BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

don't get a seat post mounted one.

the ones at kraynick's are probably sufficient. i don't know what he charges...$20?

The racks with adjustable-length supports are kinda nice, as you can mess with clearance over fenders and whatnot. Not terribly necessary, though.

Iron City Bikes put mine on, and I think it's one of those Topeak ones where you can buy specific bags that slide in and lock onto the rack. As for me, I have a milk crate strapped to it, and it's pretty darn sturdy. I'm thinking of getting panniers for it too. Anyway, I think I paid 30 dollars for it? I'm not sure how much it can carry...you'd have to ask the person who puts it on.

I think the topeaks generally have a rating of 25lbs. The axioms I have seen seem to be around 75 lbs. I would think 25 lbs would be fine for grocery getting or around town, but I think I would want something a little more for touring.

I know you can spend a lot more, but I have seen both of those anywhere form 20-40 bux depending on configuration (i.e. disc compatible or standard)

I have a Topeak rack that cost me about $20 and I have Ortlieb full waterproof panniers. I carried a case of beer and a change of clothes in them last weekend.

i guess the most i'll ever want to carry on it would be a 40 pound bag of cat litter, but that's pretty doubtful. i know i can travel for at least a few days with less than 25 pounds of gear. so presumably a cheap topeak rack? do the racks at kraynick's have two supports that go from the rack to the axle eyelets?

Here is a picture of mine loaded up from today:

clicky

My guess is that Kraynick's has something similar, since this one was from Iron City??

The best overall rack design that I know of is the one included with the previous generation Novara Fusion. It has two important features: a rear dog leg that extends pretty far back (this keeps pannier parts out of your spokes) and two horizontal rails on the top (so you can hang bags on the side and easily mount a trunk bag or something else on the top without the two interfering). It was also cheap, from what I remember. You used to be able to order it as a part from REI, but with the new Fusion coming with a different rack, I don't know if they still sell it. It's worth looking into anyway.

The Fusion rack is, indeed, well designed, but it is not strong. I had a Fusion for about 8 months, generally carrying about 15 pounds each day in two panniers. The rear part of the platform snapped cleanly in half at some point. It didn't make the rack unusable (hello, duct tape), but still...

While 500 people were accompanying kegs of Pedal Pale across town, I was at R.E.I. installing a rack. It doesn't have a name on it, and the packaging and receipt are long gone, so I don't know the brand.

I haven't been happy with it. The bolts on the supporting struts all backed out within 100 miles, and the supply bag contained no extras. Even tightened, it's wobbly, and I've had a devil of a time keeping my chain out of its way. I also managed to break off my rear blinkie, which had been under the seat.

I guess it does the job, but I haven't really tested it that much, just bungee-cording my trash-bag wrapped briefcase to it. It all comes down to "there's gotta be a better way to do this". I have at least two other bikes to equip, but I sure won't buy this one again.

I'm also looking for a good rack and bag for commuting.

I bought a Planet Bike rack ($25) for my MTB, and some reasonably priced panniers ($50) which held a lot, but unfortunately when I loaded them up my heels kept hitting them.

So I bought a Toocan ($50) which is a pretty big bag that sits higher than a pannier. I like it aside from the fact it doesn't clip to the rack, one bump and it falls off. So I use a bungee to tie it down by the handle but even that is not foolproof.

So, I was looking at the Topeak MTX rack with the "clip-in" trunk bags - seems like a very secure mounting system (and easy to remove when I get to work) but the bags seem kinda small and expensive. Anyone actually using these who can comment?

I looked at the Ortlieb panniers that rsprake mentioned, they look very nice indeed but have a price to match ($225).

So at this point I'm thinking I should just get a milk crate

I have a Topeak slide-in rack, and from the reviews I saw online at Amazon, a milk crate was suggested over the lock-in basket. The heaviest load I've carried so far was probably around 15-20lbs.

As for the trunk bag, I haven't used one of those, but I am looking at some point to get some panniers. I put a picture of my bike with the crate and rack on it earlier in this thread if you want to see what it looks like---I'm too lazy to repost it.

That said, I do have a shot of the bike from the other direction, which despite the blurriness, you can see how it connects in near the seatpost:

Hmm. Well, that wasn't as large as the other one. Oh well. *shrugs* Anyone know how to do the strikeout html tag on here?

My girlfriend had bought me the Topeak slide-in (Explorer Tubular Rack) as well as the MTX TrunkBag DXP (http://topeak.com/products/Bags/MTXTrunkBagDXP) for my birthday. I've got them installed on my Trek hybrid and I've been really happy with them. The bag itself has zip out panniers and even though they can't carry quite the same massive load of some of the dedicated panniers out there, I've been able to make some sizable grocery runs without any trouble. It's also kinda nice because you can just slide the whole bag off fully loaded and carry it inside rather than having to either upload them or disconnect a couple of different bags first. It also has a nice shoulder strap.

Picture of the rack and the connections:

Salty, the panniers are $165 at REI and I had a 20% off coupon so I got them for a lot less than that even. I needed them for winter / wet commuting as I take my laptop back and fourth 13+ miles a day. I had a couple close calls with bags soaking through and didn't want to take any more chances.

hm... the sticker on the side of the Ortleibs (at REI) said $225 - maybe they were a different model or else the sticker was just wrong. they looked really nice though. i just bought a new bike so i'd like to give panniers another shot and see if i have enough foot clearance now.

the MTX stuff does look interesting - i do like the idea of just being able to slide the bag off when i get to work (although the better panniers seem to have cool retention mechanisms as well)...

too many choices

I'd recommend checking out the waterproof panniers from Banjo Brothers. I have a set and they've proven to be pretty fantastic.

http://urbanvelo.org/banjo-brothers-waterproof-pannier/

Otherwise, many of you seem to be finding out the wonder of racks - that they take constant fiddling and experimentation in order to get just-so for your bike and uses. For better or worse, those seem to be the breaks for everyone without a quality touring bike and its dedicated rack mounts.

This is what I run, just a cheap "High Trails" rack w/ Sunlite 2 panniers. Had 2 1/2 gallons of milk, 2 dozen eggs, and assorted stuff on a grocery run the other day. Came to around 40lbs and did okay.

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