will my bike cope with panniers for touring

[Pjays666]

Hi all I have a 2014 giant defy 1 and im considering fitting a rear rack to enable me to use panniers. The bike doesnt have lugs for a rack but I can use a new seatpost quick release bracket that can mount a rack. The concern I have is I am 15 stone 4 pounds and the bike has stock wheels, will thebike be up to the job as far as the weight is concerned? Thanks in advance.

 

[snorri]

I suppose you can tour on just about any bike, but the Defy 1 would not be my first choice. I toured once on a light bike which flexed worryingly under the load, and I was certainly under 13 stones at that time. Will the tyres be suitable for conditions often encountered on tour? Mudguards would add greatly to the comfort too in poor weather.
Depends on the type of tour, how far, how many days/nights, camping/ B&B. It might be possible to minimise the touring load. Possibly use a trailer instead of panniers.
Lots of things to consider.

 

[MikeW-71]

Travel very light and you should be fine. It's not gonna take 25kg on the back, but if you are staying in B&B's you could add only 5-6Kg. It would cope with that fine.

 

[Pjays666]

I was only considering using this bike for short b&b trips of up to 4 days and possibly using just 1 pannier and saddle bag and handlebar bag. I also have a hybrid which has a rack on it and also marathon plus tyres for any longer or camping tours

 

[snorri]

I was only considering using this bike for short b&b trips of up to 4 days and possibly using just 1 pannier and saddle bag and handlebar bag. I also have a hybrid which has a rack on it and also marathon plus tyres for any longer or camping tours

I would be using the hybrid for any tour exceeding one day duration, but perhaps that's just me.

 

[MikeW-71]

Rather than two panniers, consider just a rack bag. Such as this:


That had more than enough room for 4 days clothing. Pack ruthlessly light, you don't need 3 of anything. Don't even think about packing jeans, super-lightweight beach shoes (those neoprene jobs that pack completely flat) ... you get the idea

Even with spares, multitool, wash stuff etc. It only came to 6kg... including the rack and the bag!

 

[Crankarm]

How many spokes are in the rear wheel?

Not enough and you will be popping them.

 

[Pjays666]

How many spokes are in the rear wheel?

Not enough and you will be popping them.

The defy 1 has 28 spokes in the rear wheel and in lbs I am 215

 

[Crankarm]

215 lbs, what's that in real money?

215 / 2.2 = 97kg.

Blimey!

28 spokes won't be enough especially if it's a stock factory built wheel to carry the weight you anticipate. You need at least a 36 spoke rear wheel preferably hand built by a good wheel builder.
On a Shimano 105 hub with DT Swiss stainless steel db spokes with a Mavic rim such as A719 or a DT rim I'd say this would be £120-150. There are also excellent Rigida rims the Andra plus others. Obviously the better the rim the more you pay.

 

[Crankarm]

Utter Bollox.

I was 108Kg at my heaviest and have been running these without a squeak for about 10 years now....

View attachment 56751

Well aren't you lucky ……………..

Being that heavy is not a badge of honour.

 

[jay clock]

Agreed that your weight and the wheel sounds risky to me..... Also another issue to consider if you have panniers is heel clearance. Toruing bikes tend to have a longer wheel base, whereas with road bikes you can often have heels bashing the bags

 

[Ajay]

Well aren't you lucky ……………..

Being that heavy is not a badge of honour.

Well I guess I'm lucky too.

To the OP, a few extra kilos aren't going to break your wheel or bike.

 

[steveindenmark]

You can Tour on an alu road bike without any problem. Anyone who suggests otherwise has never tried it. We do it all the time.

BUT. You have to keep it very light., Especially if you are using a seatpost pannier rack.

 

[MikeW-71]

My rack would just as easily have been carried by my Defy 2 (that was the original plan!). It does admittedly have 32 spoke wheels, but I could just have put the stuff in a backpack instead.

One of our group did just that with a pretty large backpack using a carbon race bike with 28 spoke rear wheel (possibly less). Nothing bad happened to it.

Keep it light and you'll be OK IMHO. Don't use a seatpost mounted rack on a carbon seatpost BTW.

 

[vickster]

Seat post racks have a max limit of about 8 kgs including the panniers, so that's not a lot for stuff
You can't use with a carbon seatpost either if you happen to have one

My Genesis doesn't have lugs on the seat stays either but I have a fixed rack attached with P clips. I can't see that adding a few kilos is going to make that much difference to the wheels, you're not at the bike's limit for rider weight

I had a fixed rack with topeak bag with fold out panniers on an Avail 2 on stock wheels, probably not far off your weight then and had no issues...just avoid big holes and don't go bouncing down kerbs and what not