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Ideas to carry clothes to the office on a road bike?

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Ideas to carry clothes to the office on a road bike?

Old 12-06-19, 10:57 PM
  #26  
Kedosto
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Clearly the only practical solution here is to buy an additional bike. N+1. Problem solved.


-Kedosto
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Old 12-07-19, 06:03 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by Kedosto
Clearly the only practical solution here is to buy an additional bike. N+1. Problem solved.


-Kedosto
Correct. I still NEED a gravel bike and a touring bike. My wife is happy to disagree though.
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Old 12-07-19, 06:50 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by tcs
An approach recommended by Fred DeLong in Bicycling! back in the 1960s.
It's a good idea, but if he's like me and he doesn't want to give up that 5th day of bike commuting, it won't work. My favored commute mode is with my road bike, and I've tried out a lot of different ideas over the years to keep it uncluttered and unencumbered with extra hardware and mounts and so on. I'm fortunate that I can go pretty light, maybe just a change (no shoes!) and sometimes even less than that in nice weather. But if you do have to carry a laptop and shoes and towel and maybe a couple of other things it really limits your options.

I just have a different bike for those loads, seriously. It's not extravagant - you can spend more for a good rack and panniers than my pack bike cost. Though as I mentioned, I finally gave in and put a rack on the road bike, and while it seems a shame to "spoil" the minimalist configuration, when you get right down to it it doesn't make that much sense to keep it a "pure" road bike when you use it more for something else like commuting.
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Old 12-08-19, 08:36 AM
  #29  
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Another idea for you is this "Jammer" bag from Road Runner Bags. I have the "Middle Earth" size, just make sure your handlebars are wide enough so that your shifters will still operate without hitting the bag, which can be a challenge on the down-shift. You can use it as a very large seat bag as well, just need those Brooks-type loops on it. It's pretty easy to quickly and easily move from one bike to the other, or remove when you get to the destination.

Mine carries: laptop, tablet, shoes/belt/socks (stuffed inside the shoes), and lunch (which is normally in a sealed glass container). After all this, there is still extra room, then on the weekends I move it to my gravel off-road rig, and it works perfectly.
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Old 12-08-19, 09:45 AM
  #30  
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If you have a large handlebar bag you can make an adapter that fits on your seatpost and holds the handlebar bag BEHIND the saddle.

Here is one I made using an old cut-down handlebar and an old threadless stem.








BTW, rolling clothing up takes less space than does folding it.

Cheers
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Old 12-08-19, 11:19 AM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by Miele Man
If you have a large handlebar bag you can make an adapter that fits on your seatpost and holds the handlebar bag BEHIND the saddle.

Here is one I made using an old cut-down handlebar and an old threadless stem.








BTW, rolling clothing up takes less space than does folding it.

Cheers
you're not the only one with a suggestion for a seatpost bag, but the OP specified that he's using a carbon seatpost. I'm not sure I'd want to introduce those forces there.

Good tip though!
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Old 12-08-19, 11:33 AM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by Unca_Sam
you're not the only one with a suggestion for a seatpost bag, but the OP specified that he's using a carbon seatpost. I'm not sure I'd want to introduce those forces there.

Good tip though!
I only read his first post.

I wonder now what his bicycle frame material is? If it's steel or aluminium I'd consider putting an alloy seatpost on it so he could then use a large seat bag or a handlebar bag mounted as I showed.

Cheers
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Old 12-08-19, 12:38 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by Miele Man
I only read his first post.

I wonder now what his bicycle frame material is? If it's steel or aluminium I'd consider putting an alloy seatpost on it so he could then use a large seat bag or a handlebar bag mounted as I showed.

Cheers
Frame is aluminium. I have been using a bikepacking saddle bag, but it's too slow to detach and reattach every day if I want it not to move when riding out of saddle.

Monday and Friday I have to commute by car anyway, so I'm going to try leaving everything at the office on Monday and bringing it back on Friday.

I wanted to avoid that approach because there aren't lockers at the office, so this means leaving the bag at my desk and having to walk the whole office dressed as a sweated cyclist to retrieve my clothes (never seen anyone do this), but I'm just going to get over it. It's more practical for me and will allow for a faster and more comfortable commute.
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Old 12-08-19, 12:51 PM
  #34  
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My commute is 26-30km each way (depending on route). I leave a toiletries bag at the office, along with a towel and a pair of shoes. That way i'm just carrying the "soft" goods for the day, and they all fit into an underseat roll-top bag like this one: https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5047-2...lene-Seat-Pack
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Old 12-09-19, 09:53 AM
  #35  
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Tailfin. It's an expensive product, but it's gotten very favorable reviews from audax and other ultra riders. They have a few variations (a rack-top bag, panniers, etc) It's designed to work on racing bikes, so it snaps on/off quickly and doesn't require messing with P-clamps.

I was commuting for a while on a road bike using a rack and a pannier. The bike did have rack eyelets, but its geometry was not oriented toward load-carrying. My rack was cantilevered pretty far out back to avoid heel strike, and even a modest load really affected handling. Just something to keep in mind. I'm using a backpack now (which I know doesn't help the OP) and leaving as much stuff at the office as possible. If I had to carry more, I'd look hard at the Tailfin setup.
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Old 12-09-19, 01:03 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by adamrice
Tailfin. It's an expensive product, but it's gotten very favorable reviews from audax and other ultra riders. They have a few variations (a rack-top bag, panniers, etc) It's designed to work on racing bikes, so it snaps on/off quickly and doesn't require messing with P-clamps.

I was commuting for a while on a road bike using a rack and a pannier. The bike did have rack eyelets, but its geometry was not oriented toward load-carrying. My rack was cantilevered pretty far out back to avoid heel strike, and even a modest load really affected handling. Just something to keep in mind. I'm using a backpack now (which I know doesn't help the OP) and leaving as much stuff at the office as possible. If I had to carry more, I'd look hard at the Tailfin setup.
I don't understand the advantage of a tailfin over a normal rack unless you're weight obsessed (which is not my case). I don't care about carrying an extra kg when commuting.

In any case, today I left clothes and lunch for tomorrow at the office, so tomorrow I can commute really light.
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Old 12-09-19, 01:07 PM
  #37  
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Apart from the weight, the advantages are easy on/off without a lot of hardware (you do need their special QR skewer or through-axle), and it seems to be adapted to road-bike geometry.
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