"Question, has anybody bought a front or rear rack from MEC and put a decent amount of weight on it? The racks look sort of weak and are definatly made out of some sort of alloy."

It's no better than a Blackburn, it's just a copy. the welds look good, and the cost of Al being what it is, there isn't any reason why they would go with cheaper alloy. However, somewhere on their site, a while back, there was a profile of a couple that was more or less permanently bike touring, sorta a pro staff. One of their major points was, no alloy racks!!

Here it is:

http://www.mec.ca/Main/content_text....=1168459625144

I don't blame MEC, I don't think the market for better racks that are almost as complicated as frames to build, more parts, bending as well as joining, and that really need a custom fit, is sufficient to justify their carrying them. I wish they sold racks as nice as the surley, as a bottom rung on the ladder, but I don't think the market for 250 worth of racks is there.