Seat post pannier racks--ok to use?

I just ordered a Performance seat post pannier rack for my Ti road bike,
which doesn't have rack eyelets. It was on sale for $19 and seemed like a
good deal. It's rated up to 25lbs. However, I was wondering, are these
things reliable, and do I risk damaging my seat post (and possibly myself if
it cracks while out riding) by putting anywhere near 25lbs on it? My current
seat post is an American Classic aluminum alloy, not carbon. But it clearly
was designed to carry a mostly compression load, not a shearing load. Am I
taking a chance putting this rack on it?

Here's the link to the rack:

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/....cfm?sku=19330

If I'm best off not using this rack, what's the best way to use a standard
rack (which I already have) on a bike w/o eyelets? C-clamps? (Or is it
D-clamps?)

And if it's ok to use, I assume that the lower I mount it, the safer?

And incidentally, this would be for light overnight or weekend touring, not
for day rides (in case anyone who followed my recent thread about hydration
packs thinks I've decided to forget about packs and go to a rack solution
for day rides, which isn't the case--I still intend to use packs for day
ride use, where appropriate).

--
Kovie
zen\

Kovie wrote:
I just ordered a Performance seat post pannier rack for my Ti road bike,
which doesn't have rack eyelets. It was on sale for $19 and seemed like a
good deal. It's rated up to 25lbs. However, I was wondering, are these
things reliable, and do I risk damaging my seat post (and possibly myself if
it cracks while out riding) by putting anywhere near 25lbs on it? My current
seat post is an American Classic aluminum alloy, not carbon. But it clearly
was designed to carry a mostly compression load, not a shearing load. Am I
taking a chance putting this rack on it?

I've seen others using the seatpost racks with more than a few pounds
in them. Aluminum seatposts. I really don't have to worry about the
seatpost. I've seen 250 pound plus people using lightweight seatposts.
And the load was not always in compression when they moved around on
the saddle.


Here's the link to the rack:

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/....cfm?sku=19330

If I'm best off not using this rack, what's the best way to use a standard
rack (which I already have) on a bike w/o eyelets? C-clamps? (Or is it
D-clamps?)

With my aluminum Nashbar frame, I used 4 P clips to attach a cheap rack
to it. Nashbar sells the P clips ($3 pair) if the rack does not come
with enough. My cheap ($14)Ascent rack from Nashbar came with 2 P
clips. I had 2 Blackburn P clips already. Didn't take too much effort
to put it on. 2 P clips at the bottom of the seatstays. 2 P clips
above the brake near the top of the seatstays. I used it on some 300
kilometer brevets with 10-15 pounds in it. It was attached very
solidly. I used electrical tape under the P clips to help protect the
paint. The P clips are covered in plastic. I didn't really care too
much about the paint on my nashbar frame. Titanium would be
impervious.

I would not put heavily loaded panniers on the rack. I would not use
the P clip attached rack for a cross country tour. But for carrying
the bare essentials on a week long tour, I would use it.


And if it's ok to use, I assume that the lower I mount it, the safer?

Put the rack legs as low as possible on the seatstays near the
dropouts. Then the top gets mounted on the seatstays wherever it ends
up.



And incidentally, this would be for light overnight or weekend touring, not
for day rides (in case anyone who followed my recent thread about hydration
packs thinks I've decided to forget about packs and go to a rack solution
for day rides, which isn't the case--I still intend to use packs for day
ride use, where appropriate).

--
Kovie
zen\

Kovie wrote:
I just ordered a Performance seat post pannier rack for my Ti road
bike, which doesn't have rack eyelets. It was on sale for $19 and
seemed like a good deal. It's rated up to 25lbs. However, I was
wondering, are these things reliable, and do I risk damaging my seat
post (and possibly myself if it cracks while out riding) by putting
anywhere near 25lbs on it? My current seat post is an American
Classic aluminum alloy, not carbon. But it clearly was designed to
carry a mostly compression load, not a shearing load. Am I taking a
chance putting this rack on it?
Here's the link to the rack:

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/....cfm?sku=19330

If I'm best off not using this rack, what's the best way to use a
standard rack (which I already have) on a bike w/o eyelets? C-clamps?
(Or is it D-clamps?)

And if it's ok to use, I assume that the lower I mount it, the safer?

