Ideal rack for C2C

Reptilia

Hi, at easter I'm going to do a coast to coast ride, and I'm looking for a sturdy rack that I can tie a tent and sleeping bag to, using lots of bungee cords.
Does anyone have any experience with this?
I don't plan on buying any proper panniers, all I want is basically a shelf at the back of my bike.

All recommendations/advice welcome

edit: should it help with recommendations, I have a scott sportster which has 700C wheels, and a rear disc brake.

cavemud

Hi there

I've used a Tortec Expedition Pannier Rack (About £35 from evans up unitl recently) for about three years. Only used for commuting so far but have had some pretty incredible weights on it (say over 40kg). It's rated to 35kg I think.

Don't know anything about your particular bike but you might want to do a bit of researching into potential problems with the disc brake getting in the way of the rack.

Good luck and enjoy the ride.

dilemna

Avoid Blackburn especially Expedition racks as they skimp on welding. I have had x2 EX-2 racks break where the welds holding the rear most vertical stays to the top part of the rack have broken as basically when made they only weld on one side of the join rather than all the way round. Take a closer look and you will see. A pity as for the rest they are ok. But they just don't last. The first rack broke after 2.5 years of general commuting use. The replacement new one broke after 2.5 months and I had to find somewhere to have it welded up difficult as rack is aluminium which was a PITA. Unfortunately does not look so good now. I would go for Tortec or Tubus but the latter are a bit more expensive. You will need some sort of adpator mount or a rack for disc brake bike as conventional rack will not fit due to rear caliper clearance issues.
Alex

vernonlevy

Reptilia wrote:

Hi, at easter I'm going to do a coast to coast ride, and I'm looking for a sturdy rack that I can tie a tent and sleeping bag to, using lots of bungee cords.
Does anyone have any experience with this?
I don't plan on buying any proper panniers, all I want is basically a shelf at the back of my bike.

All recommendations/advice welcome

edit: should it help with recommendations, I have a scott sportster which has 700C wheels, and a rear disc brake.

If you have a rear disc brake as another poster suggested, then your choice of rack is limited.

Have a look at www.carradice.co.uk as they stock a rack that accommodates disc brakes.

andymiller

There is quite a range of racks that will accommodate a rear disc. In fact if you were to do a search on this forum IIRC 'alfablue' did a post with a whole bunch of them (though I coudn't swear to that).

Also have a look at http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/category.asp?cat_id=254

I'm using a Tubus Cosmo, but I had to use spacers to get the extra clearance. Tubus also do a disc-compatible rack (IIRC the 'Disco') but it's carrying capacity isn't great (though that's not an immediate problem for you).

I think you could also get away with the Topeak racks that mount on the seatpost. IIRC the carrying capacity is 10kgs - which is not enough for normal camping and touring but should be enough to carry your tent and sleeping bag. I'm a bit nervous about recommending these because of the limited carrying capacity - but the option is there if you want to pursue it.

Reptilia

I have seen these two which are disc brake compatible; any opinions?


First Rack


Second Rack



Thanks for the replies so far.

andymiller

They should both do what you want. IME aluminium racks aren't as durable as steel but these will be fine for what you want.

The Super Tourist rack gives you the option of mounting the panniers lower - which would be an advantage if you ever want to tour with panniers.