Womens Road Bike and Panniers

[Ibby22]

I am wanting to spend about £650-£1000 on a road bike. Have looked at a Cannondale, Specialized and Scott. Have had mixed responses from shops re panniers. One said couldn't have them, 3 said I could .

Any advice would be gratefully received. Must be a road bike which can fit 2 small side panniers, ideally could you tell me how and what I would put on frame to attach them.

Thanks

Ibby

 

[Arch]

I am wanting to spend about £700-£1000 on a road bike. Have looked at a Cannondale, Specialized and Scott. Have had mixed responses from shops re panniers. One said couldn't have them, 3 said I could .

Any advice would be gratefully received. Must be a road bike which can fit 2 small side panniers, ideally could you tell me how and what I would put on frame to attach them.

Thanks

Ibby

A pannier rack. Simple as that.

Fitting the rack may not be completely straightforward - it will depend on whether the bike you choose has the necessary bolt-holes (bosses) as part of the frame. If it doesn't, you need to look into using something like P-clips. Any decent cycle bodger will be able to work a way round it. My Giant FCR (a flat barred compact road frame) had a single boss at the rear hub for a mudguard, so the rack doubles up on those bolts at the bottom, and the upper fittings are attached to the seatpost clamp bolt.

A rack that is attached this way may not be able to carry huge wieghts - although my FCR has coped with camping kit for a weekend, and plenty of shopping day to day. But if you only want small panniers, I don't see a problem. Anyway, if you're set on a road bike, and lightness, you'll want to fit a light rack, so that will perhaps limit the weight you carry.

If you had very big feet, you might find your heels clipped the panniers - although fitting them as far back as possible normally solves that.

Maybe it's because I know the right sort of people (enginneers, lifelong cyclists etc), but I've never seen a problem that can't be worked out.

 

[BentMikey]

What about a Carradice saddlebag with an SQR release? There may be limited space if this is a smaller women's specific bike.

 

[Plax]

Does it have to be a road bike? A tourer or Audax bike might be more suitable if you want to carry some gear.
If there are no braze ons ona road bike then you could get a beam rack or as BM has mentioned a carradice and SQR (which I have and would recomments 102%)

 

[TheDoctor]

Have a look on the Evans site. If you look at the womens specific road bikes, you can zoom the photos in enough to see whether they've got eyelets for mounting a rack. While you can mount a rack to anything if you try, it's easier to get one that'll take a rack from the word go.

 

[Ibby22]

Thank you for your replies, very helpful. The carradice with the sqr looks good, but does it really stay in place? The Cannondale and Specialized def had the hole on the rear hub but just wondered where the top bit attached. Will now have to see if have enough space on saddle post, thanks Arch

I'm about 95% decided on a road bike due to lightness and speed, but which one just can't make up mind. I'm pretty small at 5' 2" and have found it hard to find shops that actually have a suitable bike for me to try. Might go on a hunt tomorrow to look at Trek bikes. : )

 

[BentMikey]

Yeah, I use a carradice often when riding my fixed wheel upright. I love the setup, it works very well for me with about 10kg of stuff in the bag (long flap camper). Much lighter, faster and more stylish than rack and panniers, but can't carry as much.

 

[BentMikey]

 

[HaloJ]

Yeah, I use a carradice often when riding my fixed wheel upright. I love the setup, it works very well for me with about 10kg of stuff in the bag (long flap camper). Much lighter, faster and more stylish than rack and panniers, but can't carry as much.

10kg should be enough for anyone!

I've just bought a Specialized Secteur Sport which is a "mens" bike but with a lower than normal step over. Rack wise I use a Topeak MTX Beam Rack (E-type) with an MTX DXP bag. The Secteur does have the eyes to take a fully attached rack as well. The Trek Pilot WSD was the other bike I was looking at which has eyes for non-clip-on mudguards as well as a fully fitted rack.

Are panniers necessary or could you get away with one of Topeaks MTX EX or DX (P) bags with the zip down pannier if you need the extra storage?

Also, I've just opened Cycling Active and found they are doing a feature on women's road bikes. Specifically the Boardman Comp Fi, Specialized Dolce Triple and the Trek 1.2 WSD.

 

[Arch]

Nice. But if the OP is 5' 2" there won't be anything like enough clearance over the wheel for that. I'm 5' 3", and there's only about 6 or 7" between the back of my saddle and the rear wheel.

 

[Jaguar]

I'm about 95% decided on a road bike due to lightness and speed, ...I'm pretty small at 5' 2"

I'm 5' 3" and have ridden a Dawes Galaxy gent's 19" frame for the last 15 years, with rear panniers.
The reach is a bit long really, so I put on a shorter handlebar stem and tilted the drops a bit more than they oughta be.
If you have panniers (laden) it's not going to be so light or swift anyway... I've just bought a Raleigh Jaguar for pootling around town, again with rear panniers. It's very nippy too

 

[BentMikey]

Nice. But if the OP is 5' 2" there won't be anything like enough clearance over the wheel for that. I'm 5' 3", and there's only about 6 or 7" between the back of my saddle and the rear wheel.

See my comment on post #3. Some carradice saddlebags will take up much less room than the massive long flap camper.

 

[Ibby22]

Well the decision has been made After searching at nearly every bike shop in a 30 mile radius I have decided on a Trek Pilot 2. I just hope it is the right decision as it is alot of money. The thing that decided it was the option of back panniers, which i mustn't overload as it will defeat the object.

Although I have commuted to work for a very long time it is my first bike like this and I can say all bar one the people in the shops have been excellent.

However I showed myself as a total newbie to this as I thought the guy was taking the p*** when he said what pedals do you want. I said the ones that make the bike work!!! I didn't realise I had to purchase the seperately

Thanks for all your help, I'm sure I will be back.