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Long distance unsupported on a Softride?

Old 09-21-21, 01:20 PM
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Gonzo Bob
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Long distance unsupported on a Softride?

I rode a club ride (a recreational club, not a randonneuring club) on Sunday and the ride leader had on a Minnesota Randonneurs jersey. I wasn't aware there was a rando club in Minnesota (I rode a brevet series in Minnesota in 2003 but there was no club at that time so my "club" affiliation for Paris-Brest-Paris was "RUSA Minnesota"). Anyway, I went to their website and saw this race on the schedule...

North Star Bicycle Race #4: https://www.northstarbicyclerace.com/

Thinking about riding it in 2023 maybe. I could use the same bike I used for PBP, but since this is a race, I'm wondering if I could use my Softride. It is a PowerWing 700 so the main issue is that the bike has no seat tube, seat post, or seat stays and so has limited ability to attach any sort of packs. Has anyone used a Softride for long distance enduro-style racing or randonneuring? What are some good sites to find bike packing gear? Thanks for the replies!
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Old 09-21-21, 05:25 PM
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I don't see why not. There's potential for custom frame bags, I think:

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Old 09-21-21, 11:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Gonzo Bob;[url=tel:22240061
22240061[/url]]What are some good sites to find bike packing gear? Thanks for the replies!
https://bikepacking.com/gear/
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Old 09-22-21, 09:17 PM
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That horizontal piece where your seat is attached, is that round? If so, what is the diameter? If it is a diameter that you could shim to install a 1 1/8 inch threadless high angle (~ 35 degree) stem, you could put a stem on it upwards and towards the rear. Then you could put a cut down handlebar or a one inch diameter wood dowel on it that so that it runs side to side. From that you could hang a Carradice style saddle bag.

I have a Carradice bag hanging from a stem on my road bike in the photo below, stem is shimmed to fit the seatpost, I used a painted wood dowel, put a stainless fender washer on each end so the bag straps do not slip off. In my case I put a DIY aluminum rod support under the bag but that is not necessarily needed if you have enough tire clearance below the bag.



Thinking outside the box, you can do just about anything you could possibly want to when it comes to bikes and how to hang a bag on them.
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Old 09-22-21, 11:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN
That horizontal piece where your seat is attached, is that round? If so, what is the diameter? If it is a diameter that you could shim to install a 1 1/8 inch threadless high angle (~ 35 degree) stem, you could put a stem on it upwards and towards the rear.
By "horizontal piece" do you mean the carbon fiber beam? No, that is not round. The top is rounded but the bottom is flat and it is about 1 1/4" tall and wide. A 1 1/8" stem would not fit. But maybe I could get a replacement seat bracket and slide that on behind the saddle and use that to mount a pack somehow (maybe with some sort of "seat rail" like frame).
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Old 09-23-21, 06:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Gonzo Bob
By "horizontal piece" do you mean the carbon fiber beam? No, that is not round. ...
Yes, that is what I was asking about.

I am sure you can come up with some idea.
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Old 09-23-21, 08:19 AM
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There are lots of custom bikepacking-bag makers out there. I've got a small aerobar bag from Kaibab Customs. Hanging a loaded bag from the beam would change its dynamics, of course, and could get in the way of your legs depending on where it sits and how wide it gets. And anchoring it to the downtube might be a problem, with the beam flexing.
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Old 09-23-21, 10:19 AM
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I think one of the larger bikepacking bags should work. There are handlebar bags that probably could be made to work as well.
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