Anyone used a beam rack on a road bike?

I am thinking of doing some lightweight touring, 3 – 4 days, staying in b&b’s, but need enough space for some bits of clothing and soap bag.

Considering this
Beam rack with one of these Drybag

Anyone tried similar? Any poo traps worth considering?

something we’ve been considering for touring in the alps

can’t see any reason not too as long as you keep the weight down and are careful with seatpost length etc

the wife tours with a beam rack on her airnimal with a couple of panniers and it seems to work well

of course she’s not allowed to do that when i’m with her, far too embarrassing

Assume you’ve not got a carbon seatpost. IIRC they shouldn’t be used in conjunction with the ibeam.

Looked at the Carradice SQR?

I have got a carbon seat post. Will I need to change to alloy for this?

Considered the Carradice SQR, everyone seems to be out of stock at the moment. Also thought the rack and rucsack offered more flexability.

Breatheasy, just checked the Topeak website and your right, not suitable for carbon posts. Thanks for that.

assuming you’re looking at these due to lack of rack mounts?

Have you had a look at the Freeload racks?

Those Freeload racks good, but the bike has carbon seat stays, don’t think they would take it.

I’ve just had 3 days touring in the cairngorms with a topeak mtx beam rack.

I was under the recommended load limit by .5kg and the thing bounced and swung wildly and didn’t complete the journey despite being bungied, velcro strapped, cable tied to the rest of the bike to help it stay on.

Never buying a beam rack again… Total crap

Don’t seem to be able to get the pics to load properly today but see these two; £10 ebay special (on road tour)one of the rails snapped on day two, or was it day one, of an offroad tour in Spain and was replaced with a Zefal one which did the job fine. I was hugely paranoid my seatpost was going to snap though, especially on one of the rocky descents (which broke a spoke in my rear wheel) that I would much rather have been on my full susser for!

The original plan had been to get a Freeload but they were out of stock so I stuck with what I had…

Second Clobber. Don’t use it – they’re rubbish nd swing about all over the place. Even with a relatively low load, as soon as you’re out of the saddle they make you feel really off balance too. Better off going for something that attaches to the seat rails. The xlarge ortlieb saddle bag is good. Combine that with handlebar bag and you can get most stuff you need for lightweight road touring.

the wife’s isn’t a topeak one, i’ll look into what it is, the bolts on the clamp were made of cheese but once i’d replaced them it has been fine

this is the puppy http://www.discountbicycles.co.uk/biz/product.php?xProd=2799

I used to use a beam rack on my Giant OCR, although only for commuting. It worked ok for commuting and I think it would have been fine for lightweight touring (and I’d probably have added a bar-bag for that).

The rack fitting on the seatpost had to be done up very tight to stop if flexing when climbing out of the saddle, so I wouldn’t think it advisable with a carbon post.

My rack was a top-peak one and I’ve also used it off road on a MTB for hillwalking trips etc. It was also ok for that but, same as with the road bike, did need to be done up very tight.

I have one – used it for months on the road bike for my commute and for a 3 day off-road tour on a full sus MTB.

On both the rack was high (MTB due to wheel clearance when the shock compressed – on the road bike due to the frame size) and with any weight in it felt really off balance when out of the saddle or in a tight turn. Fine seated in a straight line though 😆

Mine never moved one bit – it was a £10 ebay job that has four bolts rather than a QR. I still use it but on a SS hardtail so it sits less than an inch off the tyre and doesnt affect the handling much.

I would second looking at the Carradice or even a bar bag unless the rack can sit just above the wheel.

I bought my Topeak 2nd hand and it was missing the QR so I used a bolt instead. That might have helped!

Looked at the Carradice SQR?

Yer these are great, Tour, Trax or Slim – very stable – all 16litre

or trad style carradice saddle bag with a QR. Retro looking but very usable.

I had a Blackburn beam rack. It swung about then it broke. Buy a Carradice saddlebag.

I’ve ridden my MTX-equipped Beamrack round Swinley forest on my Airnimal without any issues. I replaced the QR with a bolt for security in town. I suspect other people’s issues are due to insufficient tightness. I’d go MTX not road, as there is a better selection of Topeak rack bags – MTX takes road but not vice versa. I also have a carradice SQR and Nelson Longflap, but the Topeak bag has replaced it for most riding.

What is the bike your using?

if its got a proper rear traingle just fit a proper rear rack with p clips

URL fail I’ll try a new post

buying options for p clips