Pannier Rack for Croix de Fer, 700 cc i/c disk drakes

easyjez

Hi there!

I wanted to ask if anyone knew of a good value solution for a rear pannier rack for a 700cc wheeled bike with disk brakes?

so far i've seen a madison (m-part) option for about £20. it sounded great except a chap with the same bike commented that it was too wide and he needed to put a hack saw to it!

or... i'm looking at a post mounted option but i'm not sure if these are limited in function and more expensive, some seem to be £40 plus with the requirement of adding side mounts for another £20 (Topeak). Others seem to only manage smaller loads (Raliegh).

I'm not looking for the ultimate rack because its for a sure tour and i'm on budget, so any advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks


Jez

Kendal Black Drop

Welcome to the forum.

I have a Croix de Fer and have recently converted it into a tourer.

I bought a Super Tourist DX Tubular Rack w/disc which seems to fit perfectly (although you do have to bend the silver supporting arms but this is normal apparently). It's a bit on the heavy side compared to some other racks but I guess it's probably sturdier than some of the lighter ones. It is also a bit wider than most racks but that is because you have to clear the discs.

I got mine from Evans and they did a good job of price matching (note that Halfords seem to be selling it for £31.49 compared to £39.99 at Evans).

I found a good site on Converting a Genesis Croix De Fer into a touring bike. This site recommends the Madison Ridge Disc Pannier Rack.

tallmansix

I highly recommend the Topeak Super Tourist DX Tubular Rack, fits easily on disc brakes and securely compared with my previous Tortec rack. It is rated for 25kg and managed to carry an 11 stone (>75kg) person on a 15 miles backie after missing the last train home night, so I can vouch for its strength.

It weighs about 750g so it isn't the lightest. Fits my Altura Arran clip on pans without problems.

redhanded

Not cheap... but the Tubus Disco rack is designed to fit bikes with disc brakes

http://www.tubus.com/product.php?xn=10

tallmansix

What I forgot to add earlier was that it depends on whether your disk brake is inside or outside of the frame.

If it is inside, just wider racks like the one in the post above will fit.

For disk brakes outside the frame, racks are often either over sized or adjustable and designed to bend a little and use big spacers to pack out the lower mount on the disk brake side. I know because I originally had one like this. It worked but I wasn't happy with an extra long bolt an plastic spacers.

The TopPeak and other manufacturers have solved that with a 'designed for' rack with welded extenders on both sides to keep the adjustment even and allows adequate space for a set of mech disk brakes.

El Gordo

I have a Croix de Fer and fitted the Madison rack to it with no trouble. The only critisism I have with it is that the struts come out sideways a bit from the top rail which makes it a bit awkward to clip panniers (at least, the ones I have) to it. It's not a major deal and I'm happily putting a pannier on it every day though. It's a very solid rack and doesn't weigh too much.

I also fitted full mudguards which I admit did take some creative thinking and a bit of hacksawing. It all went together though and works well.

chorlton chimp

I have a Tortec Transalp on my cdf. Fitted by the shop not by me so I can't comment on ease of fitting, although given the shape it looks like it would be a doddle. They retail for around £20.

That being said, I don't really like it as the top is open (no landing deck for trunk bag) so you cant really bungee stuff to it if you want to travel light and just strap a jacket to the rack. I have a Topeak SuperTourist on an other (non-disk) bike and it's a better rack, looks a bit better, has a top deck and easy to strap stuff to. That being said if all you want is something to take panniers the Tortec would be fine.

traylenator

Hi,
I've tried a tubus disco now on a 2012 Croix de Fer and it failed for me. I found no way of sensible attaching it will now purchase a new rack.

ugo.santalucia

I use a Blackburn Expedition 1 disc, which has the rear fitting through the QR axle (long skewer included). It works very well with the newer Avid brakes, while for those with the older Shimano brakes, a 1 mm spacer (washer) is needed to avoid the rack pressing against the master cylinder.

I found this to be the best solution for the older CdF frames (2010 ones) as the eyelet was badly designed and it was virtually impossible to fit a rack... I understand the problem was solved in the newer (2011-) frames

traylenator

After failing completely to a fit a tubus disco I bought the disc brake version of Topeak Babysitter Rear Rack.
This Topeak rack fits my 2012 croix de fer perfectly and was easy to fit.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories/child-seats/product/review-topeak-babysitter-child-seat-with-rack-33789