Medic Zero

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I looked into the Surly offering. At first glance it appears very similar to the Nitto, and is a little cheaper, but they had a rash of failures early on and have never acknowledged them and stated they upgraded their design, so I went with the proven Nitto.


Here's a pic of mine in action:



That's a slab of granite (now a coaster in the garden) I found on the side of the road, about 3 miles downhill from where I live. I gain a about 500' of elevation in a tough climb from there, it was basically at the foot of the ridge. I've also hauled a overflowing full size Ortlieb filled with books on a single pannier with that rack, home over 8 hilly, rutted miles. That Nitto rack is sterling.

It's also threaded for accessories on the side (M5 IIRC), has a little tab to hook bungees and tie-on panniers to, and a reflector/light boss at the front.

It's possible it may even be lighter than the Surly. It's CrMo though, and I do recall being surprised at how heavy it seemed when it came in the mail.

Medic Zero

I heartily disagree. I love having both. I usually leave the deck clear, until I come across a farmers stand, or towards the end of the day it carries firewood or beer, or fresh groceries the last few miles to the campsite. I love having a deck, and I love splitting my load between front and rear panniers. The Nitto is an elegant way to do it, although to be fair, I should point out it's pretty big, it might run the danger of looking oversize on some bikes, if that is a concern for the owner. I've seen some intriguing combinations of small racks on low riders as an alternative, but none of them seem to have to load carrying capacity I actually want a deck for.

BigAura

OK, it makes sense for you guys lugging a case of beer, a haul of firewood, or a slab of marble! Personally I've never done, nor felt the need to, do any of those on tour. The cool thing is every tour & every tourist is different.

BTW: That front pannier only photo is an old small Jim Blackburn and not the Surly rack I was referencing at the beginning of my post. Here's that rig showing the rack sans panniers.

veganbikes

What kind of touring are you doing? I regularly carry a full weight set while touring and those who don't clearly aren't able to tour properly and shouldn't be on this forum...JK ; )

Erick L

I know. I had a Surly which has a similar design but I found I had no use for the lower position so I got the OMM, which is lighter and less bulky.

LlamaBikes

Just want to point out that if you ever plan on taking your bike on a standard north american type bus bike rack the highrider and surly&nitto type designs will prevent the main arm that holds the bike by the front tire will not fit.

I have tried both the Surly and Tubus designs, and would want to try the OMM type, but I've found the Tubus Nova to be just perfect for me. We'll see if I ever have an issue with pannier strike on backroads and trails but I think i'll be fine, I have been so far.

79pmooney

I am a huge fan of Lowriders. I have used (to death) many Blackburns and have the JandD on one bike. The JandD is a little less elegant, much stiffer, much stronger and will probably outlive several Blackburns. (Blackburns break at the dropout eye and it is a given that it will happen, just a matter of time.)

If you do not have Lowrider mounts on the forks, mount and removal with the C clamps is a pain in the butt. (But once on, works really well. Best considered a permanent addition.)

Ben

treebound 

It looks like this option mounts to the brake bosses instead of the lowrider mounts down on the fork. Are there any concerns one way or the other as to where a rack attaches to the bike?

Good thread with lots of options to consider. I think I really need to see some stuff in person to really get a feel for what I might end up with.

Last night I swapped rear racks on my bike due to test fitting some bags I had and finding out the rack that I had on it were not a happy match to any of the bags I've currently got.

treebound 

Llamabikes,
Yep, bus racks are something to keep in mind. Bike fenders can interfere with the bus racks too.

bikemig 

I have jandd expedition rack for the rear and the extreme front rack. These are strong, well made racks.

Medic Zero

Interesting, I don't believe mine came with that option, only P clamps or mid fork braze ons. My Old Man Mountain rack attaches to the brake bosses, no problems whatsoever, and I've regularly carried very heavy loads there.

indyfabz

I have this rack. It will not mount to the fork mounts. I use the rubber covered P clamps that are supplied with the rack. They work fine. The big question you have to ask yourself is whether you are willing to shell out the $$$. I think Rivendell is selling the rack for around $210 these days. I paid about $189 when I got mine in 2011.

himespau 

I didn't find the mounting of the JandD to be that arduous, but I only did it once and never took it off until I tore the bike down to move and never put it back on - moved somewhere that I had to have a car so no more loading up 80+ pound (front + back) of groceries to haul home. Seemed rock solid.

treebound 

Cost is a factor, so is durability and functionality, so I fully understand the old design rule of " done fast, built good, low cost, pick two" and replacing with "cost, durability, functionality, prioritize to personal needs". I've been thinking about it and how I'd use it loaded and unloaded, and I'm kind of narrowing things down to the Surly Nice and the JandD Extreme, but I might change my mind once I think a bit more.

