Touring - Ortlieb vs Old Man Mountain

I did a short, week long tour this summer with my new Ortliebs front and rear. I liked them for their simplicity and capacity. I was quite surprised and disappointed to see the wear in the legs of the OMM Ultimate rack where the lower retainer hook track made contact. Just a week of smooth hwy riding. I hate to think what a longer tour would do. Anyone else had this happen? Any good sloutions? I am thinking maybe a steel hose clamp at the contact points. Tape or rubber hose wraps would wear out faster than the aluminum.

I use black fabric electrical tape on all contact points. Eliminates all rattling and wear on the rack.

sth, Here's another option http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip for the wear points.

Brad

I use black fabric electrical tape on all contact points. Eliminates all rattling and wear on the rack.

x2, hockey tape works well too

I use black fabric electrical tape on all contact points. Eliminates all rattling and wear on the rack.

I am curious what you mean by fabric electrical tape. As a former electrician, the only types of tape that were used in the electrical world when I was involved that I recall were either not fabric or not especially suitable. The stuff that is usually referred to as electrical tape is plastic with no fabric. Way back in the day we did use "friction tape" sometimes called "tar tape", but I doubt that is what you mean.

I am curious what you mean by fabric electrical tape. As a former electrician, the only types of tape that were used in the electrical world when I was involved that I recall were either not fabric or not especially suitable. The stuff that is usually referred to as electrical tape is plastic with no fabric. Way back in the day we did use "friction tape" sometimes called "tar tape", but I doubt that is what you mean.

Bought it at Home Depot. Says it is electrical tape. Same size as the plastic stuff, but holds much better.

Wayne from The Touring Store suggested tape similar to what is/was used to wrap tennis racket handles. I could see hockey tape working, too.

I am curious what you mean by fabric electrical tape.

I'd call for "Gaffers tape", at least the Good stuff..

OMM is a painted aluminum rack.. FWIW Tubus is Powder coated Steel Tube
there may be finish wear but 4130 will take a very long time for plastic ,
even with some sand imbedded in it to wear thru.

'Helicopter tape' , at least that used to patch together Hueys in Nam
to get you back in the air , from the jungles
is aluminum .. metal ..

Got Coasties out here , lots of Helicopter maintenance done ..


lower hook is not a tight fit, , maybe inner tube + tape
will fatten up the rack to stop it rattling.

Up top, if you take the insert out of the hook,
you can fatten up that point to 14mm diameter.

The OMM rack is aluminum and has proven to be sturdy and rugged. I have been happy with it. It isn't just the finish that has worn through, it is worn into the alum material, maybe .5mm, I dunno. I thought about tape, duct, hockey, electrical, but I think that friction that causes the alum to wear would blow through tape in short order. Hmm, maybe alum muffler tape? Is that the helo tape feitsbob mentions? I kinda wish Ortlieb used bungie cord and a hook like my Arkels did. I have a Surly rear rack and am thinking about getting the front as it is steel but my beloved Olive has disc brakes and it might not fit too well. Maybe with some fancy washer and shim use? I want to go away next year for a long trip and want to sort this out ahead of time.

Just the Bungee thing, negates the quick removal..

nothing to stop you adding it after the fact.

My Beckman bag set for Bruce Gordon's racks , the bag runs a webbing strap ,
down in a V, that goes tight when a buckle is tightened..
zero bounce off.. none, never..

some bungee mounts do bounce off, on rough roads..
but combining with Ortlieb's catch closing hooks may resolve that.

I think I miss read this at first thinking you were worried about the pannier. Is the wear you are worried about is the finish rubbing off of the rack? If so, my advice is to ignore it as normal wear.

I've been commuting with Ortliebs on an OMM rear rack for about 5 years now, and have the same wear pattern on the OMM (about 0.5mm to 1mm). This appeared fairly quickly, in the first year of use probably, but doesn't seem to be getting any worse.

[EDIT] Took another look at the rack after posting this and noticed that one of the stay tubes was completely worn through on one side. So ... I'm now in the market for a new stainless steel rack :notamused:

Or maybe you might want to add some pannier dropout hooks to anchor the bungee cord hook to. Banjo Bros, SJS and a few other companies used to sell them OMM racks are fairly solid but their paint wears pretty quickly so count on paint maintenance eventually.

I think I miss read this at first thinking you were worried about the pannier. Is the wear you are worried about is the finish rubbing off of the rack? If so, my advice is to ignore it as normal wear.

It is the rack that is wearing not just the finish. That would be no big deal. The aluminum is wearing, running my finger along the tube I can feel a small rut forming. The tube wall can't be too think so I worry that on a long and possibly rougher trip I could run into trouble.

I've been commuting with Ortliebs on an OMM rear rack for about 5 years now, and have the same wear pattern on the OMM (about 0.5mm to 1mm). This appeared fairly quickly, in the first year of use probably, but doesn't seem to be getting any worse.
Well that is good news. Maybe I should just wrap some good tape there and not worry about it. Thanks.

I've been commuting with Ortliebs on an OMM rear rack for about 5 years now, and have the same wear pattern on the OMM (about 0.5mm to 1mm). This appeared fairly quickly, in the first year of use probably, but doesn't seem to be getting any worse.

I second that.

Bought it at Home Depot. Says it is electrical tape. Same size as the plastic stuff, but holds much better.

Are you referring to electrical splicing tape? It looks like electrical tape but thicker and made with rubber. It is really good stuff.

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/scotch-3-4-in-x-15-ft-2242-electrical-splicing-tape-6165-ba-10.html