Rear vs under seat pannier racks?

kizarmynot

kizarmynot

Well-Known Member
Black Hawk Down said:
Here's my S40 loaded down for an 11,000 mile tour around the US perimeter.

View attachment 17016

After the first night, I sent the duffel bag home with about 23 lbs of excess weight. Don't think I could do a camping tour with only two bags.

As far as wind resistance, I don't see that the bags under the seat have any more resistance than the bags on the rear rack. You can hang one bag underneath but if it's real heavy, you may list a little to one side.
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Going back to a post from last year because I'm considering using my S40 instead of Q45 for an upcoming hilly 8 day tour. My problem with the Q was the recumbutt, which was occurring after about 15 minutes toward the end of the last 2 week trip (I was fairly upright).

I've been out on the S40 a few times and found there are no RB symptoms even after several hours. With that in mind I found I could get the stock Q seat to a similar angle, but I'm struggling with a neck rest. I have a solution but don't think it would hold up for 8 days and I won't have a chance to get to a buddy's shop before leaving next week.

I confirmed my 26x46 tires fit the S40 and may even allow me to use fenders. It looks like the S40 uses a different mounting for the under seat rack but I think I can work around that. For the rear I'm going to use an Old Man Mountain rack I mentioned in previous posts (it also fits).

So, any other advice on using the S40 for loaded touring?

Thanks!
 
Black Hawk Down

Black Hawk Down

Senior Rookie
kizarmynot said:
Going back to a post from last year because I'm considering using my S40 instead of Q45 for an upcoming hilly 8 day tour. My problem with the Q was the recumbutt, which was occurring after about 15 minutes toward the end of the last 2 week trip (I was fairly upright).

I've been out on the S40 a few times and found there are no RB symptoms even after several hours. With that in mind I found I could get the stock Q seat to a similar angle, but I'm struggling with a neck rest. I have a solution but don't think it would hold up for 8 days and I won't have a chance to get to a buddy's shop before leaving next week.

I confirmed my 26x46 tires fit the S40 and may even allow me to use fenders. It looks like the S40 uses a different mounting for the under seat rack but I think I can work around that. For the rear I'm going to use an Old Man Mountain rack I mentioned in previous posts (it also fits).

So, any other advice on using the S40 for loaded touring?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Good to hear that the S40 doesn't give you recumbutt. For me, that's the only issue with the S40. In every other respect, I consider the S40 the best touring bike you can buy. I was happy with the CB rear and front racks. If you ship the bike, remove the racks before loading into the bike box. I left mine on and the under seat rack was hit by something and the weldments broke off. I had to wire the rack on with steel wire.

I added a Rohloff speed hub to my Q45 and I'm very happy with it. From now on, it's the only way I'll tour. It is expensive and requires a local bike shop to work with you on it. You can't do the conversion yourself. I also ride with tubeless tires. I would never do another tour with tubes. My tire of choice is the Schwalbe Marathon Mondials (26" x 2"). They're not actually tubeless ready but they work tubeless anyway.

The only other advice I can give is to go as minimal as you can with gear if you want the tour to be fun rather than arduous. I am now using a pad computer with a Bluetooth folding keyboard and Bluetooth mouse. It saves about 2 lbs over my laptop and works just as well for me. Good luck.
 
kizarmynot

kizarmynot

Well-Known Member
Black Hawk Down said:
Good to hear that the S40 doesn't give you recumbutt. For me, that's the only issue with the S40. In every other respect, I consider the S40 the best touring bike you can buy. I was happy with the CB rear and front racks. If you ship the bike, remove the racks before loading into the bike box. I left mine on and the under seat rack was hit by something and the weldments broke off. I had to wire the rack on with steel wire.

I added a Rohloff speed hub to my Q45 and I'm very happy with it. From now on, it's the only way I'll tour. It is expensive and requires a local bike shop to work with you on it. You can't do the conversion yourself. I also ride with tubeless tires. I would never do another tour with tubes. My tire of choice is the Schwalbe Marathon Mondials (26" x 2"). They're not actually tubeless ready but they work tubeless anyway.

