Topeak Explorer Rack and Trunk Bag
 

Last week I ordered and received the Topeak Explorer Rack and MTX Trunk Bag from Amazon and absolutely love them!
The rack is secure and the trunk bag is so much better than the flimsy ones I've owned in the past.

The ability to just slide the bag off the rack and carry it with me is awesome! No straps, cords or anything like that to unbuckle.

I especially like the fact that the bag sides are stiff and don't droop or sag.

I enjoy photography while cycling and this setup is perfect for carrying my camera, cell phone, snacks etc...

Highly recommend!

Any other Topeak fans??

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Yes - Love it. I usually use the larger bag with panniers but this is from a ride around town with the smaller trunk bag. Most of the time this small bag is on my mountain bike with a Topeak beam rack.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps8430ca9c.jpg

I have the MTX bag and rack combo. I love them but they have a tendency to rattle a lot when I'm riding. Is there any way to fix the rattling?

so easy its almost stupid. love the combo. here's my bike with the rack and the bag that has the zip panniers for my work clothes and folder of papers. model name eludes me currently.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8122/8...7e6bf2_c_d.jpg

I have an Explorer DX rack with the same trunk bag. Great combo. It's on my wife's bike now. I think I'm going to give Ibera for the new bike.

Mine rattles a bit too but not enough to bother me. It tends to quiet when there is some weight in the bag.

If mine rattles I haven't noticed it.

I like it enough that I'm slowly moving all my bikes with racks over to this system.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8461/8...4235aed9_c.jpg

I get the rattle when I have a light load. I carry around a shim that I stick in the back after the bag is loaded. It's an extra step, but it keeps things quiet.

LOVE your bike Andy! How do you like it?

I love the Topeak rack/bag combo. Makes the commute so much easier. I'll often leave my tail light attached to the bag as well, so I don't have an extra thing to remember to carry in, and so I'll have it regardless of which bike I take. I also love the rear basket. I'm looking for an excuse to get the rolling crate as well, but I haven't come up with a good reason yet.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=319893

This. If the contents of the bag are light as a feather, it's going to rattle. I'm not telling you to put an anvil in the bag or anything, but my commute loadout probably weighs about 10 extra pounds, and there is no rattling.

For the record: I have the Explorer racks on all of my bikes but two (Wald and Ventura on those two), and own two MTX bags, one with the foldout panniers...and that's the one I commute to work with. Love them! :beer:

I just put one on my mt bike but haven't bought the bag yet, it's good to see positive reviews so my next purchase will be the bag

The bag is perfect for me. I can expand or reduce capacity as needed, and even with the panniers deployed, the windage is not too bad - mostly behind my legs and body. I eliminated any rattling by adding a couple strips of cloth friction tape to the platform, which is all it takes to snug it up. Also added a small bungee that fits around the back of the track to add a little extra security so the entire bag is not held in place by a single clip in the front. Found a fitted rain cover at REI that fits over the bag without the panniers deployed. I also have a set of Ortlieb panniers front and rear, but they rarely see use for commuting . . . primarily used for touring.

http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/...C855007BC1.jpg

Then how does it stay on? I had to search a little bit, it looks like it's a system where the bag slides onto custom rails on a matching Topeak rack.

Is your trunk one of the ones that you can unzip side panniers?

Does it have velcro straps or clips or anything to attach to non-topeak racks?

The bag has a spring-supported ABS plastic clip on the front, which latches upward onto the forward-most lateral bar of the Topeak rack. When it clips in place, it's connected/held down solidly. The MTX bags do not have any sort of clips or straps for non-Topeak racks, and therein lies the rub: Buying the MTX trunk bags without purchasing the MTX rack to go with them is not a good idea. Thanks to the plastic rail which runs along the bottom of the bags, they don't seat as well onto other rack types.

