I stuck a rack and a trunk bag on my trek 1200 which is pretty much a roadie bike and not really suited for the task of commuting with the luggage in its new position

It feels a lot heavier than the same items in a rucksack, and the real world weight difference is only 1 or 2 lbs. I hate the handling of it.

Are there any bikes that feel nice to ride for a 35mile round trip with a rack and bag on the back? This set up has taken all the fun out of my commute on the trek and I don’t really want to abandon the idea as I like having no bag on my back – and the wife bought me this for christmas… and the bike to work scheme is open for applications 😆

Two bikes I have been looking at are Planet X Uncle John and the Specialized Tricross bikes.

I like the idea of staying with a roadie-ish bike – so Cyclo cross bikes with mounts etc seem a good idea? Anyone ride an Uncle John with a rack?

Mate of mine has a Tricross and used it for touring the Hebrides last year (another trip planned this year). Lovely bikes – highly recommended. Depends who your C2W scheme is with, but if it’s Halfords you’ll not get a PX anyway.

I have a selection of shops I can go to, I think one of them can get Planet X in.
One is a specialized dealer too.

Can you ask him how it handles with the panniers etc on in comparison to them off?

Cheers!!

As a general point, you’re always gonna notice a difference. The lighter the bike, the more pronounced this will be. If you want to mask it, you could consider a heavier bike – I have a steel-framed Kona Sutra which is used for both commuting and touring – but I’d say it’s just something you get used to. Of course a touring bike will tend to feel more stable than a CX bike, but he certainly didn’t have any problems with it on any of the roads and tracks we tackled.