Panniers rack

itboffin

I hate to break with tradition but I need some actual commuting advice.... I know weird :P

I'm bored with sweaty aching back and I need to carry more stuff on a daily biases, panniers seem to be the right direction now which racks should I buy? lightweight is important, not making loads of noise is important and what advice can "anyone" offer?

erm does this effect my FCN, I do hope so

dilemna

To fit what bike?

Don't buy Blackburn - crap in a word. Two racks - two broken welds.

Buy Madison, Topeak or Tubus

itboffin

dilemna wrote:

To fit what bike?

Don't buy Blackburn - crap in a word. Two racks - two broken welds.

Buy Madison, Topeak or Tubus

My mercian tourer mmmm mercian

Thanks btw, I was already looking at the madison and topeak kit is generally very good.

roger_merriman

I spent ooh £20 on a touring one, seems nice and beefy, no rattles etc, I leave the panniers on, I have bent some of the cheaper ones by clipping the bags and bending the racks support struts, the better ones have a bit of adjustment so you don't have it at an angle...

dilemna

itboffin wrote:

dilemna wrote:

To fit what bike?

Don't buy Blackburn - crap in a word. Two racks - two broken welds.

Buy Madison, Topeak or Tubus

My mercian tourer mmmm mercian

Thanks btw, I was already looking at the madison and topeak kit is generally very good.

I have a Madison Summit on one of my bikes which I'm pleased with, the rack that is and of course the bike .

rubbercolin

tubus fly rack

3 years daily use so far and is light and streamlined (ish..)

iPete

I have a heavy duty Topeak Super Tourist DX on my racer but needs to carry a tent etc. In your situation I'd go for the Tubus fly..

Aidanw

+1 for Tubus fly, look ace and seem pretty indestructible (only one year for mine so far, but it has been fit and forget)

Aidy

dilemna wrote:

To fit what bike?

Don't buy Blackburn - crap in a word. Two racks - two broken welds.

Buy Madison, Topeak or Tubus

On the contrary, both my friend and I have blackburn racks.

They've both survived being beaten offroad over the Yorkshire Dales and Peak District.
Four weeks touring across Europe, Two further weeks around England, and they're both now in service on commuter bikes.

Both still going strong, too. Only problems we've ever had with them are due to the bodgetastic mounting methods we've used.

redvee

Another thumbs up for Blackburn here, the only downside was the finish getting scratched when leaning the MTB against walls etc. Can't complain about the strength.

jthef

I have tor tec an they have been on the bike nearly 30 months and 9000 miles (half of that time with 1 or both bags on) now and showing signs of ware where the pannier bags fit.
No rattles but make sure you get good bags which are quick and easy to fit/remove and water proof. The altura ones I have are coming up to 3 years old and look in good nick easy to fit and water proof (only in the heaviest rain fall on my commutes do I get a bit of dampness in them, probably ready for a spraying of waterproofing).

HTH

Jon

jthef

Just seen this as an alternativefor you http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/New-products-Altura-Night-Vision-Post-Pack/ALTUBAGS360000000000

Jon
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linsen

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?PartnerID=79&ModelID=32817

I have one of these. It's good

Kieran_Burns

I got the lifeline superlite- it comes with a mounting point for rear lights and the Cateye LD1100 fits perfectly (with screws)

I use it with an Altura Dryline 17 (laptop pannier) - cannot complain.

Roastie

I've used a Tortec Ultralite - very nice sturdy rack for the weight and money.

daniel_b

I have a Topeax Super tourist DX rack, as does pigeon 42, and they have been excellent:


£25 seems to be about the best price.

An ex colleague had a rather swish looking stainless steel one, I think it may have been a madison.

I actually wanted a madison summit originally, but nowhere had them in stock when I was needing one (2 years ago) so plumped for the Topeak.
Don't get the one with the spring clip thing on top, it serves no purpose other than to get in the way of panniers - the Ortlieb back roller classics I have :roll:

Cheers

EDIT: Just seen that Linsen has already posted about this exact rack :oops:

Here is the stainless one I was thinking of:

http://www.cyclesense.co.uk/products.php?plid=m60b37s460p4824&rs=gb

Pretty pricey though.

Dan

attica

I've got the Tortec Expedition. It's pretty damned bombproof although the occasional tweak of some of the allen keys holding the adjustable struts is needed before they start to squeak. It's not too light either. Not the best recommendation I've ever given eh?

What panniers are you going to get? Ortlieb ones I've got are excellent.

itboffin

Not sure yet but holy crap those things are heavy :?

attica

Nice sig

yep they're heavy, only serves to make me stronger though

Kieran_Burns

This is why I went for the ultralite jobbies. I knew I was never going to carry much so huge strength wasn't an issue.

lost_in_thought

As a pannier expert, get anything from Tortec.

You have first-hand experience of how much I carry on my FG, and that's the cheapest, lightest rack that Tortec make. They're great.

jedster

I've used blackburn and tortec. I'd never buy a blackburn rack again.

J

dilemna

Aidy wrote:

dilemna wrote:

To fit what bike?

Don't buy Blackburn - crap in a word. Two racks - two broken welds.

Buy Madison, Topeak or Tubus

On the contrary, both my friend and I have blackburn racks.

They've both survived being beaten offroad over the Yorkshire Dales and Peak District.
Four weeks touring across Europe, Two further weeks around England, and they're both now in service on commuter bikes.

Both still going strong, too. Only problems we've ever had with them are due to the bodgetastic mounting methods we've used.

I beg to differ. I would NEVER buy Blackburn again. If you inspect their racks the joins where there is weld only have a splattering of spit of a weld on one side rather than 360 degrees all the way around unlike Madison, Topeak, TorTec or Tubus which are all welded up properly IME. The welding on Blackburn racks is crap. Period. Two bikes each with EX rear racks, two broken welds .

Norky

The wife's bike has a Topeak rack. It might be a touch over-engineered (read "heavy"- 4/5 of a kilo for the rack alone) for your purposes. It'll take a decent load and has attachments for Topeaks silly 'sled' bag mounting, as well as a sprung retainer.

I've got some no-name cheap 'n' cheerful rack that I occasionally use, it's a lot lighter and so far has coped fine with (3L-ish) pannier bags full of clothes, bottled beer and even shopping.

What/how much are you planning to lug about?

edit: I'm the third person to link that Topeak rack. Apparently I have no original thoughts of my own :oops:

hoolio

+1 the tortec expedition. Rated to carry (I think ) 30kgs, which when I looked around was more than other racks.
Yes, it's heavy, but you can load it up, and it takes abuse.
Attica: use some loctite threadlocker and the allen bolts will never squeak again.

Jay dubbleU

I have one of the Red Rocks as the Bokur doesn't have rear mounts and does have discs http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/Rac ... Racks.html

prawny

I've got an axiom streamliner on my boardman, rock solid especially for something with no mountings

homercles

I've recently used equivalent models of Tortec, which I have found to be excellent, and Blackburn, which I find is OK but has a bit more flex in it when carrying heavier loads. The sensation of wobble is quite unsettling and because of that, I'd say go Tortec.

itboffin

Lots of good advice, what about cheap panniers?

linsen

I have expensive ones, but they are completely waterproof and weigh -1kg each

If you fill them with helium that is.

http://store.trekbikes.com/shopping/pro ... picindex=1

They are not cheap, cost you about a month's worth of inner tubes ;-)

Only any point in buying kit once

dilemna

itboffin wrote:

Lots of good advice, what about cheap panniers?

Buy cheap, buy twice IMHO.