Panniers on road bikes

[Gavstar]

Morning all.
My local bike shop has kindly lent me a road bike to try out as I'm looking to replace my MTB with road tyres for my daily commute across South London. I've not ridden a road bike before, and first impressions are as expected - much quicker, lighter and more sensitive.
I use a pannier as have to take my laptop with me, so he also put a rack on the bike but had to make some modifications. The rack sits high as it's secured to the frame just below the seat post.
The bike feels completely different, although I haven't done my commute on it yet, I'm wondering if a road bike isn't what I should get, or whether there are better suited road bikes out there for carrying panniers.
The bike he lent me is a Merida Ride Alloy 94, which is designed more for comfort than speed apparently.
What are your views on panniers and road bikes? Now I've tasted a road bike I'm doubtful a hybrid will feel as good. My LBS is happy to lend me a hybrid too so I will be able to tell first hand, but am interested in your experiences too.
Cheers.

[nammynake]

I would say that the flat and wide bars of a hybrid would make a more stable and enjoyable commuter bike, especially with panniers and riding through busy London.

A road bike could be marginally quicker if you're mashing the pedals head-down, but a hybrid on skinny tyres will be very quick too.

[Some Gump]

If you got a road bike with lugs for panniers / guards, imo that would be best of both worlds. Hybirds are all well and good, but i get achey ams if all i have is a flat bar to go at on long rides - on drop bars you have 4 positions to put your hands in, so you can aboid achey arms, shoulders and back.

Plus, road bikes are quicker

[Gavstar]

And I assume a road bike with the lugs already there would mean a lower sitting rack and therefore improved stability?

[Fastpedeller]

Gavstar said:

And I assume a road bike with the lugs already there would mean a lower sitting rack and therefore improved stability?

Frame type makes little difference surely - It's all down to the height of the rack and where the lower mounting point are? Usually on the top of the dropouts whatever the bike, If the bike has a smaller diameter wheel then they are likely to be nearer the ground.

[Roman]

Either a road or CX bike with rack mounts and plenty of mudguard/tyre clearance as slightly longer wheelbase will make it more stable with panniers.

Moda Bolero is a superb buy:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/moda/bolero-20...

Boardman CX, Cannondale CAAD X or Specializrd Tri Cross are all popular as commuters/light fast tourer/roadbikes.

BUT - the Moda will be lighter, faster on road, has a great spec, decent clearance, rack mounts, is already fitted with slicks and 'guards and a lower b/b than a cross bike for greater stability with panniers.

[Mr Gear]

Something else to bear in mind is flat bars and/or a more upright riding position make it much easier to look over your shoulder than drop bars. useful for commuting.

This sort of thing is essentially a road bike but with flat bars: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/hoy/shizuoka-0...

It also has lugs for a pannier.

Or this: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/neon-...

Or this (which is a bit beefier than the other two) : http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/lithi...

[Liquid Knight]

I'm interested in knowing how you get on. A comfortable road bike compared to a mountain bike on slicks could be my next move. Failing that a 29er with slicks or a recumbent. I've maxed my bike out and need something quicker.

[Liquid Knight]

As an alternative to panniers why not get a little trailer?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cargo-Bicycle-Bike-Trail...

I used a hi-viz' rucksack...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HI-VIS-RUCKSACK-BACKPACK...

...but anything electrical (laptop etc) has to go in a plastic bag first to remain waterproof.

[Gavstar]

Liquid Knight said:

As an alternative to panniers why not get a little trailer?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cargo-Bicycle-Bike-Trail...

I used a hi-viz' rucksack...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HI-VIS-RUCKSACK-BACKPACK...

...but anything electrical (laptop etc) has to go in a plastic bag first to remain waterproof.

Lol@ the trailer suggestion.
Re the rucksack option - my commute is an hour each way and the bag is heavy. Too heavy to be comfortable every day and makes my back get so sweaty. In an ideal world I'd be cycling with no baggage on a super light road bike but unfortunately that's not reality.

I'll give the Merida a go tomorrow, but am already thinking that a fast hybrid with all the right holes for a rack and mudguards might be my best bet for the daily commute, then look to get a road bike purely for fun as well. The roads really are so bad in places that I also worry that a road bike will get knackered very quickly.

[Liquid Knight]

How heavy is heavy? Mine is anything between 15 and 25 Kg depending on the day of the weeks and such.

[Gavstar]

I haven't weighed it but I have a pretty heavy Lenovo 15" laptop plus change of clothes and the usual phones etc. I tried a rucksack briefly and when I got a pannier the difference in comfort was significant.

