cos_jp

Hi - I'm in the process of planning a roughly 4000km solo journey in Europe next year. I'm going to be running the Axiom Journey DLX lowrider up front with a couple Ortlieb Sport Roller Plus panniers, and the rear I think I'd like to either run the same or possibly the Ortlieb Sport Packer's or Bike Packer's. I don't necessarily need all this capacity for this trip as I plan to use hotels or similar accommodations but in the interest of future trips I might as well do it right. It'll be mostly clothes, food, some electronics,
etc.

Anyhow I'm looking for a rear rack I can trust and will be stable. I have a Planet Bike eco rack now - for around town it's fine but I don't trust it for a long adventure like this. I have been eyeing the Topeak Explorer as I know I won't have any issues attaching it. I have eyelets near the rear dropouts, and I have to use the seatpost clamp for the other attachment. I don't know if there's a reason I should be thinking their Super Tourist instead and I'm open to other options as well. I wrote Tubus to ask about attaching to the seatpost clamp but so far I'm not finding anything that leads me to believe it's recommended. Axiom has their Journey but it has rigid roundstays that may be tough to bend (even though they support bending up to 30 degrees.)

Any opinions/recommendations would be awesome and appreciated!

veganbikes

Tubus, Tubus, Tubus and Tubus would be my top option. However a frame not designed for racks might not be an ideal touring bike with racks. However depending on the frame and material and abilities of people in your area you might be able to get someone to add some braze ons or use the Tubus Clamp Set or if you mount to a seatpost collar like the Axiom Trekk just know you will want to carry less weight but the nice thing is Tubus racks are among the lightest and are also some of the strongest given their lightweight a rack that is 12.7oz but can hold 57.3lbs and was tested to more than that is pretty ridiculous granted I wouldn't recommend the Airy for touring because it is narrower than I would want. My rear Surly Nice Rack weighed more then my current Tubus Cargo Evo and Duo front racks and the Cargo Evo holds more weight though they have the actual recommended weight down to a more reasonable 57.3lbs for normal usage which is more than I want to carry touring anyways.

In addition to being light and strong and really well made they have a 3 year mobile warranty and they will send a new rack to you wherever you are as quickly as they can once you have sent in the damage report and I believe they have a 30 year warranty on the rack just not with that mobile component.

Topeak and Planet bike make fine products and I use some of those products but in terms of touring racks aside from full custom jobs Tubus is the way to go.

cos_jp

Thanks very much for the feedback! So the frame is designed for a rack - it's just not designed to hold a substantial amount of weight (technically 15 pounds each rear and front.) I figure I can push that a bit but don't intend to push it significantly. It's a Felt Breed gravel bike and it comes with integrated rack mounts built into the seatpost clamp from the factory. For upper mount it's that, or there's a bridge between the upper seat stays that allow for a single center mount (the braze ons are on the underside of the stays and the metal piece is screwed onto these.) The eyelets at the rear dropout are also Felts standard attachment. The Broam 30 is coming out later this year and I may upgrade then - fortunately anything I do with the current bike would easily port over so I don't want to let that stop my planning.

Anyhow - I'm on board with Tubus for sure if I can just figure out how it would mount in my current situation (the Broam would be easier as it has braze ons on the side of the stays already.) I like the Logo Evo and I didn't know about the will send you a new rack wherever you are so that is definitely a selling point!

Pratt

With 4000k as a test lab, you may have a really well developed idea as to what you want/need for a rack system. As a starting point, I have a Bruce Gordon rear rack on one bike and a built in (welded) one on the Tout Terrain Silk Road. Both of them have been trouble free.
Have fun.

cos_jp

I really don't have any idea what I want or need. I've never been nearly this far. This is why I'm seeking advice from the pros! Thanks.

gauvins

You write that you have a Planet Bike eco rack, fine around town. Perhaps stick with it? If you ride credit card, i.e. fairly light, your rear rack will be used sporadically to carry light loads. It should be fine.

If you still want to up your game, I can only say that I have several Tubus Cargo (classic) and am very satisfied. Some complain about rust -- never a real problem but yes, you'll eventually see surface rust and will shop for nail polish to touch-up spots where the paint has been abraded, if you feel that these reflect poorly on you . You may want to splurge for the stainless steel version if this really bothers you.

10 Wheels

2000 Mile Month with Topeak Seat post rack

cos_jp

Ya for around town I'm ok with that rack. But for a multi-week multi-country adventure I want to do whatever I can to minimize the chance for problems and it seems like a budget rack carrying let's just say 20 or 30 pounds is ripe for failure. Granted it is way under the rated weight limit - still don't trust it. That and I know there are just better designs for panniers that will make them more stable - get the weight lower - etc.

