[gwmd2000]

I am determined to do just about everything on my bicycle this year...commuting, groceries, of course the odd tour (planning on doing a credit card tour of the Katy Trail this summer), etc...

My ride is an '05 Specialized Sirrus Comp:

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?minisite=10085&spid=9620

...and after some searching I decided to purchase these panniers:

http://www.ortliebusa.com/cartgenie/prodInfo.asp?pid=31&cid=2

...now all I need is a rear rack! Is there a perfect match? Did I get the right panniers? Will my Madone laugh at me (or worse yet get jealous and try to buck me off)?

Thanks in advance.

SJMH

 

[bigbill]

Most of the welded aluminum racks are pretty much the same. The only difficulty that you might encounter is having the right hardware to mount it. The rack will come with a bag of bolts and nuts, but sometimes you need a shorter bolt for the drive side dropout mount. If you are handy and have a dremel, not a problem. I had a plastic box of hardware to dig through to find what I needed. As far as the panniers, see if your LBS will fit them up to your rack to make sure that you have adequate heel clearance. Panniers may be a hard fit. You can get a ginormous expandable rack bag that will hold alot if panniers will not clear your feet. If you want to do credit card touring the simple way, only take a tshirt, running shorts, and flip flops in your bag. When you stop for the evening, wash your bike stuff in the sink of the hotel and let it dry overnight. Put it back on and go. If you want to get fancy, take a second pair of shorts. I did this for three days once and it worked out fine. I only used a rack bag.

 

[Jesse D Smith]

I am determined to do just about everything on my bicycle this year...commuting, groceries, of course the odd tour (planning on doing a credit card tour of the Katy Trail this summer), etc...

My ride is an '05 Specialized Sirrus Comp:

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?minisite=10085&spid=9620

...and after some searching I decided to purchase these panniers:

http://www.ortliebusa.com/cartgenie/prodInfo.asp?pid=31&cid=2

...now all I need is a rear rack! Is there a perfect match? Did I get the right panniers? Will my Madone laugh at me (or worse yet get jealous and try to buck me off)?

Thanks in advance.

SJMH

http://www.oldmanmountain.com/faq.htm#10
Give Channing an email telling him what bike and what panniers you have and he'll make a perfect match. I bought one of his racks for my commuter. When I switched to disc brakes, he send me the necessary spacers so the rack clears the caliper. The only charge was shipping.

 

[ispoke]

maybe any rack?

According to the link, your bike has 4 rack bosses (2 upper, 2 lower). So you could use any 4-point traditional rack. Given that it doesn't sound like you'll be carrying too much weight, for very far, you could do aluminum (cheap) instead of steel (stronger).

If the OMM style appeals to you, so be it. If you want to use a traditional rack, though, perhaps a light aluminum rack with a solid top would work well and double as a partial fender. I use a Jandd "standard", but its 40 pound rating may be overkill for you. Save some weight and consider the Jandd "lite duty" rated at 25 pounds:

http://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FRECN

Blackburn makes something similar, REI has their own knockoff, and Performance and Nashbar probably have equivalants. If you want something fancy and can spend a little more, check out the IRD "Jakar" stainless rack with the optional matte sand blast finish:

http://store.interlocracing.com/jaststra.html

According to the link, your bike has 16.7" chainstays. My light touring bike is similar, and I don't have heel clearance problems using 175mm cranks and size 10 shoes. YMMV. Dunno about rack compatibility with your panniers, but I recall that Ortlieb has rack recommendations on their website so that might be helpful...

 

[gwmd2000]

Decision Made...

Thanks for all of your advice. I decided on the IRD Jakar Stainless Steel Rack. I'll report on my impressions after it gets some mileage...