I've got a similar Topeak bag, and also bought it with photography in mind. Plenty of room for my 50D and up to a 70-300 zoom. The fold out panniers have been very handy to have on occasion. I bought the strap mounted version, however. I have multiple bikes and didn't relish the idea of needing to buy multiples of their proprietary rack.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8383/8...d9e93888_c.jpg

It's a great trunk/pannier combo. I rode with one for several years and highly recommend it. With that said, if you do a lot of rain rides (I do) you need to remember to buy and pack the rain cover. I finally got tired of having to put the cover on/off and switched to an Ortlieb waterproof pannier that I also like very much. Both are great systems.

Here is a short video fron the Topeak Youtube Channel

I'm really happy with it. It's my third Jake (I also have a 2008 Jake and a 2008 Major Jake) so I guess I'm a bit of a fan boy, but it has lived up to my expectations.

If you haven't already seen it, my "88-mile review" is here. I'm at around 1300 miles now, but my early impressions are still pretty reflective of what I think of it.

I'll probably end up buying one of these to go with my Topeak rack. My one and only pannier clips on the top-side part of the rack to install. The Topeak bag looks like it would block the use of that pannier when installed.

Yes, the trunk bag does block the pannier mounting rails. The Explorer rack will hold the trunk bag (with or w/o built in panniers) or independent panniers, but not both at the same time. Topeak has a Super Tourist rack that will allow mounting both independent panniers and the trunk bag at the same time. http://topeak.com/products/Racks/Sup...tDXTubularRack

Yes, the Super Tourist is the rack I use for exactly that reason. I replaced my original rack so that I could use the Topeak bag with panniers, although, in reality, I rarely do that. Still, even without using the Topeak bag, the Tourist rack makes for better pannier handling. It puts them a little lower and provides a little more material behind the pannier to keep it from sagging into the wheel. I use the same rack for touring that I use for commuting, but I never take the Topeak bag on tour. I got the one with the spring clip, which has another bonus (apart from the basic utility of a spring clip) in that the bag clips on to the spring clip, not the rack, which moves the trunk bag about an inch back. With my old rack, I could never click the basket in. I had to supplement it with bungees because it would hit the back of the seat before the clip met the end of the rack. It still worked, but it's much better now that the basket sits a little further back and has no problem clicking in.

I got a rack with my new bike and I am saving up to buy a trunk bag. Does anyone use it as a cooler for carrying their lunch? Right now, I just have an old lunch box bungeed to the top and my backpack/pannier hanging from the side...

Not exactly used as a cooler, but the MTX bag with fold-out panniers holds a Bento Box snugly in-between my work shoes, and that Bento holds plenty of food for one person's lunch. I wouldn't trust it to keep anything cold if the environment isn't just as cold.

I use a Topeak Office trunk bag for my laptop, nice for padding and balance. The rack system is very secure.

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A little more detail of how you stop the rattle**********? I hate rattles!

Just slide a piece of folded paper between the rack and bag when the bag is 70% on the rack, and then push the bag all the way in. The paper gets pulled in between the rack and bag, and stops the rattle.

Add strips of cloth friction tape to the platform. Available at Home Depot. Snugs things up, and you don't have to fiddle with it again.

I just installed my Explorer Rack and MTX trunk bag (EX). After a couple rides, I didn't notice any rattles on mine, but perhaps I'm not as sensitive to the noise?

I'm returning the EX though, as I have the DXP coming in tomorrow. Hopefully that one doesn't rattle.

Not much to add to all the good info so far. I don't have the rack that goes with it, so I got the one that velcros to your rack. I'm quite happy with it, although now I just use it in the summer when I am only commuting to work and not to school 5 days a week too. It took me a while to realize that it wasn't waterproof as usually the rain here is pretty light. I have the model with the fold out panniers, I was surprised at how well these worked, I was a little sceptical at first. I'm lucky in that the rack I use it on (Nitto Big Front Rack) has little pegs that are perfect for hooking the little bungees at the bottom of the panniers to. The reflective stripe is a nice touch too, it showed up brilliantly when I took a flash photo of the bike. I am tempted to cut off the water bottle holder, as I can't see myself ever using it.