Touring - Racks? - Locks?

I actually have 2 questions but didn't want to make 2 threads.

I know that Tubus and Surly make very nice and dependable racks, but they are also pricey. Does anyone have any cheaper recommendations? Axioms racks looks nice, does anyone have any experience with these?


Second question, I currently live in Philadelphia where bike theft is ridiculous, people will actually steal your stem and handlebars! So I always am carrying a ulock, cable, and NYC kryptonite chain. I obviously don't want to be carrying all of these on my cross country tour so what do you guys recommend lock wise, will a u lock and cable do it?

I used to live in Philadelphia and omg yes they'll steal anything from a bike there. For touring, though, I recommend just one cable lock. Once you get outside of dense urban areas, you really just need something to prevent somebody from rolling it away. A lot of times, I would just hook the bungee cord which was attaching my sleeping bag to the top of my rear rack around a spoke on the rear wheel as my "lock."

If you brought a U-Lock on a cross-country tour I imagine you would probably discard it or mail it home due to the heft. ;)

Cool thanks for the info, that is pretty much what I figured. Things are so bad in Philly now that many of us have started to super glue ball bearings into stem, handle bar, etc. bolts.

Three of us did the TA last year with Blackburn EX-1 rear racks and Nashbar or Performance Lowrider clones on the front. They were cheap light and durable. I have no hesitation in recommending them.

On most of the TA we were in places where people don't lock anything. We found a $15 cable lock adequate and mostly didn't even bother to lock in small remote towns. Just take extra care in the very few big towns.

Jandd expedition II and blackburn front lowrider was the rack combo I used to have, before I went to Tubus, and they were very good.

My two tours I haven't even used a lock at all. I just try to keep my eye on my stuff. But I don't hang in the big city either. However I did feel a little awkward leaving my bike and trailer unlocked outside a big grocery store where I couldn't glance at it often.

There have been lots of threads you could search here about locks on tours - I think the general concensus is, a cheap cable preferred by a slight majority over no lock at all, with very few bringing a substantial (U-lock) device. Assuming your tour is through rural America (& not 'cross some other country ;) ) your biggest threat is not a bike re-seller with an industrial cable-cutter, but bored kids seeing illegal fun.

Three of us did the TA last year with Blackburn EX-1 rear racks and Nashbar or Performance Lowrider clones on the front. They were cheap light and durable. I have no hesitation in recommending them.

On most of the TA we were in places where people don't lock anything. We found a $15 cable lock adequate and mostly didn't even bother to lock in small remote towns. Just take extra care in the very few big towns.

I take a very similar approach. I use a Blackburn EX-2 rack and just use a couple of seatsaver cables for locking the bikes. They are very light and pack easily. I haven't had any troubles while on tour just yet.
However, the touring I do is mainly based in Europe but assume it will be somewhat similar. I have previoulsly written a brief article on bicycle security for touring here (http://www.cyclepig.com/archive/bicycle-security-on-tour/)

I know that Tubus and Surly make very nice and dependable racks, but they are also pricey. Does anyone have any cheaper recommendations? Axioms racks looks nice, does anyone have any experience with these?

I used to have an Axiom Journey Disc rack on my previous bike. Sold it along with the bike because it was for disc brakes and my new rig has regular brakes. The Journey performed well and if it wasn't for the fact that I had the disc version, I'd still have it.