike 2nd hand, as it looks like from the paint rub it is likely to have had a rack fitted previously.
The only caveat here, which is less of a problem that it used to be, is that for your disc braked bike, you'll need to ensure the rack is compatible, as it has to clear the calliper/rotor - they normally say in the write up, and are a little bit wider than one required for a rim braked bike.
P.S not a fan of crocs, but those yellow ones are 🔥 🤣
Your bikes rear lower pannier mounts:
View attachment 785938

View attachment 785939
Your bikes upper pannier mount(s) only the one pic, but the same will be on the other rear stay at the exact same height:
View attachment 785940

And to be fair, it's pretty much the identical situation with your mates bike, although she doesn't already have bolts in her top mounting points, but from memory racks usually come with fitments, though if they are too big or small you might need to get some new ones.
*Your mates bike has more mounting points lower down, on some bikes you'll get mounting points for both a rack and mudguards for example, but it's not really necessary, as there's nothing to stop you (if you have long enough bolts) mounting them both through the same hole.

Just to add, the Ortlieb I posted above is very good, and super fast to fit/remove, so if you want simplicity, and ease that might be worth a look.
Having said that, once you have a rack setup for your bike, and align the top struts where they need to be, it is 'only' 4 bolts to refit/remove, so maybe that's not worthy of the extra cost, plus a 4 bolt one will almost certainly have a higher kg rating that the Ortlieb's 20kg.

Here is an example rack that happens to be compatible with disc braked bikes, if you can see the bottom holes (highlighted in yellow) are stepped out, so they can clear the disc brakes, these would fit to the first two pics I posted with your lower mounting points.

The top mounts I've put in one red circle - these secure to the rear stays, which I only put one pic up of, but it would be one each side.
These are often adjustable/bendable so you can get the exact fit.
Normally you try and get the rack almost perfectly vertical, I think most guides I have seen say to have it very marginally tilted down at the front, though the reason escapes me.

*I'm not saying this is THE rack you should get, though I have used Tortec before and found them good, I just used it to highlight where the mounting points would mesh with your bike.

View attachment 785942

Sorry, another thing to add - when I came to fit a rack to my partners Liv gravel bike, the holes were there, but because they had paint in them, it felt impossible to get the bolts in - I took it back to the shop and they used a 'tap' screw like device, to clean out the threads.
Yours might be fine, as it may have had a rack on it already, but your mates white one looks untouched to me - even so, she might get lucky.

That's a Topeak rack, I've got a couple (and a Topeak 'beam rack') good quality and you can fit panniers along with one of their slide/click bags (Perfect for valuables as they remove in seconds)