Longflap & rack interference

[opa...@gmail.com]

I have a Riv Atlantis, with a Carradice Camper Longflap looped off of the seat (Brooks B17).  I also have an IRD Khyber rack on this bike.  Unfortunately the rack and the bag do not play well together.  The part of the rack that bends upward towards the seat is in the exact spot where the bottom of the Carradice bag sits.  (Why do I have a rack and a Longflap?  Well I use the bag for daily commuting, and the rack on short weekend jaunts and more recently S24O's.)  So, a good bit of bag real estate is unusable because of the way the bag is interfered with by the upward bend in the rack.  Of course with the rack removed I don't have this problem (although there is "bag sag"), but removing and reinstalling the rack on a more than once a year basis is way too much work and out of the question.  Would a Bagman support take care of this?  Anyone else have a similar problem that they were able to solve?

Cheers

Robert

[Ryan J]

You could ditch the Carradice and opt for a trunk bag that attaches to the rack instead of the seat, say something like the large sackville trunksack or something similar (arkel makes a pretty neat trunk bag).  That way you never have to remove the rack and you still have your commuting bag.  

The bagman support will work great to stabalize your Carradice bag, but I am not sure if you would have enough room to fit it and your curved up rack. You wouldn't happen to have a picture of your bike with the rack and bag attached would you?

[rperks]

The bagman might help, but it would depend on the overall clearance
between the saddle loops and the other rack, too close and the bagman
expedition length may collide with your other rack.

There is a dirtbag solution,
http://flic.kr/p/8MGtJH
Run the cord back and forth a few times from the rack to the saddle
rails, this also makes a great place to store a length of cord. Then
strap the camper off to the cord. On the rack bike combo in the pic
the bagman would click against the rack when my longflap was loaded
heavy, made me nuts. The thin ropre was the silent solution.

Also of note is that while the bagman is likely the least evil
solution IMO for supporting a carradice, they still can come loose on
trails and other times you do not want, there are hacks to fix this,
but just keep it in mind.

Rob
-
http://oceanaircycles.com/

[Ginz]

Can you push the rack closer to the seat stays so that the rack loop
is under the saddle? I have a similar problem where the frame of the
saddle prevents me from pushing the rack forward.

[opa...@gmail.com]

The rack is parallel with the ground right now.  If I slide it forward it would have a slope downwards pointing towards the front wheel. 

[Ryan J]

Just throwing this out there, but is there a way to put the rear rack
on backwards putting the upward bend at the rear?

[rperks]

I am tellin ya, just try the light weight cord thing, it could be as
cheep as free, and expensive as a dollar or two and a trip to the
hardware store - Rob

[opa...@gmail.com]

I don't have the bike nearby right now.  I'll take a picture tonight and upload.

[Thomas Lynn Skean]

You could try strapping the Carradice to the rack (like a pannier) instead of strapping it to the seat loops. Of course, then it is likely less available mid-ride.

 

I have a similar problem with a couple of bags that I have; the nice Nitto racks (Two Strut and R-14 and R-15) have that forward loop on top which works very nicely with the SaddleSacks and the TrunkSacks. It intereferes significantly a couple of the bags that I have.

 

I don't want to get rid of that part of my rack. However, it may be that it might not bother you to get rid of that part of your rack. If you don't exploit that part of your rack, perhaps a hacksaw might be part of a solution.

 

Yours,

Thomas Lynn Skean

[William]

I recommend you lift the bag off the rack by raising your seat a few inches and compensate with pedal blocks.  :)

Seriously though, it seems like you are at an impasse.  The large Carradice bag, when fully extended wants to occupy space that the rack insists on occupying.  Moving and removing the rack are not acceptable.  I don't see how compressing and/or restraining the bag (with a bagman or with cord) to a larger degree than the rack already does could be considered a solution.  Such a solution might keep the bag of the rack, but it would mean sacrificing still more of the capacity of your bag. 

