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What is your opinion on Specialized Pizza Rack vs Bontrager Carry Forward rack?
I have a Giant Toughroad (carbon fork with no triple bosses, has lowrider eyelets but only outside + hole at the fork crown), going to tour with my kid in trailer, so need some extra packing space. Was thinking about Tubus Tara first but the Big Apple version is impossible to get anywhere sooner than next August. These two I am considering to add small (Vaude or Ortlieb) panniers for longer tours and also carry something on the platform (I already have Wald 139 from previous bike that I could reuse here) instead of a handlebar harness. I am going to add dynamo lighting at some point, so that would go on the rack and I wouldn't remove it outside of touring then.
@Föhn has praised the Pizza Rack that the higher panniers position help on trails, but on the other hand I feel Bontrager would give me more stable steering with low rider position and make less forces on fork (5 mounting points including fork eyelets vs 3 on Specialized). I am not going to do any crazy trails with panniers as I will be towing a double Thule Chariot at the same time, whenever riding solo I would probably only use platform for cargo carrying. -
What is your opinion on Specialized Pizza Rack vs Bontrager Carry Forward rack?
I have a Giant Toughroad (carbon fork with no triple bosses, has lowrider eyelets but only outside + hole at the fork crown), going to tour with my kid in trailer, so need some extra packing space. Was thinking about Tubus Tara first but the Big Apple version is impossible to get anywhere sooner than next August. These two I am considering to add small (Vaude or Ortlieb) panniers for longer tours and also carry something on the platform (I already have Wald 139 from previous bike that I could reuse here) instead of a handlebar harness. I am going to add dynamo lighting at some point, so that would go on the rack and I wouldn't remove it outside of touring then.
@Föhn has praised the Pizza Rack that the higher panniers position help on trails, but on the other hand I feel Bontrager would give me more stable steering with low rider position and make less forces on fork (5 mounting points including fork eyelets vs 3 on Specialized). I am not going to do any crazy trails with panniers as I will be towing a double Thule Chariot at the same time, whenever riding solo I would probably only use platform for cargo carrying. -
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Giant one is also an option, though I read opinions that this design is not solid enough (only attached to one mid-blade and one lower eyelet) and that wa good rack should either has mid connection like Tara or connect on two sides like Duo you have linked, but my fork doesn't have mid-blade eyelets from inside, only the outside ones.
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Looking for a lowrider rack for my Giant Toughroad, so I have mid-blade eyelets only on the outside of fork and I need it to clear at least 29x2.1 tyre. Tubus Tara Big Apple is unavailable everywhere with availability expected in August 2023, any alternatives to that one? Or should I go for a Pizza Rack and just deal with a bit worse stability from higher mounted panniers?
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I am planning my setup as well for trips with my daughter in kid trailer, but also some ultra races, I have a Giant Toughroad (midfork mounts for rack but no fork cages mounts), I already have a seatbag harness, handlebar harness and plan to get a full framebag. For solo short trips and races it will be enough, but for trips with kid I need more space, do you believe adding a low rider will work better or a pizza rack with basket or a bag on top instead of harness and panniers if needed? Will tour on tarmac and dirt roads mostly.
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My Edge 800, used well since early 2015, has been worse and worse on batter and even the power button broke (the seal, the button still worked with some gimmicky pushing). After looking on the options I decided to buy Lezyne Mega XL GPS and I am very happy with it. Battery life is wonderful, monochromatic display is enough and easily readable regardless of conditions, finally got some smartphone integration. Maps are OSM based so also fine, just requires phone connection for starting navigation. Also cheap second hand, sold Edge and only had to pay 30GBP extra for perfect condition Lezyne.
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Planning to switch to tubeless for my road bike, I have some Stan's Race sealant left in bottle, how is it for road tubeless use (700x32 tyre)? Wondering if use it or switch to Orange Seal that seems to be recommended in most places. Don't want too much hassle with cleaning, at best pour sealant once, later top up as needed, and just keep riding until tyres need replacing.
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I decided to switch from two tubed tyresets (previously Veloflex Master for summer and Vittoria Rubino Pro Control for bad weather period) to one tubeless.
Which tubeless road tyres in 700x32c would you recommend? I am not going to race, I would like it to be comfortable, but pleasant to ride at the same time. So far in reasonable prices in Poland/Germany (about 85 EUR for pair with shipping) I found Conti GP5000 TL, Goodyear Eagle F1 and Pirelli Cinturato Velo. Tanwall would be welcome but even harder to find in good price. -
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I know them very well, but Ruut is quite racey and I don't think it fits mudguards at all. Bogan would be more interesting for me, but again, Apex 1 with 11-42 cassette and mechanical brakes just doesn't cut it for me. For flatter areas sure, but now that I have moved to the south of Poland, it's much more mountainous here.
I could make my Equilibrium more fitting, but with SS cage rear mech I wouldn't gain much lower gears without swapping entire drivetrain. -
I have explored these bikes already, my main problem is either availability or costs - Pipedream finally has revised the geo and has proper 70 mm BB drop, but just the frameset would be 66% price of used Trek 920 that I could buy (let alone if customs add some toll for shipping to Poland). Adding any decent wheels and hydro drivetrain would make it cost even more. I have been attracted by Sutra for a long long time, but basically since 2020 the only ones I have seen available in Poland or second-hand in my size were the basic SE alloy ones.
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I know that, just I would like to have a bike that meets the basic requirements while not being crap to ride outside it.
A must-have for me:
Hydraulic brakes
Low gearing, lower than 1:1 gear ratio
Mudguard mounts
Wide tyre clearance with mudguards, at best 2.0+
Fork mounts for bottle/utility cages
Thru axles nice to have
Regarding the basket - I already have a Wald and no bags specific for strapping to a platform, but I am not really decided how will I use it, for now just a flexibility of having a platform is welcome.
The kickstand point is actually a good one, as the frame lacks a kickstand mount in the back and trailer is axle-mounted so a Giant kickstand designed for this model that also mounts there is not an option. Towing a trailer it is also harder to find a suitable spot to lean the bike against like I have always been doing.