chaos_za Posted December 5, 2013 Posted December 5, 2013 Hello fellow bicycle commuters, I am wanting to do a cycle tour in the near future and am in need of panniers / racks and all that jazz, unfortunately this stuff seems very scarce around here and i was wondering if anyone knows where i can find rear and front racks for an affordable price as the ones that I have seen cost atleast R1k (New) which is way more than I am willing to pay for a piece of metal tubing! Any help or advice will be appreciated!
mudda Posted December 5, 2013 Posted December 5, 2013 A good back pack, and you are sorted ... hikers do it all the time ... Panniers you will probably only use once ... (unless you plan to do it often ...)
hopefield Posted December 5, 2013 Posted December 5, 2013 A good back pack, and you are sorted ... hikers do it all the time ... Panniers you will probably only use once ... (unless you plan to do it often ...) I did a tour last year using a backpack rather than panniers (which I normally use) and started regretting my decision after the first couple of hours. The backpack gets really uncomfortable after a while. Why make it harder on the body than it alreay is? Also, the bum does not like the extra kilos!
Spidermonkey Posted December 5, 2013 Posted December 5, 2013 Hello fellow bicycle commuters, I am wanting to do a cycle tour in the near future and am in need of panniers / racks and all that jazz, unfortunately this stuff seems very scarce around here and i was wondering if anyone knows where i can find rear and front racks for an affordable price as the ones that I have seen cost atleast R1k (New) which is way more than I am willing to pay for a piece of metal tubing! Any help or advice will be appreciated!Custom touring racks are going to be very pricey. Another option (which I've recently chosen) is to buy a set of cheaper standard bike racks and modify them to accommodate panniers. Speaking of panniers, there are plenty of online guides for making your own set. You could also look into using frame bags and seat bags as an alternative. Having tried both options (backpacks vs panniers), panniers/frame bags are definitely the way to go, as they keep your centre of gravity low. Also, when covering significant distance, there's far less fatigue when additional weight is kept off your body and on the bike. Good luck! I'm sure the touring will be lots of fun
chaos_za Posted December 5, 2013 Author Posted December 5, 2013 Ye, I have done hikes with hiking bags and i cant imagine wearing that on a bike, the bag is just not designed for that and besides its huge... Would normal racks be able to accomodate the weight though - thats my concern, dont want to use a cheapy rack just for it to bend halfway through the journey. How would you modify them for panniers as well? Do you have pics for reference? Thanks!
hopefield Posted December 5, 2013 Posted December 5, 2013 Ye, I have done hikes with hiking bags and i cant imagine wearing that on a bike, the bag is just not designed for that and besides its huge... Would normal racks be able to accomodate the weight though - thats my concern, dont want to use a cheapy rack just for it to bend halfway through the journey. How would you modify them for panniers as well? Do you have pics for reference? Thanks! I think the cheapie racks can take about 30kg. Maybe you can wrap you backpack over the rack and secure it with bungee cords?
Shebeen Posted December 5, 2013 Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) if you want to do budget touring. giant do a half decent rack that you can put on rear wheel - hardtail only.then you use:*a milk crate on top*your backpack on top(with all loose straps secured with duct tape to keep out of rear wheel)*pvc dry bags, bungee corded onto the rack. heavy stuff on top, light on the side. pannier bags are pricey, but do the job best. get some ideas herehttp://www.chainreac.../en/s?q=pannier front racks are way harder to gippo these NZ made racks got bought out by thule, and they're now offering them. apparently they are the frikken bomb and work on a full susser like a pop up toaster.http://www.thule.com/en/za/products/luggage-and-bags/bike-bags-and-racks/racks/thule-pack-n-pedal-tour-rack-_-pp_100016 dunno about price, but one thing i can guarantee is that a *** setup is not worth it with 40km to go. edit:added in thule Edited December 5, 2013 by Shebeen hopefield 1
chaos_za Posted December 5, 2013 Author Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) Oh dam that Thule rack looks like it is the absolute bomb - the fact that it works on both front and back as well as attaches to the seat stays is dam near perfect for making it universal! I wonder if they stock that here? Edit: They do indeed and at R1400 its not to much further off of the other prices for panniers although it definitely looks like its much more universal so i dont think you need to buy any sort of adaptors for it... Edited December 5, 2013 by ch4os
Spidermonkey Posted December 5, 2013 Posted December 5, 2013 (edited) The rack I modified only had two semi-vertical bars connecting the horizontal rack structure to the dropout mounts. Custom pannier racks have more to prevent the bags from rubbing the wheel. I used some 20l drybags as panniers, which initially sagged and began to rub . I realized I had to bridge the gap between the semi-vertical bars, and used two straight(ish) sticks that I found nearby the trail, attached horizontally, to accomplish this. 100km later and my pannier/rack setup was still fine, with no rubbing at all! This is not to suggest that you use my 'rustic' solution, but the point is that a regular bike rack can be made into a touring rack relatively easily and inexpensively . Most pannier bags have rigid backing anyway, so wheel rub is not even a factor. The pic below shows my modified 'touring' rack, which has proven to be bomb-proof. I've included a red line showing where horizontal struts were essential on either side to stop my gear from being chewed up by the wheel. http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu29/mountain_ninja/Rack2_zpsdf88a751.jpg The whole thing was kept together using compression straps - much better than bungee cords that stretch and loosen. You can see why rigid panniers would be far better than my setup (although, this configuration definitely did the trick and worked out fine!) I suppose the question is: how much are you willing to spend... http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu29/mountain_ninja/DSC00536_zpsff0861b9.jpg I guess YMMV Edited December 5, 2013 by Spidermonkey
straatvark Posted December 5, 2013 Posted December 5, 2013 I met two touring Potch students just outside Stilbaai with 6mm steel round bar racks that they built/welted in one evening for less that R20 each. After several 2000km+ off-road it was still going well. Made me blush with my expensive Old man mountain racks... but then, my time is a bit more restricted to sit with a broken rack next to the road. But it prove that it can be done cheap.
Agteros Posted December 6, 2013 Posted December 6, 2013 You've had a look at these guys: www.cycletouring.co.za ?
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