[Jimbo.]

Gavstar said:

Morning all.
My local bike shop has kindly lent me a road bike to try out as I'm looking to replace my MTB with road tyres for my daily commute across South London. I've not ridden a road bike before, and first impressions are as expected - much quicker, lighter and more sensitive.
I use a pannier as have to take my laptop with me, so he also put a rack on the bike but had to make some modifications. The rack sits high as it's secured to the frame just below the seat post.
The bike feels completely different, although I haven't done my commute on it yet, I'm wondering if a road bike isn't what I should get, or whether there are better suited road bikes out there for carrying panniers.
The bike he lent me is a Merida Ride Alloy 94, which is designed more for comfort than speed apparently.
What are your views on panniers and road bikes? Now I've tasted a road bike I'm doubtful a hybrid will feel as good. My LBS is happy to lend me a hybrid too so I will be able to tell first hand, but am interested in your experiences too.
Cheers.

Road bikes and panniers? They're fine. Plenty of people rack up megamiles without a hitch. This being your first time on a road bike only complicates matters unnecessarily.

Used them a few times myself. The weight shift took a bit of getting used to, but after that, perfect.

Flat bars suck arse if you want to cover ground quickly and/or efficiently and/or comfortably. You may as well attach a parachute.

[TheInternet]

Jimbo. said:

Flat bars suck arse if you want to cover ground quickly and/or efficiently and/or comfortably. You may as well attach a parachute.

They're valid points, but I don't think there's much in it for stop/start city commuting. IMO the slightly more upright hybrid position is much better for seeing, and to be seen by, especially at night. I also find the inevitable tight/sudden manoeuvering and braking far easier on flat bars.

Edited by TheInternet on Sunday 12th January 17:50

[Mr Gear]

TheInternet said:

Jimbo. said:

Flat bars suck arse if you want to cover ground quickly and/or efficiently and/or comfortably. You may as well attach a parachute.

They're valid points, but I don't think there's much in it for stop/start city commuting. IMO the slightly more upright hybrid position is much better for seeing, and to be seen by, especially at night. I also find the inevitable tight/sudden manoeuvering and braking far easier on flat bars.

Edited by TheInternet on Sunday 12th January 17:50

My 15 mile commute is done better on an old mountain bike on slicks than it is on a £1500 road bike. The riding position, the pedals, the gearing, the durability, the maneuverability, etc etc etc are much better on my dedicated commuter machine. The proper road bike is much better suited to the open road, not an urban grind.

[JPJ]

Drops at least give you an opportunity to be more aerodynamic on windy commutes, which is the one major downside of being up on a pair of flat bars. For an hour long commute, this may be worth bearing in mind.

Having used the pannier and rack option for a while, I always found it heavy and not much fun to commute with. A friend recommended a Carradice bag and I picked the SQR slim which will hold a laptop and my clothes for the day (I leave shoes and shower stuff at work) and it's so much lighter and easy to use. The other great advantage is that the mounting bracket is small and light, so if you want to use your bike outside of commuting duties you're not lugging a rack with you as well.

[Gavstar]

Another issue I've just found is that unless I have the pedal under the arch of my foot, my heel is knocking the bag as I cycle. However the more I ride the bike the more I love the feeling. Maybe two smaller panniers would be better than the one I have.
Edited to add I mean the more I love the feeling of riding it not banging my heel on the bag!
I think I need to try a fast hybrid and also a different road bike that is designed to take a pannier rack. The range in my LBS is much less than Evans, but the service I've received so far has been so good I'm hesitant to go elsewhere.

Edited by Gavstar on Sunday 12th January 20:19

[TheInternet]

Gavstar said:

Another issue I've just found is that unless I have the pedal under the arch of my foot, my heel is knocking the bag as I cycle.

You can usually reposition them to avoid this, most I've seen have adjustable mounting points to move them back.

[DrMekon]

If you use panniers a lot, get a fast tourer / audax bike, rather than a race / sportive bike. It'll have longer chainstays, as well as a longer wheelbase, so will be more stable and you'll have less chance of heel / pannier issues. The downside is that it won't be as nippy when you aren't loaded. See the bottom pic - that extra clearance makes a difference. I've never clipped my panniers with my heel.

Here's my old girl. She's got a massive rack.

[Gizmoish]

Never had any trouble looking over my shoulder on drop bars, riding on the tops (admittedly my position was never >that< low).

Worth saying that drops are much narrower than flat bars too, which helps when filtering through traffic.