Hi there,

I posted about doing the coast - coast last year but unfortunately it never happened.

I am determined to do it this summer though.

My only problem is my mountain bike is a Giant XTC 2 Advanced and there are no options for racks - I would like to camp & bring minimal gear.

Is there any way around this? Is it possible to get racks that clamp on for sit on the skewer through the wheel?

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

N

I did once fit a rack to a suspension fork by mounting it on the skewer. Can't remember exactly how I did it but I know I had to use a rear skewer and spacers.
If you want to go minimalist then why not go bikepack style rather than using a rack?

Old Man Mountain racks should sort you.

I have to ask why you'd want to fit a rack. OMM do do one but they're not cheap, an pair of Alpkit dry bags (Airlok Xtra and Xtra Tapered) can be had for under £25. They'll weigh a lot less than a rack and if you're packing light should provide enough capacity.

Tubus do a kit for fitting a rack to a skewer and then you could get a seatclamp with rack eyelets for the other fixing point.

However as said above for a coast to coast a bikepacking setup with a drybag on your handlebars and a big saddlebag/drybag under the seat could suffice. The cost might be less as well.

Look at luggage on the Alpkit website.

Take a look at http://www.wildcatgear.co.uk

Much better than a rack!

Blackburn do one: http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Blackburn-Exped ... 34290.htm#

It's half the weight and a third of the price of the OMM racks, although you'll need some p-clips, You can keep the weight down and improve handling by strapping a drybag to the top, rather than using panniers, but the standard bikepacking gear is better again.

Thule do this system which has all sorts of add-ons to enable panniers etc. I think Stu reviewed it ages ago too (though the name will be different as Thule bought the system from the original developer).

However, as most others have said, why not go light with some proper bikepacking gear for a similar / potentially lower cost? Seems a shame to have a nice light (I assume) carbon bike and then fit a pannier system that immediately adds a load of weight in itself, before you even start packing tins of beans and a duvet

Thanks for the reply guys,

Those Alp Kits bags look like they might be just what I need!

Now to work out what I might need to bring

snack_ie wrote:Thanks for the reply guys,

Those Alp Kits bags look like they might be just what I need!

Now to work out what I might need to bring

thats half the fun. Although the real trick is working out what NOT to bring