I could care less about a little rust lol - that is what a wire brush and paint are for

cos_jp

Nice! For a trunk bag I could see this working out - but for panniers there would be nothing stopping them from running into the wheels. Nice setup though!

10 Wheels

600 mile camping ride.

staehpj1

Yeah, I am not a fan of it either, but only because it is a seatpost only mounted rack. They tend to get knocked or otherwise shift out of line. They also tend to be heavy for their capacity.

On the other hand, I don't especially share your caution for needing much rack just because you are going on a long tour. I went coast to coast on a rack like your current one. It was on a bike with no top mounting points and I used p-clamps. I was carrying camping and cooking gear, but packing very light. It isn't very heavy duty, but is fine if you don't overload it. Still I had no worry about the rack. I also went coast to coast with a heavy load using a Blackburn EX1. It is a very nice rack that can be found for under $50. I have used the Axiom Streamliner and like it very well. Again a nice rack that doesn't cost much. Personally I really don't see myself ever wanting more rack than either of those even for long trips with full camping gear.

In general on a long trip if isn't up to the rigors of the trip you can replace it mid trip. .I have never had a rack fail in a way that I couldn't manage to limp along to somewhere that it could be replaced (or fail at all for that matter) or know of anyone else having that happen. Worst case catching a ride to the text town where you could get a new one or get the old one welded while you waited for a new one to be shipped or to get you to a bike shop further down the road that had a replacement. I have had bolts vibrate out so carrying some spares is a good idea.

phughes

Tubus.

indyfabz

If you have the $$ and can find one, the Nitto Big back rack is incredibly strong and stable. I have been using mine for touring and commuting/errands for 11 years. The nickel-plated finish still looks nice.

Here is what I am talking about:

Nitto Big Back Rack - Large 33R – Rivendell Bicycle Works (rivbike.com)

There is a companion front rack with a platform:

Nitto Campee 34F Front Low Rider Rack | (benscycle.com)

Atlas Shrugged

Tubus

Steve B.

Tubus were hard to find and out of stock everywhere I looked a few months ago. I got an Axiom which works fine. Don't over think this.

Tourist in MSN

I think the Tubus Logo is great as a pannier hauller. That is the only Tubus rack I have used in the rear. The lower mounting point for panniers means a slightly lower center of gravity. But, the top of the rack is very narrow, thus if you want to have a rack top bag without panniers, this is probably not the rack you want. I think the narrow top of the rack makes it a stiffer better pannier rack.

I can't see why a seatpost clamp for upper rack stays would be any problem.
https://www.tubus.com/fileadmin/user...Evo_TZ_2.0.pdf
https://www.tubus.com/fileadmin/user...MA_9.0_web.pdf

From the felt website, I can't see the lower rack mounting points well on teh bike, so I can't comment on that. There is the possibility that the Classic version of the Tubus rack would be better than the EVO version, the lower mounts on the two versions of racks are slightly different.

Since the Logo EVO is the only Tubus rear rack I have used, I can't suggest any other. That said, they make lots of other great models.

Racktime is another good rack, their racks are aluminum where most Tubus are steel. Racktime and Tubus are the same company.

I have a couple of Racktime Addit racks, the front mounting stays on that rack are the same as on the Tubus. The Addit rack also has lower mounting points for panniers similar to the Tubus Logo but it has a slightly wider platform than the Logo. The max weight rating on the Addit is lower than on the Logo, but the Racktime rack probably is more than enough weight capacity, as you are not going to load it down too heavy.
https://www.racktime.com/fileadmin/u...dit_2.0_01.pdf
https://www.racktime.com/fileadmin/u...dit_MA_4.0.pdf

The weight ratings on my racks are Logo - 40 kg, Addit - 30 kg. Apparantly Tubus has lowered those ratings for reasons that have to do with a child seat, details on that I do not know. My point is that I would trust the Logo at 40 kg and I would trust the Addit at 30 kg even if they now have lower ratings.

And since those racks are common in Europe, if you had any problem with them, replacement should be simple.

For both the Racktime and Tubus racks, if you needed longer mounting stays for the front of the rack than are included, they make longer rack stays, get any length you need and use a hack saw to adjust if they are too long.
https://www.racktime.com/en/racktime...ounting-stay-1
https://www.racktime.com/en/racktime.../mounting-stay

I could show some photos of both, but the links above are probably more useful at this point.

Get black. I use black fingernail polish to touch up any wear spots on black racks.

