BEFORE You Buy a Tailfin Rack!

I love tibus bike racks these are the racks that we used when we rode across the country carrying no less than 150 pounds of gear we're carrying large or heavy loads you can't really beat a good bike rack these days however we're not doing fully loaded touring so we're using Iraq's less although they do come in super handy on very specific trips and occasions so most of the time we're running our bikes rackless and although it's not that big of a deal to install and uninstall a bike rack you know it is just four bolts however it is enough resistance to make it kind of a pain in the butt you have to worry about not cross threading and you know making sure you don't lose the hardware I usually end up taping all the required hardware on the various racks that we use if only there was a better way enter the ortley quick rack let me take it off to show you guys it's an interesting solution for a person that doesn't want to run a rack on their bike all the time maybe you know you're filled with that existential dread about having a rack it's holding you back now my friends you can take it off in like 15 seconds or maybe like us you're doing a lot of travel and it's kind of a pain in the butt to remove a rack and stuff it in the case this makes it that much easier so there are two versions of the quick rack there is a version without a platform this is the one with a platform I feel like for me this makes the most sense because I never know if I just want to use it as a bag support or whether I want to put painters on it this is the heavier of the two at 580 grams it's stated weight capacity is about 44 pounds which is I think pretty good and the MSRP as of the time I'm filming this video at least in the UK is around 70 to 90 pounds which translates to just around a hundred dollars maybe a little bit over over which in the scheme of nicely made racks is actually quite a bargain basically the way that this works is that it mounts to some specific lugs that you put on the eyelets of your bike and then there is this clamping system fairly stiff to operate which is a good thing you don't want them opening accidentally these ends lock onto those lugs and then you've got this quick release seat stay piece and that's it basically three points of Engagement your seat post and this rack specific lugs installation is you know theoretically very straightforward but it can get tricky depending on your bike for example those lugs that you screw into the eyelets the eyelets have to be in a very specific spot I tried to run this initially on the crust but the eyelet was below the Dropout and when it's in that position it just creates too much interference with this lever so for it to work you have to have your rack eyelets or mounting eyelets above the Dropout if you don't have eyelets or let's say I really wanted to put it on the crust for whatever reason they do make stay adapters that zip tie to your seat stay so you can mount this a lot easier on virtually any bike the the Locking levers here are surprisingly tight and take quite a bit of force to open which you know again is a good thing but it can be a little shocking when you're trying to install it for the first time how much force is required to actually actuate the lever let me show you how this installs so basically the bottom Clips here go around the lugs gotta position that in the right place sometimes it takes a little time to actually find to Center to center it on there and then you just throw the lever that's locked down and then you go to the strap here this goes around and this is kind of a a tightening cam lever here kind of like a quick release okay so elephant in the room inevitably this is going to be compared to the tail fin rack system which arguably has kicked off this whole quick release rear rack I haven't tried the tailfin personally there's lots of video reviews out there on it from what I can gather the functionality is very similar both attached to a seat post and both use a kind of quick release Locking System on the bottom the tail fin comes in carbon as well as alloy options so you can shave off as much as 180 grams but you are going to pay for it those 180 grams are gonna cost you double if not triple depending on which rack option you use they are really light and racy and sleek and definitely speaks to a certain market for me however my biggest concern and why I would probably lean towards the ort leave is the proprietary rail system let me take this off again to show you guys seat post clamp okay so what I mean is this these rails are your standard 10 millimeter rails they work with any ortly bag or Kell bag Swift Industries bag whatever pain you're out there it's gonna work with this rack with the tail fin you're kind of locked into either very specific bag system which is a lot I mean if you went totally baller you're looking at a 300 rack and then 150 for one painier if you got two you're about 600 deep and then you know you've got to rock the seat bag so that's like another 100 bucks at the end of the day that is a lot of coin telfin does offer an adapter system for an additional fifty dollars which adds a really stubby uh short 10 millimeter rail rail again I haven't tried it but just looking at it it's pretty short so won't work with all bags it also doesn't seem very triangulated and one advantage of this rack because of this kind of dog leg design if you're running a trainer that doesn't have a really rigid back it's not going to flop into your rear wheel as opposed to the tail fin adapter you know it's relying on the stiffness of the bag a great example is this cargo painter by Arkell that I reviewed a little bit on the a little bit on the flexi side depending on your load this could potentially wind up in your wheel if you don't have a dog leg rack again I'm not knocking the tail fin rack system I know a lot of people love it and it definitely serves a particular Niche but if you're like me and non-proprietary is your love language then you're probably going to lean towards this ortlib slash tubus rack a little bit more so again not the lightest rack definitely more affordable definitely more compatible with most bag systems again this is more of a first look not a full-blown review I'm going to be testing this throughout the spring and summer and we'll see how it holds up in my living room installation so far it seems pretty Rock Solid there is the slightest bit of play but in in terms of me being concerned about it falling off the bike I don't think it's going to happen it's pretty secure I will be curious to see you know how much it rattles off-road also this lever system here it's attached to the rack with kind of a pinned grommet so I wonder if this will wear down and loosen over time who knows again just a first look not a full-on review but if you want to see how this quick rack does this year definitely hit that subscribe button if you found this first look helpful 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Channel: Path Less Pedaled

Views: 74,548

Keywords: bicycle touring, bikepacking, bicycle, travel, tourism, ride, adventure cycling, pathlesspedaled, the path less pedaled, bike touring, bikepacking gear, bike gearing, roadslikethese, gravelspecific, partypace, gravel bike

Id: N3svOnE7Xx0

Length: 7min 34sec (454 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 24 2023