I don't quite understand how removing and reinstalling a rear rack could be 'way too much work'.  Once installed correctly the first time, removing a rear rack takes <2 minutes, and reinstalling that same rack on the same bike takes <5 minutes.  That's much faster than fixing a flat.  Much faster than cleaning the drivetrain.  Much faster than adjusting a brake or truing a wheel. 

[opa...@gmail.com]

Thanks - I'm not sure what kind of rack you have.  Mine takes much longer than 2 minutes to install or remove.  Ok, the 4 allen screws on the lower part of the rack are no problem although it takes a little fiddiling with the fender.  The upper 2 allen screws are on screwed into the the inside of the threaded rack eyelets behind the seat and are a real pain. They take what seems like forever and everytime I remove or reinstall I promise it will be the last.   No this rack doesn't allow for mounting on the outside of the eyelets without replacing the actual mounting straps.  I suppose I could sell this rack and get a different one, but now I've ruined it's reputation!

For the person who wanted pictures:

http://i.imgur.com/4R6vB.jpg (side view)

http://imgur.com/wXltc (underside where you can see the interference)

Cheers

[William]

I think there's two allen bolts at the bottom, and those I think we agree are fast.

I think you could swap the two mounting straps, left with right, and that should enable you to mount to the outsides of those braze ons.  If that's not possible, then you can bend them.  They are made to bend.  

Even if that's not possible, and you are required to bolt to the insides, you can speed up the removal/insertion of those a lot (maybe 10x faster) with a ball driver.  

[opa...@gmail.com]

2 at the bottom - you're right, my mistake.  I'll try swapping and/or bending the 2 at the top - would be a timesaver if it works! Thanks

[Michael Hechmer]

You don't mention what size frame you have, which may be a big part of the problem.  I commuted for many years with the Carradice SQR, which has many advantages.  It is absolutely the quickest on and off the bike you will ever have.  Most days I used a Barley Bag but had a Nelson LF for those days I needed to carry more stuff.  The bags are quite stable on the rack, although you will experience a little back and forth, but not side to side, when you stand up and have a lot of weight in the bag.  I also had a rear rack (Nitto) on the bike for those times I wanted to use a shopping bag but found that I could carry so much stuff in the saddle bags that I rarely used it and eventually took he rack off.

michael

[rperks]

OK, if the few wraps of cord is too much, after looking at your pics
why not just strap the part going to your seatpost to the back stop
(part poking up) on the rack. Based on ultrsa precise measuring on
the pic with my fingers, it should work, do the same thing as a
bagman, and cheapest fix yet.

Rob

> For the person who wanted pictures:http://i.imgur.com/4R6vB.jpg(side view)http://imgur.com/wXltc(underside where you can see the interference)
>
> Cheers

[Jeremy Till]

Another no-cost thing you might try is not strapping the Carradice to the seatpost, letting the whole bag swing more clockwise (when viewed from the driveside) and letting it just rest on the rack.  You could then strap the seatpost strap around the forward upswing of the rack or just ditch it altogether.  I'm pretty sure this is SOP with the larger Sackville bags.  I use an old Timbukt2 converted to Carradice-style bag with no seatpost or bottom strap of any kind; it does just fine resting on the rack and comes on and off more quickly that way. 

The possible downside is that this might rotate the Carradice higher and bring it into contact with your backside, depending on how you sit on your seat.

[opa...@gmail.com]

61cm frame

[William]

The two bikes on which I do quick rack removal and installation are my Bombadil and my Hilsen.  The Bombadil I alternate between a Burley Piccolo rack and a Nitto R-14.  The Piccolo rack I use when I want to ride one of my kids on the Piccolo.  The R-14 is better suited for my trunksack, large saddlesack and flat out looks better.  Those each mount with four allen bolts.  Two down low and two up top.  The ones up top do go in from the outside which is much faster than inside.  The Burley rack is just wide, and the Nitto is width adjustable. 

The Hilsen sports an R-14 when I do long brevets and no rack for short brevets.  I made a last minute decision to not use it one morning and I did remove it in just a couple minutes before heading to the start control.  It's super fast.