racks, panniers and heel clearance

[ceepeebee]

I took a pair of the surface riding trousers with me on our trip - they were bang on - comfy enough for short hops on the bike (ie crystal palace to Liverpool street) and also got me in to restaurants at night. Have the added benefit of rolling up very small.

 

[Davywalnuts]

Ilb, a friend of mine did a camping tour on his Allez with a pee-clip'ed rear rack and 40ltr Ortleib roll top panniers.

The Ortleibs are great as you can move the rack clips back and forth to match the rack or help on clearance.. He doesnt have Gandolf size feet however.

I can offer you:-

A touring bike. Dawes Super Galaxy 54cm with rear rack. Of which, if you get a large top trunk, will be fine. I have one but it will be just too small, possibly. And..

I also have Ortleib Front roller-city panniers 25ltr, that will fit on the back fine, or you can use too if need be. FAB panniers.

As you want to travel light, then I would look at either these smaller panniers on your bike (which I am sure will be fine for clearance) or a top trunk. If it was me, a top trunk.

I also have a spare rack if need be.

And dont bother with a rucksack...

 

[iLB]

Feeling very much humbled by these offers, lucky to know such a generous spirited bunch. I'm leaning towards the smaller and lighter the better, and to a certain point what isn't there won't be missed- sound principle?

 

[Davywalnuts]

Yup...

What I learnt when I went touring is a bit like what happens when you go food shopping.. If you take a basket, your fill it with a lil bit of junk. If you take a trolley, your fill that even more with even more junk... More space means more crap to pack to weigh you down..

 

[iLB]

Mac if you're on the Felpham fnrrtc could I meet you at hpc and look at and/or takeaway the arkel bag to see what could be fitted in?

 

[MacB]

Mac if you're on the Felpham fnrrtc could I meet you at hpc and look at and/or takeaway the arkel bag to see what could be fitted in?

I can but will you have a rack to fit it onto? What I mean by that is I wasn't planning on having a rack on the bike that night but I can change that. So I'll either:-

proceed as I planned and just bring the arkel, empty, for you to use and abuse, you can take it away with you etc, but it's your responsibility for the night

or I can fit a rack to the bike and bring the Arkel but I'd be putting stuff in it for myself and not using a saddlepack

It's no problem either way, entirely up to you, I just want to know if I'll be ferrying your kit for you again

 

[iLB]

macb + rack + dell =

i wouldn't be doing the ride, as I'm going away the next morning, so will bring another bag with me to carry it home in (or something).

 

[MacB]

macb + rack + dell =

i wouldn't be doing the ride, as I'm going away the next morning, so will bring another bag with me to carry it home in (or something).

ah, that makes sense, yep I'll bring it up to HPC as 'hand luggage' then...I'll have a nose actually as I think there may be fixing points and I'm sure we've got plenty of old bag straps kicking around. Normally it just has a handgrip for off bike/rack carrying, if I can rig up a shoulder strap I will...look forward to seeing you anyway.....Al

 

[mcshroom]

There's also the option of getting a rack which is set back from the rear axle like this one: -

 

[bigjim]

I did a two week tour last year with a 30litre rack bag and a handlebar bag. No problem, in fact I had spare capacity. For evening wear I took 3/4 lightweight Primark pants and a t/shirt. Easy to wash through in a B&B. Dark clothing will last 2 or 3 nights if you shower and use the deoderant. Any damp clothing will dry quick if you attach it to your rack in the morning, if it's not raining. This guy will sort you out.
http://ultralightcycling.blogspot.co.uk/
Have a read.

 

[smokeysmoo]

I've not read all the posts so don't know if you've had any answers, but regarding heel strike I've got size 12 feet, (and wear size 13 cycling shoes/boots!), but when I've used panniers I've never experienced heel strike. When I do fit my panniers, (not very often I have to say), I use a Tortec rack and cheapy SJS Cycles panniers.
Hope that helps if only for the heel strike element

 

[iLB]

So I finally got round to testing the set up I have on the turbo this evening, and there is heel strike, but it's only marginal. So if the pannier was packed right, or bungy corded in the right direction- then I could probably get away with it. The other option would be a smaller or different shape pannier? Thoughts?

 

[ianrauk]

So I finally got round to testing the set up I have on the turbo this evening, and there is heel strike, but it's only marginal. So if the pannier was packed right, or bungy corded in the right direction- then I could probably get away with it. The other option would be a smaller or different shape pannier? Thoughts?

move the bracket forward on the bag