Off to cycle around France for a bit, and I want to fit a pannier rack to my bike. I’ll be using a 853 Rock Lobster Team Tig which has no eyelets for the rack to mount on to.

I’ve seen the racks which just mount onto your seat post but they don’t look sturdy at all.

What solutions do I have?

No eyelets at all ?

I’ve a hack bike that has the eyelets near the rear wheel and I bought some clamps that fasten around the seat tube.

Those may be an option of you have eyelets near the wheels.

Look closer at your bike…

Some solutions here: http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/page/find/?name=old%20man%20mountain&page=1

Alsolook at Tubus on the same site

why ? It still wont have eyelets

You might be surprised Junkyard. Mine has a couple of bolt holes which work pretty well as eyelets.

I’ve seen seatpost mounted racks, I’ve never tried them however.

Salsa do a seat clamp with external threads for this and pclips as mentioned. I’d just use a carradice sqr bag instead though.

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/mobile/carradice-super-c-sqr-slim-saddlepack-16ltr-prod3695/

Ask Cinnamon Girl (not staking, just google)

and Salsa seat clamps

Otherwise have a look at frame bags etc..

Plates onto the rear axle, seat clamp with an extra set of lugs (Problem solvers?), metal pipe P clips or armoured cable cleats direct on to seat stays.

Salsa do a seat clamp with external threads

The rock lobster has an brazed on seat clamp too I think – forward facing just to add insult to injury- that, cowled drop outs, no canti studs… its pretty much the most perfectly evolved rack-proof frame. I’d be tempted to say get a trailer instead but the dropouts might rule that out too.

Another thing to watch with a hard tail is if you’re a taller rider the short stays on an MTB can mean you keep catching the heels of your big feet on the panniers. Racks are usually proportioned for the longer stays on tourer

You might need to do things more bike-packing style with seat, bar and frame bag instead of panniers.

I have a similar bike, Pastey Howler and have fitted it with an Old Man Mountain rack, not particularly cheap, but with a good reputation. Held together by your skewer and brake bosses. Also went for a rigid Surly Troll fork, so have fitted front loaders too. No disk/heel issue on my size tens.

Old Man Mountain Pioneer

For the price of an Old Man Mountain you could buy an inbred and any rack you like and transfer the rest of your components onto that.

Seatpost mounted rack with supports? carradice style saddle bag or one of those bags reviewed on the other side?
http://road.cc/content/review/123753-bridge-street-saddlebag-medium

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/RockBros-Disc-Brake-V-Brake-Aluminum-Rack-Bike-Bicycle-Rear-Rack-Carry-Carrier-Seatpost-Mount-Quick/1706109089.html

The rock lobster has an brazed on seat clamp too I think – forward facing just to add insult to injury- that, cowled drop outs, no canti studs… its pretty much the most perfectly evolved rack-proof frame.

It has one thing going for it – It’s Steel!
Personally, I’d use a QR mounted rack to take care of the bottom half, then simply drill a hole through the wishbone and stuff a long bolt through it. I’ve drilled my Inbred frame to take mudguards and it’s fine.

Thule Pack and Pedal would fit too.
There’s optional side rails for them too.

They even fit bouncy bikes….

Blackburn QR one i the neatest IMO.

Thule Pack n Pedal if none of the other options are going to work.

I have the QR one and tbh its ok but it needs
1. very good pannier bags
2. Not masses of weight.

You can adjust length to avoid heel rub though

Its ok but not brilliant IME

I would prefer it to have QR or P mounts as well which i may just do after this thread,

I service the Ambulance Bikes for Heathrow Airport. The amount of luggage they carry is astonishing.
They’ve been using QR mounted racks, with P clips up top (In preference to the braze ons) for a while but now have a Thule P&P rack on test. I can assure you that QR mounted racks will take an astonishing beating!

You can get Salsa Cycles Post-Lock rack clamps that fit round the seat post, and Tubus do a Q-R adapter kit, or Tubus yet again do a product called a P-Clip that fits round your chain stays to attach a rack to.

There’s quite a few options out there, I’ve fitted the salsa clamps and Tubus kits to quite a few bikes in the shop (when i worked there) and they worked perfectly fine.

Would be interesting to see where the thule rack ends up on that fs above with the shock fully compressed.

Blackburn EXP1 QR mounted rack from Tredz, with seat tube clamp, or P-clip. Easy 😉

Curious about that thule rack it looks like its just a strap to lock on the stays?? in that case i seriously doubt that stays tight under a beating. I am looking for a rack but one that needs to take rough of road beatings with possible high speed op road riding to. For bikepack racing purposes.

I’ve seen the racks which just mount onto your seat post but they don’t look sturdy at all.

They are surprisingly strong and will take about 9kg if that’s enough for you.

Curious about that thule rack it looks like its just a strap to lock on the stays?? in that case i seriously doubt that stays tight under a beating

Pair of locking straps tightened by an Allen key per side.
I’ll tell you how well it stands up later this week when I service the new ambulance bike I built that has them on. It’ll be a month by then, carrying about 40kg. I did have my reservations, certainly. The straps won’t come loose but they might slide down the stays. We shall see…..

I am looking for a rack but one that needs to take rough of road beatings with possible high speed op road riding to. For bikepack racing purposes.

Again, Blackburn EXP1. Or spend 3 times the money and get an Old Man Mountain Sherpa…

Aren’t the QR racks a pain come puncture time? I guess one would remove panniers anyway, but these give no choice. Tubus have a similar solution. P clips will be fine too

As you say, you’ll remove the panniers anyway, so no, not really. You have to remove the rear skewer rather than just loosening it, but that’s not that much of a pain. If it is, I suggest a different hobby, or puncture resistant tyres! It is a very, very stable rack.

+1 Thule Pack and Pedal Tour Rack as above (not the sport as the top deck is not flat). I’ve been using one for the last 18 months when they were made by Freeload. Can be fitted front or rear and according to the blurb can take 18 kg on the sides and 25kg on the top.
It’s taken everything I can throw at it. One of my routes home takes in a fair few farm tracks and bridleways that are pretty rough and the rack has never moved even when fully loaded.
There are 4 straps that hold it in place and when they are tight, they are very tight. I have my rack mounted as far back on the seat stays as possible (big feet, so avoiding heel catching) and it can’t move anywhere.
They are not the lightest option though.