Pannier rack

Censorsh!t

I'm really sorry, this has probably been asked before, but I'm clueless so wanted to ask myself.

I want to get a pannier rack for my bike, but I've no idea what size and all those specs.

This is the bike I have: http://dawescycles.com/product/duchess-black/

I'm hoping to et a second hand one preferably. Or a cheap good quality one.

Thanks in advance

browsing

I got one in aldi I think it was. ( or maybe it was lidl.) It was adjustable to fit bicycles of different sizes. It's stood be pretty well for the last 2 years I think it is. The panniers have started wearing through the aluminium though but I do use it every day and I have carried some heavy loads in it. I would recommend. I think that would fit a bike like yours. You need to make sure that it has eyelets to fit it to the bike: One on either side of the frame just above the wheel axle and the other ones either side of the frame near the rear brakes mount. There are other ones that mount at the axle itself (i.e. you thread the axle through the pannier attachment point before putting the locking bolts on. I've never used there though.)

Step one - check for required eyelets. You can google the eyelets and how to attach a rack if you're not sure what I'm talking about.

Zen0

Some panniers are sized to fit a particular wheel size. It's not clear what the wheel size on your bike is. The two most common sizes are 700c and 26 inches. 700c is bigger, so a pannier for a 26 in wheel might not fit. Your tyres should have the size on them.

Unfortunately, inexpensive and good quality don't tend to go together. I'm not sure how easy it would be to pick up a second hand one, I have never noticed one for sale second hand. If it is for light loads, any reasonably rack should do, but your best bet is probably to visit your local bike shop.

If you want quality, I can recommend Tubus racks, but they are not cheap.

reallyunique

The Duchess has a 26 inch wheel (559). You can get a rack to fit it but there aren't nice mounting points like on a touring bike. From what I remember there's a "cross piece" between the seat stays and a rack can attach to that. Frankly it's a but of a faff so, if you're not into bending and twisting the forward mounts to fit I'd enlist a proper bike shop or a mate that you'd trust fiddling with your bike.

Your Duchess wasn't really designed with a rear rack in mind which is why it's more of a pain to fit than on some other bikes. Because it wasn't designed for it don't expect to carry really heavy loads like a Dutch bike can. 20kg or so is probably a respectable limit. With that in mind you could look at this.
At about 25 Euro from SJS it's a decent rack for a decent price.
I would recommend against a second hand rack for this particular installation as the various mounts will likely have already been bent to fit another frame and may not like being further contorted.

I'm assuming you need to tie/fix bits and bobs to the rack but if you just have a few more items than fit in the basket then a saddle bag might be another option.

Best of luck