Originally Posted by
smasha
Ideally, I want the bags' bottom hooks to be facing forward and down at about a 45° angle, because:
- a forward-facing hook helps secure the bottom of the bag when braking, and
- a downward-facing hook helps secure the bag over bumps
On rough rides, and the hard-braking that can be part of commuter riding, a rear-facing hook is really not ideal, at least not for me. Now I'm wondering if I should go with the "regular" steel racks, and some tubing over wear-points. It might be prudent to use the tubing either way, which would kind of make the stainless rack worse, without the nub.
My alu racks have shown wear under the hooks, and other contact points, but they've all failed from metal fatigue just above where they've been mounted to the frame. That said, the two that I've blown through were both Topeak Super-Tourist Disc racks, and with the old commuter bike I need the extra width around the disk brake. I'm wondering if an Axiom Streamliner 29er DLX might hold up better on a newer bike… Or for a fraction of the cost of a Tubus, would it only last for a fraction of the time?
What panniers do you use? I use a Ortlieb Rollers (back and front) that are over a decade old, they may have changed the hooks since. The upper hooks have a clamping hook at the bottom that holds the pannier to the upper rail quite firmly. I do not use the inserts for the hooks that are for different rack diameters, instead i have some plastic tubbing over the wear points. It is clear plastic from the hardware store, 3/8" ID and 1/2 " OD, slit lengthwise. Initially wrapped electrical tape over the tubing, but that sometimes started to unwrap, now I put small zip ties over the electric tape.
First photo before I used zip ties. This bike has unusually long chainstays, pannier is a bit further forward on my Logo than on my other bikes. Note my lower hook is where you said it works poorly for you, but with my upper Ortlieb hooks holding the panniers on really well, that lower hook can work there. I also used some of that hardware store tubing on the lower part of the rack to prevent chaffing. When I brake or hit bumps, the panniers do not shift, the lower hook stays there quite well. Lower hook might come unhooked if I crash, but if I crash, I would expect some things to get unhooked. I have only crashed this bike once with panniers on it, I do not recall the pannier hooks coming loose.
The rack below is an aluminum Racktime Addit. That shows the short zipties I also used on the plastic tubing. This is on a bike with shorter chainstays. You have to look very close to see the clear tubing and zip ties, I was in a hurry to take the photo as the sun was about to set.
This photo is better at showing the tubing on the Racktime rack, with small zipties.
I also have some Carradry panniers, but for purposes of discussion here, my Ortlieb photos are much better.
Regarding fitting a rack on your bike with a disc brake, I can't comment on that, my brake on the above bike is out of the way of the rack.
Do not rule out Racktime racks (aluminum), they are made by teh Tubus company, but sold under a different name. I do not know if Racktime is sold in USA again or not, for a while it was not sold here.