And incidentally, this would be for light overnight or weekend
touring, not for day rides (in case anyone who followed my recent
thread about hydration packs thinks I've decided to forget about
packs and go to a rack solution for day rides, which isn't the
case--I still intend to use packs for day ride use, where
appropriate).

OK, I'll cancel my "Well I hope you and Train Wreck will be happy together!"
comment.

:-P

Kovie:

I had a seatpost rack for a little while. They're FINE for carriage bags
that ride on top.

I wouldn't put too bulky a load on the sides simply because there isn't any
side-to-side stabilizing as you get with a rack that's anchored to
chainstays.

BTW: you can get racks that use the rear axle for bikes that don't have
eyelets. Try Old Man Mountain.
If you're going that route.

I'd be more worried about the rack breaking than the seat post.




"Kovie" wrote in message
link.net...
I just ordered a Performance seat post pannier rack for my Ti road bike,
which doesn't have rack eyelets. It was on sale for $19 and seemed like a
good deal. It's rated up to 25lbs. However, I was wondering, are these
things reliable, and do I risk damaging my seat post (and possibly myself
if it cracks while out riding) by putting anywhere near 25lbs on it? My
current seat post is an American Classic aluminum alloy, not carbon. But it
clearly was designed to carry a mostly compression load, not a shearing
load. Am I taking a chance putting this rack on it?

Here's the link to the rack:

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/....cfm?sku=19330

If I'm best off not using this rack, what's the best way to use a standard
rack (which I already have) on a bike w/o eyelets? C-clamps? (Or is it
D-clamps?)

And if it's ok to use, I assume that the lower I mount it, the safer?

And incidentally, this would be for light overnight or weekend touring,
not for day rides (in case anyone who followed my recent thread about
hydration packs thinks I've decided to forget about packs and go to a rack
solution for day rides, which isn't the case--I still intend to use packs
for day ride use, where appropriate).

--
Kovie
zen\

I have a mtb that doesn't have eyelets on it and I bought these things
at the local home depot, I don't have a good picture of them, but they
are a two part clamp that is supposed to be used to connect a
groundwire to a pipe. They are made out of AL so no rust. They split
right down the center and just get clamped right to the frame, and then
a standard rack gets bolted right to the clamps. Works great.

Ken

"P-clamps" - and yes, those work very well! I hadn't thought to suggest
looking for them at Home Depot but that's a great idea. If someone's
concerned about scratching the frame, a bit of shrink tubing around them
would work well.

My latest rack came with a set of P-clamps but I already had bolt holes for
more conventional attachment.




"Ken M" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a mtb that doesn't have eyelets on it and I bought these things
at the local home depot, I don't have a good picture of them, but they
are a two part clamp that is supposed to be used to connect a
groundwire to a pipe. They are made out of AL so no rust. They split
right down the center and just get clamped right to the frame, and then
a standard rack gets bolted right to the clamps. Works great.

Ken

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...309&lpage=none

This is what the man was referring to. Not "P-clamps". There are
other designs so this is probably not the exact one. Look in the
plumbing and electrical section of your hardware store. They are used
to attach the ground wire from the electrical box to the copper water
pipe in the house.

C.J.Patten wrote:
"P-clamps" - and yes, those work very well! I hadn't thought to suggest
looking for them at Home Depot but that's a great idea. If someone's
concerned about scratching the frame, a bit of shrink tubing around them
would work well.

My latest rack came with a set of P-clamps but I already had bolt holes for
more conventional attachment.




"Ken M" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a mtb that doesn't have eyelets on it and I bought these things
at the local home depot, I don't have a good picture of them, but they
are a two part clamp that is supposed to be used to connect a
groundwire to a pipe. They are made out of AL so no rust. They split
right down the center and just get clamped right to the frame, and then
a standard rack gets bolted right to the clamps. Works great.

Ken

wrote in message
ups.com...
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...309&lpage=none

This is what the man was referring to. Not "P-clamps". There are
other designs so this is probably not the exact one. Look in the
plumbing and electrical section of your hardware store. They are used
to attach the ground wire from the electrical box to the copper water
pipe in the house.

C.J.Patten wrote:
"P-clamps" - and yes, those work very well! I hadn't thought to suggest
looking for them at Home Depot but that's a great idea. If someone's
concerned about scratching the frame, a bit of shrink tubing around them
would work well.

My latest rack came with a set of P-clamps but I already had bolt holes
for
more conventional attachment.




