Carradice competitor from Spa Cycles

[pwa]

I've yet to find a perfect design for a rack-pack - although even in that, Carradice have come nearest for me.

Same here, but I'm tempted by this one to go with my Tubus Airy

https://www.arkel-od.com/en/tailrider-bicycle-rack-bag.html

Needs 80mm wide rack top. An Airy is too narrow.

[JohnW]

We still have an old Wright saddle from way back, the 1950s if not earlier. It looks just like a B17.

I know the one (or I did) - I've had Wrights saddles when the world was young. Who copied from whom then? How much different can leather saddles be?

Just from looking, I'd say the Berthouds are the ones to dream for, but significantly more expensive than even Brooks.

[pete75]

We still have an old Wright saddle from way back, the 1950s if not earlier. It looks just like a B17.

I know the one (or I did) - I've had Wrights saddles when the world was young. Who copied from whom then? How much different can leather saddles be?

Just from looking, I'd say the Berthouds are the ones to dream for, but significantly more expensive than even Brooks.

I think Wrights were owned by Brooks from about the fifties onwards. The B17 was first produced in the 1890s . Wrights wasn't even in existence then

[JohnW]

...............The B17 was first produced in the 1890s . Wrights wasn't even in existence then

Thanks for that Pete.

[mnichols]

I've yet to find a perfect design for a rack-pack - although even in that, Carradice have come nearest for me.

Same here, but I'm tempted by this one to go with my Tubus Airy

https://www.arkel-od.com/en/tailrider-bicycle-rack-bag.html

Needs 80mm wide rack top. An Airy is too narrow.

Thanks, I hadn't noticed that.You're right that's what the link says and the tubus is 66mm. Wonder if it's worth trying though? I've been looking for a rack pack for the Airy for years and this is the closest I've come to finding one.

I really like the rack, but find even very small panniers too big and I like the solidity of a rack rather than a saddle bag

[pwa]

Same here, but I'm tempted by this one to go with my Tubus Airy

https://www.arkel-od.com/en/tailrider-bicycle-rack-bag.html

Needs 80mm wide rack top. An Airy is too narrow.

Thanks, I hadn't noticed that.You're right that's what the link says and the tubus is 66mm. Wonder if it's worth trying though? I've been looking for a rack pack for the Airy for years and this is the closest I've come to finding one.

I really like the rack, but find even very small panniers too big and I like the solidity of a rack rather than a saddle bag

I agree 100%. I'd love an Airy wide enough to take a rack top bag. Sounds like you are heading down the path of making some sort of adaptor in your shed. Some contraption that would allow you to effectively widen the top of the rack. Possibly involving dowel, wire ties, etc? You'd need to widen it by about 20mm to be in the right area.

[AdamS]

I've been looking for a rack pack for the Airy for years and this is the closest I've come to finding one. I really like the rack, but find even very small panniers too big and I like the solidity of a rack rather than a saddle bag

Designs like the AIry are really not designed for a top bag, so as pwa says you'd really want to sort something to widen it. Also, a rack can make a pretty darn stable saddlebag support, useable even for roughstuff. Again, a wide (or widened) rack top is much better.

[JohnW]

Racks on my bikes at the moment are all 125mm. Am I stupidly missing something here?

[pwa]

Racks on my bikes at the moment are all 125mm. Am I stupidly missing something here?

No. You are just sticking with racks that are wide enough to offer a stable base for things you want to put on top. Which is what I do.

[JohnW]

Racks on my bikes at the moment are all 125mm. Am I stupidly missing something here?

No. You are just sticking with racks that are wide enough to offer a stable base for things you want to put on top. Which is what I do.

Thanks pwa - that's what I do. Wouldn't anything much narrower be difficult for panniers?

[mnichols]

Racks on my bikes at the moment are all 125mm. Am I stupidly missing something here?

No. You are just sticking with racks that are wide enough to offer a stable base for things you want to put on top. Which is what I do.

Thanks pwa - that's what I do. Wouldn't anything much narrower be difficult for panniers?

The Airy is great with panniers - I've used quite a few, but my current preference is the front city panniers from Ortileb. The rack is tapered in at the top and that makes it a bit more aero. There is just enough space for the two clips. I use it for credit card touring, but have managed to be away from home for up to a month with just the too small panniers - that allowed enough space to carry enough clothes to cope with a range of weather conditions from howling gales, sleet, snow and the heat of the desert.

When I don't have to pack for very cold weather, then I don't need to carry as much, and even if I'm away for several weeks then around 13 litres is absolutely fine. In which case even two small panniers is too much, so I've been looking for a rack pack to fit on top of my current rack.

I could go with one pannier, but I'm not sure that my OCD would cope

I know other racks are available, but this one fits my bike perfectly and given that it cost a lot of money I'm reluctant to buy another unless I have to. An equivalent titanium rack with a wider top is over £200

I tried Carradice Saddlebags and they are ok, but prefer the stability of my Airy

The search continues

[mnichols]

I might have found a rack pack that fits on the narrow Tubus Airy

https://www.cyclesurgery.com/p/ortlieb-trunk-bag-rc-P4114272.html

This one says it fits narrow racks of 60mms so it should be ok

It's a bit on the heavy side, but less than my two city panniers and more aero

Hopefully, the top of the Airy will be long enough. I'll find a shop with a free returns policy and give it a try

[robc02]

Sounds like you are heading down the path of making some sort of adaptor in your shed. Some contraption that would allow you to effectively widen the top of the rack. Possibly involving dowel, wire ties, etc? You'd need to widen it by about 20mm to be in the right area.

This how I did it (to fit my Arkel Tailrider to a Tubus Vega):
DSCN2237 by SturmeyRob, on Flickr
DSCN2238 by SturmeyRob, on Flickr
DSCN2239 by SturmeyRob, on FlickrDSCN2242 by SturmeyRob, on Flickr
DSCN2241 by SturmeyRob, on Flickr

It works well. The Vega widens out at the back so I only made one of these adaptors for the front mounting.

[pedalsheep]

I might have found a rack pack that fits on the narrow Tubus Airy

https://www.cyclesurgery.com/p/ortlieb-trunk-bag-rc-P4114272.html

This one says it fits narrow racks of 60mms so it should be ok

It's a bit on the heavy side, but less than my two city panniers and more aero

Hopefully, the top of the Airy will be long enough. I'll find a shop with a free returns policy and give it a try

I would certainly be very interested to hear how you get on with this. If it will work on an Airy it looks great (although expensive).

[mnichols]

I might have found a rack pack that fits on the narrow Tubus Airy

https://www.cyclesurgery.com/p/ortlieb-trunk-bag-rc-P4114272.html

This one says it fits narrow racks of 60mms so it should be ok

It's a bit on the heavy side, but less than my two city panniers and more aero

Hopefully, the top of the Airy will be long enough. I'll find a shop with a free returns policy and give it a try

I would certainly be very interested to hear how you get on with this. If it will work on an Airy it looks great (although expensive).

I might not get it until the new year unless it comes up in a sale (which I doubt) as I've taken delivery of a new bike today, and have no tours planned this side of Xmas, but I'll post back if I do