UKC

More questions I am afraid; I want to do some 'credit card' touring, taking a change of clothes and not much else, staying in hostels, B&Bs etc. As I have a dodgy back was thinking of getting a bar thingy that sticks out from seatpost to strap a drybag with a few bits in.

Bike doesnt have any useful mounts and dont want to go with the clamp thingies that goes on near wheel axle. Topeak does a Beamrack which appears to fit the bill, but can it go onto a carbon seatpost ? what damage would it do ?

Cheers

Sarah

In reply to sarahjk:
Not done it personally but general advice would be no. It will load it in ways it wasn't designed for.

Just buy a cheapy alloy one?

In reply to sarahjk:

You could try one of these:

http://www.carradice.co.uk/index.php?page_id=product&under=range&ur...

They fix on the saddle rails rather than the seatpost. The extra weight would load the post in much the same way a heavier person than you would. I wouldn't go piling the kitchen sink onto one but we used them last year on a light tour (one with 15L canoe bag, one with big saddlebag) and they were fine.

If you want more comfort try slightly fatter tyres.

In reply to sarahjk:

I would say no. But if you email me your address and seat post diameter and length you need between seat clamp and saddle, I have a few spare alloy posts and if one fits i'll send you one foc

In reply to sarahjk:

Given that the post is designed to be clamped I'd say that you'd be fine provided you get a clamp that is the same size as the post, i.e. a proper fit rather than a universal one (which would probably load it unevenly.

Or an Alpkit frame bag?

In reply to sarahjk:

Maybe order one of these? https://www.alpkit.com/products/koala My experiences with a seatpost mounted rack was rather poor http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TcrX8vfOEPY/UbdxZUGe_3I/AAAAAAAAGWg/guWJHCIwuDs/s...

In reply to sarahjk:

How about a Handlebar bag?

Carries fair bit of stuff, plus keeps map visible.

In reply to sarahjk:

I've used one of these http://www.carradice.co.uk/index.php?page_id=product&under=type&pro... on my carbon seatpost for a couple of years now with no problems. Providing you aren't loading up the bag with a couple of gold ingots it will be fine.

In reply to Choss:



My experience with handlebar bags is that they can seriously upset the bike's handling if loaded with anything more than a snack and a lightweight fleece. Scariest moment of my cycling life was a high speed descent of a hill somewhere in Surrey when I discovered that the damn bike just would not turn in to a left hand bend. Fortunately there was nothing coming the other way, and the hedgerow on the other side was quite soft...

I've used a handlebar mounted map holder and found it vaguely useful, though you wouldn't want to be riding along staring at the map for any distance. Its main utility seemed to be that you didn't need to furtle in a bag to get the map out when you stopped to check your route.

In reply to sarahjk:

Might be worth swapping the seat post for an aluminium one for your tour - costs peanuts for a basic one, and that way you eliminate any concerns. I fancy doing something similar, so thought I'd try out a beam rack on my winter bike (which has an alu post) with a couple of small panniers - here's a pic http://instagram.com/p/niVLcXL2As/
I tested it last weekend on a 50 mile ride, half of which was along canal/cycle-track and it was just fine (just a couple of kilos either side). This was seriously budget stuff - the beam rack was a Tesco one, http://www.tesco.com/direct/bi-tek-quick-release-pannier-rack-black/211-077... and the roll-top panniers from Aldi!

In reply to sarahjk:
Try using P-clips on the seat stays? I know a guy that used them to put a rack on a carbon frame to do the LEJOG:

http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/tourtec_pclips_stay_brackets_2-ID_21009?gclid=C...

In reply to sarahjk:

Check out these as well: http://www.wildcatgear.co.uk/products/seat-packs/

They look good enough to forgive them being called "seat systems", but only just

As someone else said, don't go mad on the gold ingots and balance it up with something at the front if need be.

In reply to sarahjk:

Thanks all, lots of good ideas