Touring - Pannier racks: which to buy?

I want to put pannier racks on my mountain bike and have been going through old threads in this forum to find out more about them. The Old Man Mountain brand is recommended by many, but they would put a serious dent in my budget. Are they really that much better than the rest? What is so good about them? Are they stronger? I understand they have an innovative design that allows them to be used with disk brakes and suspension, but my bike has neither, so I should have no problem mounting a cheaper brand.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Ekdog

i got racks by tubus... everyone ive spoke with says they are great.. dont know how they compare in price or if they are compatible for you.. but check them out...

OMM are great if you don't have mounting points for racks. Actually, they're great when you have them, too.
But if your MTB does have mounting points, then you have many more options than the pricey OMM.
I've heard good things about Jandd and Delta.
Not sure what you can put your hands on, in Spain.

+1 on the Tubus.

The price of racks can get a little crazy. If you have mounting points on the frame, the generic ones are going to last a real long time and be plenty rigid. Here in Canada the house brands from MEC go for less than 20.00 Cdn. dollars. and work just fine. On our tandem I wanted something more rigid and went with OMM and have been very happy with the product. ( But they are five times the price, or more.)

Just go to a local bike shop and get a generic. It'll cost 25-30 bucks and will outlast the bike.

I agree with buying racks locally-- you get to mount them and see if they work. Sometimes you need a special rack for a bike-- some rear racks have set backs to stop heel strike, front racks mount a couple of different ways, but most bikes can use the simple cheap ones. I'd look for a racks that mounts from the brake bosses on front and from the seat stays in the back.

Tubus and Surly make very good racks that cost $$$$. Buy them if you're about to ride around the world. If your have less agressive touring plans, buy cheaper racks and panniers. They'll work just fine if you're not totally flush with cash.

I've had great luck with Axiom racks. When I did my little French tour, I had an Axiom rack on the back sporting Arkel T-42s containing seven weeks worth of stuff, including digital cameras, a laptop, several books, clothes, toiletries, and on top of the rack I had my canvas rucksacks tied down. The front rack was a Delta with Arkel T-28s that carried very lightweight things. The front rack was completely destroyed by the end of the trip and I tossed it out rather than bring it home. The rear one, the Axiom, still hauls all my groceries and many library books as sturdily as the day I put it on. I've just bought another one for my single speed beater. Both were around $30 each. I almost bought the OMM, but thought I'd try out the Axiom first and when it worked well here, I just went ahead and used it overseas.

I have a Blackburn exp and a cheap knoeck-off copy on my daily commuter. the knock off gets a lot more use inc heavy shopping but such is the design with fully triangulated stays that it works fine. The triangulation adds stiffness in all directions, check out the Blackburn so you understand this feature.
If you are heading way out of bikeshop country a tubular steel rack may be useful but the Al rod designs have proven themselves.
I like a rack to be as simple as it can. A rear light bracket is a big plus.
Adjustable height vertical stays are pointless ; Ive never had to adjust the height of my rack, get one that fits and has no height adjustment mechanism.
A solid top plate can pevent mud splatter but if you use fenders, the open style top has more flexible choice of attatchment points for bungie chords.

I got Blackburn racks and I use them to get a weeks worth of groceries which usually weight anywhere from 25-50pounds.

Back when I was a big trash hunting bike collector. I'd haul loads as big as 100lbs on the blackburn racks without any failure. The only thing that did break was the attachment piece that connected the rack to the rear brake.

I'd just get the Blackburn expedition or a Jadd racks.

At one point I had one whole bmx bike, heavy schwinn 60s road bike, various speakers, other stuff from garbage onto the Blackburn rack. The pile on back of my Cannondale ST500 touring bike was thirdworld country huge!!!

Tubus