The only other advice I can give is to go as minimal as you can with gear if you want the tour to be fun rather than arduous. I am now using a pad computer with a Bluetooth folding keyboard and Bluetooth mouse. It saves about 2 lbs over my laptop and works just as well for me. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Are you touring now? If so, are you blogging like the perimeter trip?
 
castlerobber

castlerobber

Zen MBB Master
kizarmynot said:
I've been out on the S40 a few times and found there are no RB symptoms even after several hours.
Click to expand...
I've been looking at the S40 as an eventual replacement for my S30, but the cries of "recumbutt" in the forums have made me hesitate. I realize people who are happy with their bikes don't comment "it doesn't give me recumbutt," but it's still nice to have someone explicitly say they aren't having a problem.
 
A

Animal494

Member
Can to
kizarmynot said:
Going back to a post from last year because I'm considering using my S40 instead of Q45 for an upcoming hilly 8 day tour. My problem with the Q was the recumbutt, which was occurring after about 15 minutes toward the end of the last 2 week trip (I was fairly upright).

I've been out on the S40 a few times and found there are no RB symptoms even after several hours. With that in mind I found I could get the stock Q seat to a similar angle, but I'm struggling with a neck rest. I have a solution but don't think it would hold up for 8 days and I won't have a chance to get to a buddy's shop before leaving next week.

I confirmed my 26x46 tires fit the S40 and may even allow me to use fenders. It looks like the S40 uses a different mounting for the under seat rack but I think I can work around that. For the rear I'm going to use an Old Man Mountain rack I mentioned in previous posts (it also fits).

So, any other advice on using the S40 for loaded touring?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Can you share pictures of your S40 with those 26x46 tires?
 
C

cpml123

Zen MBB Master
castlerobber said:
I've been looking at the S40 as an eventual replacement for my S30, but the cries of "recumbutt" in the forums have made me hesitate. I realize people who are happy with their bikes don't comment "it doesn't give me recumbutt," but it's still nice to have someone explicitly say they aren't having a problem.
Click to expand...
I rode a few thousand miles on S40 in the past few years, including 400 mi western WA tour last year. No recumbutt issue.
 
Black Hawk Down

Black Hawk Down

Senior Rookie
castlerobber said:
I've been looking at the S40 as an eventual replacement for my S30, but the cries of "recumbutt" in the forums have made me hesitate. I realize people who are happy with their bikes don't comment "it doesn't give me recumbutt," but it's still nice to have someone explicitly say they aren't having a problem.
Click to expand...
It all rides on your weight. If you are a light rider, you won't likely have recumbutt. I get it bad on the S40 but I weigh 220 lbs.
 
chicorider

chicorider

Zen MBB Master
Black Hawk Down said:
It all rides on your weight. If you are a light rider, you won't likely have recumbutt. I get it bad on the S40 but I weigh 220 lbs.
Click to expand...
Maybe. I weigh 130 pounds and my recumbutt on the S40 was bad enough that I sold the bike. I am glad to hear stories of people not having this issue. I wish I was one of them.
 
cranky cyclist

cranky cyclist

Guru
I have an S40 and had recumbutt issues at first. What I did was extend the seat pan all of the way towards the front and then added hard foam at the tip of the pan. After I did this I do not have any issues. I weigh about 173 pounds.
 
Always-Learnin

Always-Learnin

Vendetta Love
castlerobber said:
I've been looking at the S40 as an eventual replacement for my S30, but the cries of "recumbutt" in the forums have made me hesitate. I realize people who are happy with their bikes don't comment "it doesn't give me recumbutt," but it's still nice to have someone explicitly say they aren't having a problem.
Click to expand...
Outside riding I do not experience RB. Inside on the trainer, I do with the stock seat. A Thor seat could remedy that.
 
castlerobber

castlerobber

Zen MBB Master
Black Hawk Down said:
It all rides on your weight. If you are a light rider, you won't likely have recumbutt. I get it bad on the S40 but I weigh 220 lbs.
Click to expand...
I'm 5'5", about 135 lbs.

I got a Q45 last year, to replace a Quest with similar seat angle I'd had for 10 years before that. I can ride a couple of hours on the Q45 with no problems. So it has surprised me that so many riders mention recumbutt on a more-reclined bike.
 
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