Touring - Racks: Tubus Logo vs. Jandd Expedition

I'm trying to decide which rear rack to put on my new Surly LHT. I have size 14 feet, which means heel strike is likely to be an issue. Looking at pictures, both these racks seem to have a long bar for mounting the panniers - which should make it easier for me to slide my panniers as far back as possible.

I was at a bike shop that had the Expedition and some Tubus model (I wasn't familiar enough to know which I was looking at and I didn't write anything down - idiot!) The Tubus felt lighter than the Jandd, which would be nice.

However, I'm going to be bungeeing my tent and sleeping bag crossways to the top of the rack. The Tubus looks positively skinny. The Jandd looks really wide!

I think I'm leaning towards the Jandd, but want to make sure that there's enough room to slide the panniers back. Also, is the narrow width of the Tubus really a problem?

Thanks!

I have a Tubus Cargo rack. I believe that you can get longer rails for mounting any of the Tubus racks. If you want to talk to a guy that really knows his racks (hmmm.. not sure that came out the way I intended) go online to www.thetouringstore.com and call Wayne (1-800-747-0588)

I have a Jandd Expedition on my Trek 520 and a Tubus Cosmo on my mountain bike. They both allow the panniers to be set quite a bit further back than standard racks to clear my heels. I think the Tubus Cosmo/Logo carries the bag lower than the Jandd. I like the aesthetics of the Tubus and the price of the Jandd. They both are sturdy and do the job.

I have Tubus Logo and found three problems with it for me. First, the top is too narrow for some applications (such as mounting a trunk bag). I bought a piece of Lexan and made a top shelf for more width on the Logo.

Second, if one mounts panniers on the lower bar to get panniers further back, there is no adequate stop on the Logo to prevent panniers from sliding back and off (for those with traditional hook type mounts). I solved this by wrapping electrical tape at the bend so the hook slides against that and no further.

Third, for those with standard hook and bungee for lower mounting of a pannier, the bottom rail slopes up so there is no adequate stop. Again, I used tape to form a stop.

The Jandd does not suffer from the first or second issue above, but appears to have the same problem for the lower pannier hook.

I had the Jandd exp 2, and the Tubus Cargo.

Cargo is a bit lighter. It is VERY stiff, great rack. The Jandd was a good rack too. THe jandd is in fact longer front to back than the tubus. probably 1.5" ish.

The tubus has better mounting hardware in terms of the attachement from the front of the rack to the seat stays. The Jandd uses those cheesy aluminum plumbers tape thingies (as do most racks) that don't provide any lateral stability. I think this is only an issue if that dimension is long - which it might be on a big bike, too, but not sure about that. That dimension is very long (oddly) on my bike, which is very small (trek 520 17"). The tubus' system makes for an absolutely rock solid attachment, which i really like, no sway even when I stand to climb.

I liked the closed platform on the Jandd in terms of never having to worry about stuff getting down into my wheel, but it's not a big deal - i just put my tarp or tent footprint over that area before lashing on the other stuff. SO that's not a deciding point. Not having that platform is helpful in you have a complex pannier mount - i have the arkels, which have a little flippy turny thingy (sorry for the technical jargon), and it's a lot easier to mount the arekls on the tubus than the jandd, 'cause you can get your fingers in there to turn it.

In terms of width, the jandd is probabably a little wider than the cargo (i think the logo is narrower still), but that makes no difference if you have rear panniers on, the panniers support any overlapping tent or whatever.

I never had any problem with bottom-hook placement. I have my bags mounted fairly far back, but not extremely - I have little feet and am not trying to correct a heel strike issue.

don't know if that helps at all....

I have Tubus Logo and found three problems with it for me. First, the top is too narrow for some applications (such as mounting a trunk bag). I bought a piece of Lexan and made a top shelf for more width on the Logo.

Second, if one mounts panniers on the lower bar to get panniers further back, there is no adequate stop on the Logo to prevent panniers from sliding back and off (for those with traditional hook type mounts). I solved this by wrapping electrical tape at the bend so the hook slides against that and no further.

Third, for those with standard hook and bungee for lower mounting of a pannier, the bottom rail slopes up so there is no adequate stop. Again, I used tape to form a stop.

The Jandd does not suffer from the first or second issue above, but appears to have the same problem for the lower pannier hook.

I have both on two different bikes. The Logo suffers from all that you say it does. It's usable and fits well but it does have some issues. The Cargo is much better for hauling stuff.

i used the jandd expedition on my recent trip with a 54cm lht and liked it a lot. taking it to europe soon, used with novara safari panniers. they as so strong, i sometimes sit in them an cycle when i get sick of saddle! i forget to say, my feet are size 11,
with novara safari panniers about all the way back, i have about 2.5inch clearancew... so that should work fine for you..
i think they are aluminum? not sure...

I have the Jandd Expedition front & rear. I did not like the cheezy strap they use for attaching to the rear rack to the seat tube so I ordered a set of the Tubus tubular stays and used them with the Jandd rack. Worked great. Wayne at Touring Store can help you identify the right parts if you want to try that route.
I also am using the REI Novara panniers and have no problem with heel strike...and I don't have the bags all the way back as far as possible.

I have a Jandd on the front and rear of my 520 and they both work great it's been 3 tours now and no problem. I love the platform on the from rack for putting a bike bag.

We both have the Jandd Expedition (http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/BikeRacks.html) on our bikes and they are bombproof. In fact, one of the braze-ons on my bike broke (under excessive weight while on a bumpy road in Laos) but the rack held out.

