I've had my Kona Sutra since Feb of this year and, for a couple of reasons, have been wanting to replace the (rear) rack that came with it.
1. The last four inches of the back end slant upward. This makes it impossible to fasten stiff items to the top of the rack if they are long enough to touch any of this slanted part. I need a rack that is flat on the top, with the exception of the front end (that part can be flat, slanted or whatever)
2. It's aluminum. I'd prefer a rack made of chromoly.

The Tubus Logo Evo looks like a good rack. I like how its pannier bars are lower down than the top surface (this appeals more to me than Surly's racks do). The part about this Tubus that I'm unsure about is whether the rack-stays will meet up with the Kona Sutra's rack braze-ons. These braze-ons are located on the seat-stays and their surfaces are exactly three inches apart. So the ends of the rack-stays would have to be three inches apart and parallel to each other.

Anyone with experience upgrading the rear rack on your Kona Sutra?

The Tubus rear racks have an ajustable mounting sysem, at least on the Cargo and Cargo Evo rear rack, that will fit 3" mounting braze-ons on the seat stay without bending the stays. The are fully adustable for closer spacing.

Looking at the specs for the Cargo Evo and the Logo Evo, the adjsutment brackets have different part numbers 30006 vs 30005. The drawing on their website show the Cargo' mounting width at the front of the rack at 4.5". The Logo is only 3.5". Based on those measurements, I'd say yhe Logo will have to use the offset stays to fit the Sutra. See if you can contact Tubus to check this "guess "out

I just checked the Tubus Cargo Evo on my Surley LHT and the the baze-ons are also exactly 3" apart.

make do until you can find the perfect rack.

go to the dollar general, buy a small cutting board.

cut to size, sand the rear bit where the rack bends upwards.

varnish, bolt onto top.

you made yourself a cool woodie platform. chicks'll dig it!

https://images.amain.com/images/larg...wald/215ww.jpg
https://tse2-mm.cn.bing.net/th/id/OI...j?pid=Api&rs=1
https://tse1-mm.cn.bing.net/th/id/OI...L?pid=Api&rs=1

I mostly tour with a Logo EVO, I think it is a great rack for panniers and it is rated at 40kg of weight which makes it quite strong.

However I do not use the Logo around home riding because the top platform is quite narrow. Touring I am mostly relying on panniers but around home I often use a rack top bag. Thus for around home riding I use other racks and put the Logo into storage.

Note the dimensions of the Logo platform, you see what I mean on a narrow platform.
https://www.tubus.com/fileadmin/user...Evo_TZ_2.0.pdf

If you buy a Tubus or Racktime, you can buy longer mounting arms to the seatstay if needed. And you can buy ones that are pre-bent.
https://www.tubus.com/en/products/ac...m-with-offset/

Some of the Tubus and Racktime mounting instructions also state that you can bend those stays slightly yourself, but I have not had to bend any stays for my bikes. Note on first page, lower bottom it lists that as a DIY option.
https://www.tubus.com/fileadmin/user...U_Logo_Evo_MA_.

as tmsn said, the logo top platform really is narrow, and you probably wont be happy with it if you plan to strap stuff on that part of a rack.

also, the tubus rack stays have swiveable mounting points on the actual rack area, so its easy to angle them inwards or outwards to the mounting points on a bike, and then of course do a bit of bending if need be to align the end point with the hole in it. This shouldnt be a big deal to do.

just to add, most of us have used aluminum racks forever, so depending on what sort of travelling you intend to do, or simply put, not putting an outrageous amount of weight on your rear rack, a well made aluminum rack works fine---Ive used alu ones for decades AND I do own tubus racks, so Im not being biased and base my opinion on lots of personal experience.

but all that said, the wider top of the Cargo is nice looking, I just preferred to get the lower railed Logo, and Im glad I did, I like having the weight lower.
In the meantime, the idea to add on some sort of easy to add structure to your existing rack would at least make it flat, and easier to put what you want on it--which is what btw--a tent? Even some sections of plastic at intervals could flatten the curve (hey, had to put in a pandemic reference-good luck all you Americans btw for the next month or so) and not be heavy or bulky.

maybe check out google images for your bike + tubus cargo searches, maybe you could find some closeups from above of the mounting

Try the Tubus Cargo Classic (the original, not the EVO model). Included Tubus stays are pretty long (190mm), should fit - if not longer are available, up to 350mm.

I had a 26" model Cargo Classic on my Surly Disc Trucker. This lower height rack cleared my VO Zeppelin fender, which was gapped for 700x40 tire. You want the center of gravity as low as possible, so the 11mm shorter 26" rack is better choice than the 28"/700 model if you can make it fit.

