Dark Arrow

Hi All

I have some classic Ortlieb back rollers that I was thinking of putting on the front of my Vivente Touring bike. I have tubus Duo mounts on the front. I was thinking of getting the back roller plus for the rear of my bike and ditching the duffel bag on top. The back rollers on the front fit, but hang a bit lower. I haven't filled them up to touring load to see how they hang and with clearance when riding. I was wondering if anyone else has used the back rollers on the front with Tubus Duo mounts on a 700c bike?

Cheers
Bear

Tourist in MSN

Tubus S mounts, is that a substitute for mid fork mounts that are brazed into the fork?

Dark Arrow

Sorry Mate,, I used my own term.. Tubus Duo rack is what I have

MarcusT

I have used front rollers on the back without a problem, so I don't see why back to front won't work. The only thing to consider is because of the larger volume, putting too much weight on the front, thus affecting your steering and such

dabac

Don’t load them to capacity and you’ll be fine.

thedave80

I've got Ortlieb back rollers on a Tubus Tara front rack. Pretty close to what you're looking to do and it works well.

pdlamb

That's a lot of volume to load up front. Fill it lightly!

Tourist in MSN

Have not done it, but I have occasionally seen references to it working for others, but they had to be careful to avoid curbs or other stuff in the road since they hang quite low.

I would not be surprised if a crash with the Duo caused a rack bolt or two to break and require extraction. I do not know what the Tubus Duo is rated at, the Tara might hold up in a crash better with the hoop over the top potentially putting less stress on the rack bolts if you had a crash.

skimaxpower

Load capacity of the Duo rack is The load capacity is 15kg (33 pounds) total.

So make sure you're putting light/bulky things up there like sleeping bag, tent, clothing.

TallTourist

I have the Vivente Deccan with a Tubus Duo rack up front. I ordered Ortlieb Backrollers initially to put them on the front but the shipper sent me front rollers saying that the back rollers would hang too low. Well I didn't have the time to insist they send me what I ordered so now I'm stuck with the frontrollers. I am sure backrollers would work but they would limit your ability to corner hard and if you're riding a trail where the sides are up higher than where your tires are then that's going to create a problem. You can certainly do it and I think it will be fine for the most part but expect that you'll have to strap the bags to the back or elsewhere in some conditions.

I have the Back Roller Plus Ortliebs on the back. I suggest you don't get them. They are too wide. You'll notice it a lot. Think of narrow bridge crossings, walkways with handrails on either side. sidewalks or narrow two way bike paths, parapets etc. Doorways to buildings (standard doorway is too narrow to fit) elevators and best of all if you have to push your bike up a hill you have to lean the bike way over to give your legs room beside the bike and then it's really easy for the bike to fall over (at least for me cause I have the floppy XXXL frame, maybe it won't happen for you if you are normal sized). The only good thing about the Back Roller Plus panniers IMO is the outer pocket protects the inner bag from inevitable scuffs but then those scuffs don't happen when your bags are normal sized. Oh and did I mention wind resistance? If you have narrower and taller panniers (or just stuff strapped to your rack) you'll be better off in a headwind because of less surface area to push on. Oh and again, if you like to corner hard as I do (leaning way over) you'll drag the bags on the pavement/dirt. Backroller plus + backrollers is also about 110 liters of volume...might be overkill. Certainly would be more versatile to just add some duffle bags onto the rack(s) or just strap stuff up there like your tent/tarp whatever since it's probably going to be wet or dirty anyway.

Vivente recommended I get the Duo rack but IMO it's a piece of garbage. Mine's already bent on one side so I'm just going to huck it in the trash when I get a good rack. 15 kg total is a joke, I prefer to have lots of weight up front because the front wheel is stronger and relatively unladen compared to the rear, not possible with the duo though so you wear out rear tires and stress your rear wheel much more. Only problem will be the headlight may become obstructed with a better rack. Probably an easy fix, though.

Best of luck!

Whatever it's worth I had Backrollers front and rear on my last touring bike and that was a great setup though I had a Surly "Nice Rack" Front rack at the time so I could mount the bags high or low no problem, I'll be buying another Surley Front Rack ASAP

How do you like your bike overall?

Dark Arrow

I really love this bike "Patagonia" and my wife has the "Gibb" My bike replaced my 1991 Giant expedition that is pretty worn. Last guess was over 30,000k on that bike so I'll let you know how I go in a few years lol. I was sorta hoping to shoulder more of my wife's load on my bike and have her run much lighter. Currently I have the 40l Ortlieb classic rollers in the back and 25l up front. We've been training for the last 6 months with me carrying more and more of our load. I was hoping to make it very easy (in my eyes anyway) for her.

Bear

Doug64

Curb damage on an Ortlieb front roller, 700c wheels, Tubus Tara rack. Still waterproof, but it could have been worse. I think the Classic back rollers would be unwieldy on the front of the bike. I also think carrying heavy weights on the front may affect shock dampening characteristics of the fork, but that is just a speculation.

MarcusT

Are you going to repair that before it unravels? I was thinking a rubber raft repair kit.

A poster from here explained to me that when there is too much weight on the front with suspension fork, the handle bars go down rather than the wheel coming up. For the longest time I tried to figure it out and in the end, I don't see the difference.

Dark Arrow

Ohh my that looks cold mate..

37C here today supposed to break 40c by Monday,,, I'll send you some of our heat mate

thedave80

It was a bit chilly out, but it was a great trip. 40 degrees, ouch, too bad we can't split the difference.

Rob_E

After a little experimentation that became my preferred way to carry my gear on my 700c LHT. But rack was an Old Man Mountain platform rack that held the panniers a little higher, which was helpful. Also i was trying to limit myself to two panniers, with miscellaneous gear stuck on the rear rack. I have run 4 large panniers front and back, but I was much happier when I was able to cut two panniers out of the system.

Dark Arrow

Nice setup mate,,

What rear gearing system are you using?

Rob_E

It's an old set-up, and I don't remember the sproket sizes. I had a Nuvinci hub with a compact double up front, which I shifted manually when I loaded it up for travel, keeping it in the higher range for my normal commute.

boomhauer

I tried my rear panniers up front years ago. Handling was first rate. Aerodynamic into a headwind?....not so much.

bike trip 2012 etc... 003.jpg

fietsbob

I measure.. 31cm vs 34, for hook to bottom edge, of the front And rear Ortlieb, roll closed bags..

DanBell

I met a Swiss guy in Baja with the most gear I've ever seen on a bike. Surly DT with the big Surly racks front and back. Had a set of back rollers on the front and the back, as well as the Ortlieb rack top duffle on the front and the back too. Insane amount of luggage. But he had been on the road for two years with that setup, including cycling all over Africa, so I guess it worked for him.

TallTourist

Yeah they're pretty decent bikes, look cool too. I'm definitely looking forward to installing fatter tires, though. My kidneys get a beating on backroads here.

I don't suppose your wife drafting you is an option... If you're comfy with it it's quite the game changer. I guess if you go with the bigger Ortliebs in the back of your bike at least you'll have a second person to hold doors open wider for you

BBassett

Load the bike and ride it, changeup and ride some more, then do it again and again until you figure out the specific load ride characteristics that you prefer. Why ask for advice when you know this is something that needs to be tested?