MEC Seatstay Rear Rack vs. Blackburn Expedition rack
 

This is likely a question for the Canadians out there…
I recently purchased a Blackburn Expedition rack for my new touring bike. I’ve always had Blackburn and trust their quality for fully-loaded touring. Plus, I have to cut down the upright, rounded cross-support piece at the front of the rack so that my seat bag will fit on my small-frame bike. I trust the quality of blackburn’s welds to hold the rack together without this piece and had no problems after doing so on my old touring bike’s Blackburn. However, the Expedition rack is taller than regular racks and this is causing a problem with some of my MEC panniers and the clearance for the seat bag so I need to replace the rack on my new bike.

I’m considering switching to the MEC Seatstay Rear Cycling Rack. At a fraction of the price of Blackburn, and not knowing its quality, I’m concerned if it will be strong enough for fully-loaded touring particularly when the cross piece is cut off. I know I’ll need to replace the hardware with stainless steel because I’ve read the reviews that the MEC hardware will rust at the sight of rain (and this is Vancouver!). The design of the MEC and Blackburn racks look very similar. Does anyone have any comments about the MEC rack and whether I should be concerned about the modification?

Thanks!

Hi, the MEC racks are Blackburn clones and I’ve toured with both models and both broke. MEC replaced them without question but when you are in the middle of nowhere and your rack brakes…

www.Crazyguyonabike.com has a report on racks and it is worth reading. I bought an Axiom Journey rack and I’ve read that these can fail. I am looking for a steel rack for my next long tour just to be on the safe side. I did use the MEC low rider rack without a problem but I would not trust aluminum racks again.
Try reversing the rack instead of cutting it just drill new holes for the stainless mounts.