Advice on panier rack please

Firms like Tubus or Tailfin make racks or rack adapters that can be used on frames without eyelets, though can be quite pricey (esp. Tailfin). The usual approach is to mount the lower legs on the QR or through axle, with a clamp-on collar at the seatpost to locate the top of the rack. I suspect it may be possible to use the Tubus kit to mount another brand of rack but thats just a guess.

As its an aluminium frame, it might be possible to use P-clips for all the carrier mounting points but they may scratch and damage the frame if over tightened.

On the GCN documentary about the 2020 GBDURO, one of the racers had her bike fall over while leaning against a tree (not crash, just fall over) and this was what happened to her €350+ carbon rack.

Think it’s because they’re pretty much the only option for carbon bikes, nobody else has bothered to compete in the space so they can charge the outrageous prices

Most don’t even think about it these days, people just buying mid range road bikes for the commute to the office, which used to be all aluminium bikes but now carbon is more common, and then not wanting to use a backpack after a while but they’ve no other option

I don't think that he would. However, he did do what I said. I brought it up to show that it's not impossible to use a carbon bike for touring/bikepacking

I think people get too caught up on specialising their bikes. Any given bike is probably much more capable than what most people think

Gatorskins are an abomination in the wet. Made the mistake of having them on commuter years ago. Very sketchy.

Fully recommend never ever buying them