Yan 

I like the Racktime racks. Used one on my latest build. The workmanship is not very good (ugly welds); but if you buy it locally in Europe as I did, the price is quite cheap.

Pratt

Given the length of your planned tour, you could combine Gauvins' and Staehp1j's advice. Start your tour with what you have and plan to be at a well stocked bike store after, say, 500km and buy a replacement based on the plusses and minuses of your current rack. A lot of bike touring is adapting and improvising from your original plan in response to what actually happens. Just think of it as POTE, part of the experience.

gerryl

I've been using and abusing Blackburn racks for decades. They come with a lifetime warranty and are reasonably priced.

staehpj1

The ones my family and friends have used have been passed around between a number of people. They have done coast to coast and other long tours, lots of them. They have done quite a few rider/ years of commuting. They have hauled groceries. They have been abused hauling stuff heavier than they were designed for. I remember my dad hauling all manner of heavy stuff home with one way back when. I don't have the one my dad used and abused (probably 40 years ago), but if I did I bet it would still be going strong.

I think the most recent of the lot were bought 15 years ago (some were much older) and I have lost track of most of them, but as far as I know there has never been a problem with any of them and as far as I know they all could be going strong.

cos_jp

Lot of great feedback here - I appreciate you all! Sorry it took me a little time to acknowledge it - I was still in jail and hit my 5 post in 24 hour limit lol. Fortunately that is about to come to an end.

I decided to ebb my plan a bit and set myself up a bit better for this trip and trips forward. In my estimation, the weak point of the Breed 30 is the lower attachments which are threaded eyebolts that thread into the rear dropouts. Granted I could probably just carry some spares - it really reduces the rated weight capacity by quite a bit. So I decided to upgrade to the Broam which has all the attachments I need from the factory as well as a few other nice features like the mounts for a bottle carrier on the down tube. Then I can sell the Breed and get myself a proper road bike down the road.

Now that I don't feel like I'm constrained in the rear rack choice I'll have a closer look into all the suggestions above. Seems like Tubus and Racktime are a majority favorite so I'll probably look at those closest and the one advantage I can see if that getting either of these in Europe if I needed to is probably easier since they are based there.

Tourist in MSN

There are several good internet sellers you can buy from, Bike24, Starbike, etc.

cos_jp

Indeed - I am US based but what I like about Tubus is some level of confidence when I ship myself and my bike overseas should something go wrong, it is a brand that is theoretically easier to find / deal with warranty issues should something happen. Actually the Logo Evo seems pretty hard to find here at the moment but I suspect like everything that's in short supply, it'll sort itself out eventually.

Tourist in MSN

I am in USA too. I bought one of my Tubus racks and one of my Racktime racks shipped to USA from Europe. And lots of bike parts plus one bike frame from Europe too. If you want a particular rack in USA and do not see it available at the moment, try a European seller. Some of them will have a high shipping fee for the first item, but on a larger order that can quickly be recoverd with lower costs. When they ship to USA they almost always do not include the VAT in your costs.

Some items can't be bought from Europe, too many sellers in USA complained to Ortlieb that they did not like the competition from Europe so Ortlieb told European sellers to stop shipping Ortlieb products to USA. Same with a few other brands, I think Shimano is on that list too. Before Ortlieb did that, I bought all my Ortlieb products from Europe and paid a lot less for them.

But if your credit card charges 3 percent on foreign currency transactions, and many cards do, that can be a surprise when you see your credit card bill.

A few months ago I even bought a bike part on Amazon.de (in Germany) because Amazon in USA did not carry that item. I have a credit card with no foreign currency conversion charges, so I told Amazon to charge my card in Euros to avoid Amazon charging the conversion fee. I paid about $12 in shipping (did not get the Amazon free shipping), but it was worth it.

staehpj1

Seriously? It sounds like you want to buy the Tubus and are really reaching to rationalize it. It is just a rack. If you have a failure buy another rack, any other brand of fairly decent rack that happens to be available where you are and keep riding. If the failed rack is an inexpensive one you could just dispose of it. Otherwise mail/ship it home. Even with a $50 rack it is very unlikely that you will ever need to worry about this.

The thing is that unless you are using a really flimsy rack likelyhood of a failure is pretty low. There are numerous reasonably priced brands/models of racks many under $50 that are highly unlikely to give you any trouble. If you really want the Tubus buy it (joy of ownership?). It is a super nice rack and won't let you down. If you just want a decent rack that does the job reliably without emptying your wallet buy a blackburn, axiom, or similar.

If you were expecting to really push the weight limits of the rack going with the Tubus would gain a bit more merit, but you'd be getting into territory where you'd be carrying enough to make travel pretty joyless IMO.