Panniers and big feet

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redjedi

Über Member
Location
Brentford
It's getting close to pay day and my purchase of a new bike.

I'm getting a single/fixed gear bike for commuting, shopping and general riding about on, so I want to add a rack and panniers to it.

I've read the occasional post about peoples heals clipping the bags, and I'm worried this might be more of a factor for someone with big feet.
I'm a size 12 and I occasionally clip my heals on my chain stays (washers needed on the pedals to move them out).

Is this going to be a big problem when getting panniers to work?
Is there a different type of rack that positions the bags further back?

P.S. Also in Accessories and Kit section, but pointed out it may be better suited in here.
 

Yellow7

Über Member
Location
Milton Keynes
Hi. It depends on what type of bike your getting.
If it's a road bike frame then as the wheels are bigger the chainstay is longer as oppossed to a 26" wheeled frame.
I have a 26" tourer frame & use a Sulry rack (the best!!) & keep the panniers as far back as possible to avoid the heel clippin'.

Mark.
 

samid

Veteran
Location
Toronto, Canada
It depends on the bike (of course) but also on the rack. E.g. initially I got a Nitto touring rack for my (road) bike, and Carradice panniers. Whatever I tried I could not move the panniers far enough back to avoid heel overlap (I have size 10 feet). But, I had no such problems with with Blackburn and Tubus Cargo (the best!) racks.
 

GrahamG

Guru
Location
Bristol
I'm fairly sure that there's a few racks available with a second set of rails further back to specifically solve this problem. Let me google to see that I'm not talking out of my hat.
 
OP
OP
redjedi

redjedi

Über Member
Location
Brentford
Ow...£80

I might give the Tortec Expedition a try. It's got a lot of good recommendations. If I start doing long distance tours then I may up-grade.

I will try taking the racks off my 2 housemate's bikes and see how they fit, I can also try their panniers. In fact thinking about it, one of them is 6'4" with size 10/11 feet and uses a MTB bike, so should be a good test.
 

Baldockm

New Member
I have size 14 feet. I have a Blackburn rack (can't recall which specific one) with Ortlieb roll tops on a hybrid 700 crappy bike. I am able to configure the Ortliebs and push them far enough back on the rack to avoid clipping with heals.

Hope my first ever post on Cycle Chat helps.... lurked for a while but couldn't resist getting my size 14's in there.
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
Baldockm said:
I have size 14 feet. I have a Blackburn rack (can't recall which specific one) with Ortlieb roll tops on a hybrid 700 crappy bike. I am able to configure the Ortliebs and push them far enough back on the rack to avoid clipping with heals.

Hope my first ever post on Cycle Chat helps.... lurked for a while but couldn't resist getting my size 14's in there.

Welcome, Big Boy...;)
 

willem

Über Member
Some racks have the panniers further back than others, and some panniers have an angled front for the same reason (unfortunately Vaude stopped doing this). The bad news is that even if your rack alkos you to position the paniers further back, this also moves the weight further back, and you really want as much as possible of the weight in front of the rear hub.
So the most important thing is chainstay length. Good touring bikes often have long chainstays. Contrary to what was said here, many road bikes have very short chainstays. It is one of the reasons why they are not ideal for touring. The good news is that you can easily measure the distance between the centre of the bottombracket and the rear axle.
Willem
 
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