The best deals on Tubus & Ortlieb products are usually found in Euro bike shops (especially German), even with the extra shipping cost to USA. Good luck - fender and rack fitment is usually a bit of a PITA. Also, know that steel and aluminum rack and fender tubing / rod can be bent slightly to improve bike fit with no deleterious effects.

https://www.tubus.com/fileadmin/user...sic_TZ_1.0.pdf

https://www.tubus.com/en/products/re...cargo-classic/

Thank you all for your input. The width of the Tubus Logo's top-platform is too stingy for me so, after looking some more, I came up with the Salsa Wanderlust HD. I chose that instead of the Tubus Cargo Racks because I really wanted a rear rack that doubles as both a utility rack and a 'low-rider' touring rack,. This should serve those purposes. This one has a top-platform that measures 4.33" wide and a totally flat 12.80" length. The rack-stays should be nice and straight because of the rack's width but, it's nice knowing that I can flex them to fit if needed.

One on-line retailer told me personally that racks are very difficult to fit, suggested that I get this "done locally", which made me think that shopping and settling on one would be a drawn-out ordeal. Thanks to the responses to this thread, I think this won't be too difficult.

The Wanderlust HD's carrying capacity is only rated for 55 lbs and it weighs 2.28 lbs so, not the best but, not the worst either. It will probably fit the wheel similar to this example photo, except a couple inches farther forward (my seat is also farther forward on the seatpost, too).

The rack you need is the Tubus New Expedition, but they don't make that any more. 120mm wide top and low rider mounts. Similar geometry to the Cosmo.

Reminds me of fenders. After putting fenders on two bikes, when I bought my daughter a bike, I had mechanic install the fenders. I thought they surely knew what they were doing, and we'd be out of there quickly, saving me time. Instead, we stood around in the REI for about an hour, and I left thinking I could have done it just as quickly.

But I've installed two Tubus racks, Cargo and Tara?, front and rear, with little drama.

I suggest a threadlocker like blue (removable) Loctite or similar brand on all rack bolts.

On a couple tours, I saw a couple people that lost a rack bolt from vibration.

On another tour we were over 100 km from any form of retail and met one biker that had already run out of spare bolts for his and his wife's bikes, he wrapped tape around his rack bolts so that they could not unscrew far enough to fall out.

Last time I bought any, this is what I got.
https://www.truevalue.com/6-ml-remov...hread-locker-1

I just fixed up a friends bike and it was missing a rack bolt.

I even decided to start carrying a bottle of that threadlocker with my tools and spares when I tour. But most of my recent tours involved air travel with my S&S bike so I was removing and re-installing racks so it made sense to carry a bottle. I also carry a small paper clip (held to the bottle with a rubber band) to unplug the tip which can get plugged.

Just for the record, I have a Sutra and added a Tubus Log Evo. Great rack but as mentioned narrow top surface. Mounted using the standard (included) hardware. I had to bend each stay in (2) places and overall cut shorter. Nice!

May be hard to see if you are viewing on your phone, but pay close attention to the front rack of this guy posing hard after defeating a rough, hilly (up and down), twenty-three mile dirt/rocky/gravely road. I heard he was quite surprised when I reached his day's destination about a mile away an put his bike up on a repair stand to clean it.

He certainly thinks he's the cats meow doesn't he? (Zoomed in to see his wonky arsed front rack and noticed his sleeping bag brand ;-)

Oops.

Right clicked on the photo and selected open image in new tab, it is easy to see how lopsided the rack looks with blown up image that way.

When I have any unused places to screw a bolt into on a bike, I always put a couple spares in the frame, often one is a spare cleat bolt.

I think I had an extra bolt but not an extra spacer so I had to bend the right side of the rack in a bit.

Another time I lost a rear bolt and used one from the third water bottle mount.

There's the proof in black and white folks, indy clearly has a screw loose.

Hey Nyah - what did you do with your rear Sutra rack? Mine got swiped from my Sutra ( probably had loose bolts ). I'd be interested in purchasing it from you. Cheers! Stephen in Minnesota.

It's a The North Face brand, synthetic to about 20 degrees. They've made it for over 40 +years. I remember wanting one way back then, when synthetic was supposed to be better than goose down and all the rage. LOL, times has really changed.

Are you sure you posted that in the correct place?

Fans of the Cosmo might need to consider grabbing one whilst they are still available, given its stainless "twin" the Nova (front) appears discontinued, much to my surprise.
If it means anything to the OP, I've been hauling my Cosmo around now for around 9 years with few complaints.

Well that makes sense.
I'm off to look for a paper clip.
I must be going to the wrong stores as I've only some across the red Locktite locally.
I'll have to research the various options now I know about them

Paper clip, you only need one, might be some available sitting on a table at a Kinkos or any other photo copy center. Or a piece of wire that has a solid conductor, like telephone wire. Lots of options on how to unplug a tiny little tip.

Last time I bought threadlocker, this is what I bought.
https://www.truevalue.com/6-ml-remov...hread-locker-1

There are several brands, most hardware stores should have them.

Hi MSN, I would be very curious to know what brand racks you recommend for cycling around home that don't have the narrow platform on top.
Thanks!