But no hurry, I'm thinking of just sorting out the bike this year and working all the bugs out. And if something comes up sooner then I'll just pack the BOB and go (which reminds me, I need another skewer and some pins for the trailer).

mijome07

Although this is a high-ride setup, I like it.

AKTed

The picture posted by Medic Zero is my bike. I made the L-bracket to attach to the canti post. I originally used the included P-brackets but was not happy with the stability. Unfortunately on the LHT, the mid fork braze ons don't mesh with the rack.
[IMG][/IMG]

I never really tested the canti-mount so I don't know how well it worked but it seemed pretty solid. I've got different canti brakes on the bike now and the L-brackets won't work, so I've been looking at at other options. I may go back to the Nitto though, as it really is a pretty and versatile rack.

-Ted

treebound 

I picked up a Nitto rack today on the way home from work. I was still wavering between a smaller upper rack and adding a low rider later on, or coin flipping between the Nitto and Surly racks. So I stopped at a LBS that had all in stock (rare to find any shop that had them at all), and compared side by side, and decided to go with the Nitto. I was still a bit short but they cut me a deal which put it in reach. The p-clamps and hardware don't quite fit around the fork blade so I need to get a longer screw tomorrow from a hardware store. I'm also debating between using the middle hole on the bottom mounting tab, or using the top hole which would still clear the tire but might be tight if/when I add fenders. In any case I'm looking forward to finishing the mounting and taking it out for a trial ride around town.



.

Ps, thank you all for helping my decision process.

mijome07

Nice bike. Rack looks good on there.

treebound 

I had to go see what it looked like in the other mounting hole, and yep too low, still good to check though.

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rifraf

Looks good Mijome07
Please talk me through how/where the panniers attach to your Porteur rack.
The bit thats causing me a little confusion is how proud the extreme edge of the top flat of the rack is compared to the stays that run down to the hub axel. Putting it a slightly different way, what mounts does the ortlieb bag attach to?

sjt78

The rack looks great. Actually the whole bike looks awesome. I'm still dumbfounded that you found a shop that had it in stock AND also had the Surly racks. That just blows my mind. Mind sharing the name of that shop as they should get some credit to fellow tourers? I don't have such a shop around here, but I know I'd travel a bit to one that stocked such things as they probably have other items that are relevant to touring.

treebound 

Ben's Cycle has a healthy ebay activity, does a fair bit of business with local bike commuters and tourers, and as such has a very well equipped inventory or can quickly order stuff if they don't have it on hand. Plus it has come in handy that they are pretty much on my commute route home about a mile off the freeway.

treebound 

The Velo Orange site shows one with a pannier on it:
VO Porteur Rack
imagelinked to https://store.velo-orange.com/media/c.../pannier_1.jpg


They also have a short blog posting about racks and mounting options:
The Velo ORANGE Blog: Front Rack Basics

alan s 

I just ordered a set of touring wheels from Ben's Cycle. Should arrive Friday. Good to know they have a decent reputation locally. Excellent price, a knowledgeable person on the line, and quick turnaround won my business. They had to order a hub, and still got the job done in less than a week.

What I don't get is custom wheelbuilders that give delivery times in weeks rather than days and charge 20% higher than the competition. Wheelbuilding is a service, not a dark art.

mijome07

Thanks treebound for putting up the link/photo. I wouldn't mind putting a bag on top with light bulky stuff and things I would need to have an easy access to.

The only thing I would think of being annoying, is not being able to access the front panniers because how they mount on the rack, under the top shelf. I'm guessing to only pack stuff in there I'll need to access when I camp.

By the way, the photo I posted was pulled in an image search.