"Ken M" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a mtb that doesn't have eyelets on it and I bought these things
at the local home depot, I don't have a good picture of them, but they
are a two part clamp that is supposed to be used to connect a
groundwire to a pipe. They are made out of AL so no rust. They split
right down the center and just get clamped right to the frame, and then
a standard rack gets bolted right to the clamps. Works great.

Ken


Thanks. I've always liked "out of the box" solutions to fairly simple
problems. Who would have thought of the Home Depot as a bike shop! ;-)

--
Kovie
zen

"Bill Sornson" wrote in message
...
Kovie wrote:
I just ordered a Performance seat post pannier rack for my Ti road
bike, which doesn't have rack eyelets. It was on sale for $19 and
seemed like a good deal. It's rated up to 25lbs. However, I was
wondering, are these things reliable, and do I risk damaging my seat
post (and possibly myself if it cracks while out riding) by putting
anywhere near 25lbs on it? My current seat post is an American
Classic aluminum alloy, not carbon. But it clearly was designed to
carry a mostly compression load, not a shearing load. Am I taking a
chance putting this rack on it?
Here's the link to the rack:

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/....cfm?sku=19330

If I'm best off not using this rack, what's the best way to use a
standard rack (which I already have) on a bike w/o eyelets? C-clamps?
(Or is it D-clamps?)

And if it's ok to use, I assume that the lower I mount it, the safer?

And incidentally, this would be for light overnight or weekend
touring, not for day rides (in case anyone who followed my recent
thread about hydration packs thinks I've decided to forget about
packs and go to a rack solution for day rides, which isn't the
case--I still intend to use packs for day ride use, where
appropriate).

OK, I'll cancel my "Well I hope you and Train Wreck will be happy
together!" comment.

:-P

I have no idea who or what you're referring to!

;-)

--
Kovie
zen

wrote in message
oups.com...
Kovie wrote:
I just ordered a Performance seat post pannier rack for my Ti road bike,
which doesn't have rack eyelets. It was on sale for $19 and seemed like a
good deal. It's rated up to 25lbs. However, I was wondering, are these
things reliable, and do I risk damaging my seat post (and possibly myself
if
it cracks while out riding) by putting anywhere near 25lbs on it? My
current
seat post is an American Classic aluminum alloy, not carbon. But it
clearly
was designed to carry a mostly compression load, not a shearing load. Am
I
taking a chance putting this rack on it?

I've seen others using the seatpost racks with more than a few pounds
in them. Aluminum seatposts. I really don't have to worry about the
seatpost. I've seen 250 pound plus people using lightweight seatposts.
And the load was not always in compression when they moved around on
the saddle.


Here's the link to the rack:

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/....cfm?sku=19330

If I'm best off not using this rack, what's the best way to use a
standard
rack (which I already have) on a bike w/o eyelets? C-clamps? (Or is it
D-clamps?)

With my aluminum Nashbar frame, I used 4 P clips to attach a cheap rack
to it. Nashbar sells the P clips ($3 pair) if the rack does not come
with enough. My cheap ($14)Ascent rack from Nashbar came with 2 P
clips. I had 2 Blackburn P clips already. Didn't take too much effort
to put it on. 2 P clips at the bottom of the seatstays. 2 P clips
above the brake near the top of the seatstays. I used it on some 300
kilometer brevets with 10-15 pounds in it. It was attached very
solidly. I used electrical tape under the P clips to help protect the
paint. The P clips are covered in plastic. I didn't really care too
much about the paint on my nashbar frame. Titanium would be
impervious.

I would not put heavily loaded panniers on the rack. I would not use
the P clip attached rack for a cross country tour. But for carrying
the bare essentials on a week long tour, I would use it.


And if it's ok to use, I assume that the lower I mount it, the safer?

Put the rack legs as low as possible on the seatstays near the
dropouts. Then the top gets mounted on the seatstays wherever it ends
up.



And incidentally, this would be for light overnight or weekend touring,
not
for day rides (in case anyone who followed my recent thread about
hydration
packs thinks I've decided to forget about packs and go to a rack solution
for day rides, which isn't the case--I still intend to use packs for day
ride use, where appropriate).

--
Kovie
zen\


Thanks. It's been over 20 years since I've toured so I can't remember how
heavy loaded panniers can get. I assume that for a weekend tour 25lbs should
be more than enough, even for camping. And obviously, if I wanted to do a xc
tour, I'd do best to get a touring bike.

--
Kovie
zen