But.... The Tubus racks are designed to work together with Ortlieb Panniers (http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/BikePanniers.html). The lower bar on the Tubus rack allows the panniers to be carried just a fraction lower so the duffel bag can be strapped above (see photo). While the Jandd rack works just fine, you can see in the photo how the duffel bag bows toward the center.

http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/sitebuilder/images/Amanda_and_Tsunami_Warning_Sign_at_Bang_Ben-187x250.jpg (http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/BikeRacks.html) http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/sitebuilder/images/LangkawiBeachMalaysiaAmanda-250x188.jpg (http://www.vwvagabonds.com/Bike/BikePanniers.html)

I have the Jandd rack on my 60cm LHT and I don't have any clearance or reliability issues. Although I haven't done any extended touring and I'm only using the smaller Arkel T-28's on the rear and I only have size 11.5 feet. I guess I'm not much help.





(I wasn't familiar enough to know which I was looking at and I didn't write anything down - idiot!)

This is the best Napoleon Dyamite impersonation I've read in a while!

I have both on two different bikes. The Logo suffers from all that you say it does. It's usable and fits well but it does have some issues. The Cargo is much better for hauling stuff.

Sorry to resurrect this thread..

I've considered purchasing the Logo because I have large feet and believe heel clearance is going to be an issue.

I was wondering about the problem you had with the Logo: if you mount the hooks before the weld on the rack, wouldn't that keep it from sliding off? I attached the image if my question is unclear. Would I be better off with the Cargo in the long run if I were planning on doing more serious touring, or would nicer attachment systems on bags fix the problem all together?


http://i.imgur.com/z30hC.jpg

I have Tubus Logo and found three problems with it for me. First, the top is too narrow for some applications (such as mounting a trunk bag). I bought a piece of Lexan and made a top shelf for more width on the Logo.

Second, if one mounts panniers on the lower bar to get panniers further back, there is no adequate stop on the Logo to prevent panniers from sliding back and off (for those with traditional hook type mounts). I solved this by wrapping electrical tape at the bend so the hook slides against that and no further.

Third, for those with standard hook and bungee for lower mounting of a pannier, the bottom rail slopes up so there is no adequate stop. Again, I used tape to form a stop.

The Jandd does not suffer from the first or second issue above, but appears to have the same problem for the lower pannier hook.

My Expedition doesn't have the totally smooth bottom of some I've seen, it looks like this one:

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/9285/janddexpeditionrearrack.jpg

That notch provides a spot for hooks to hang out. Not the best spot for sure, although I haven't had any problems when I have loads bungee'd down and the hook there, but I did have a pannier with a small bungee hook on the bottom and not the greatest hooks on top jump ship yesterday.

To each his own, but with the crazy loads I sometimes carry, I wouldn't trust electrical tape to keep a bungee or pannier from working its way off a rail like that. Maybe a couple of zip ties next to each other would work well though. I think two would act like two nuts on a bolt, keeping the first from moving.

I really like having the platform of the deck on my rear rack. Not only is it useful for strapping loads to, but I like just having an elevated flat surface with the bike. I've eaten lunch off mine and often set my lock, gloves, helmet and other accoutrement on the rear deck. My girlfriend just picked up a Novarra Safari and the only thing I've noticed about it that I definitely don't like (other than the turd brown color that is): the no-name rack that came with it is tubular. While working on bikes near it I reflexively I went to set something on her rack and was foiled by the lack of a deck!

I had the Jandd exp 2, and the Tubus Cargo.

Cargo is a bit lighter. It is VERY stiff, great rack. The Jandd was a good rack too. The Jandd is in fact longer front to back than the tubus. probably 1.5" - ish.

The Tubus has better mounting hardware in terms of the attachment from the front of the rack to the seat stays. The Jandd uses those cheesy aluminum plumbers tape thingies (as do most racks) that don't provide any lateral stability.

I think this is only an issue if that dimension is long - which it might be on a big bike, too, but not sure about that. That dimension is very long (oddly) on my bike, which is very small (trek 520 17"). The Tubus' system makes for an absolutely rock solid attachment, which i really like, no sway even when I stand to climb.

I liked the closed platform on the Jandd in terms of never having to worry about stuff getting down into my wheel, but it's not a big deal - i just put my tarp or tent footprint over that area before lashing on the other stuff. SO that's not a deciding point. Not having that platform is helpful in you have a complex pannier mount - i have the Arkels, which have a little flippy turny thingy (sorry for the technical jargon), and it's a lot easier to mount the Arkels on the Tubus than the Jandd, 'cause you can get your fingers in there to turn it.

In terms of width, the Jandd is probably a little wider than the cargo (i think the logo is narrower still), but that makes no difference if you have rear panniers on, the panniers support any overlapping tent or whatever.

I never had any problem with bottom-hook placement. I have my bags mounted fairly far back, but not extremely - I have little feet and am not trying to correct a heel strike issue.

don't know if that helps at all....

" The Jandd uses those cheesy aluminum plumbers tape thingies (as do most racks) that don't provide any lateral stability.

Does your loaded rack sway side-to-side when you pop out of the saddle to hill climb? I haven't tested mine properly yet since upgrading from something cheap that I had heel strike on (size 12, often with big shoes/boots). FWIW regarding the OP, I haven't had any real heel strike issues with the Jannd. Once, I barely felt my heel brush against one of my panniers when my foot was not in the right spot on the pedal yet after starting from a full stop. That's using Ortliebs, the Sunlite Fortress, and my Basil Weekender. I keep meaning to try moving them up and see if there is any room there, but out of habit from my old racks heel strike issues I keep mounting the bags all the way to the rear.

I'm very happy with my Jannd rack so far, but if I notice my rear rack swaying back and forth when I am out of the saddle climbing and consensus is that the Tubus is more stable in that regard I might strongly consider it. The lack of a deck is kind of a deal breaker for me though.