The Best Rear Racks For Bikepacking?

over the last handful of years I've slowly faded my use of the seat pack for these things the rear rack and why well stay tuned to find out [Music] so not only am I super excited that we get to talk about racks today but it's almost 70 degrees outside so we got the Iguana shirt on it's just a great day racks are back actually I don't really think they ever really went anywhere but there was a time where the available rack options were heavy Overkill and not really all that logical and there were bag manufacturers that were launching some really cool bike packing seat pack designs more recently though we have seen the development of some really unique and sensible rack options that are purpose-built for off-road use and big tire clearance but is there anything wrong with the seat pack seat packs are great and there are a bunch of really Innovative designs out there and this is likely the most affordable route if you want to get out and go bike packing they are lightweight they're super easy to install and uninstall and they are fairly Universal for the most part but there are a few reasons to consider other options well they are a little bit lighter than a rack system the packed weight of a bag sits a little bit higher which means that the bike will have a more top heavy feel another thing is that most cpacs are not dropper post compatible or at least not built for dropper posts which means there is a chance that you can damage the stanchion or the Seal of the dropper post the few dropper specific bags use a clamp usually the wolf tooth valet which clamps around the stanchion of the dropper post and it usually takes 25 millimeters of dropper travel and the bags itself are usually pretty expensive coming in around 200 USD finally using these seat packs put more stress on dropper systems and some droppers don't even have enough power to return when they have a heavy bag attached to the dropper all of these reasons are why I started entertaining a rack system for my off-road excursions a few years ago before we get into rear racks I just want to let folks know that this video is supported in part by it's also Cycles the journeyer is designed to be a gateway to a wide range of cycling experiences whether riding or racing gravel going bike packing or loading up with racks and panniers or frankly just riding around town journey is long and low geometry boost stability increasing Rider confidence all at a very inviting price point so to learn more about the journey make sure to hit this card right here or you can also find a link below there are so many different uses for a rear rack and the versatility makes them very appealing so for starters you can use them in a traditional manner with penneers paneers are great for a number of reasons but especially helpful when you need extra space or have a smaller frame that said those big bags mean you tend to want to pack them full because you have the space too and that extra weight and width certainly feels a bit more cumbersome but much of this has been resolved with micro or mini paneers a smaller more reasonable size to carry your gear another great use is attaching something to the top of the Rack or the platform with say a strap either paired with penneers or alone this style has really gained popularity over the last handful of years as a solid way to carry cargo while also being able to use full travel of your dropper post not to mention the dropper specific seat pack seem to be a bit smaller so this is a great way to kind of maintain your cargo capacity while also gaining all of your dropper post travel so pretty nice it also may not get any easier than packing a dry bag off your bike and strapping it to the rack it's really easy many of these racks have also been outfitted with threaded bosses on the side that can accept bottles or cargo cages for more capacity which is a benefit when you need extra gear space water space or poop storage but maybe one of the best parts of the rack is that you typically have more freedom to strap things on the rack whether it's a set of poles on the outside a sheet of Tyvek underneath your dry bag or a layer when it gets hot out its expandability has me reaching more for this system more than the seat pack all right so let's jump into some of my favorite and some very popular rack options out there first off the old man Mountain Elkhorn rack it was launched about a year ago now and it's a fantastic option not only for a rear rack but it can also double as a solid front rack the Elkhorn is constructed using old man Mountain's signature welded aluminum construction flat platform and charcoal powder coated finish the elkhorn's main structural components feature oversized half inch or 13 millimeter diameter 6061 aluminum tubing in three main pieces the platform and the two risers the rack uses standard rear drop out rack mounts and seat stay mounts or it can also Mount to a seat clamp Mount but you can also purchase their fit kits which is an axle that is threaded on each end to bolt the Elkhorn tube meaning if you don't have a rack mount you can still use a rack which is kind of nice the rack comes in two sizes a short and a tall the short fits tires up to 27.5 by 2.8 inches or 700c by 50 millimeters and the tall is for the maximum mud clearance and fits tires up to 29 by 3.25 inches that being said mounting racks and the clearance is very dependent on actually where the the rack mounts are on your bike I've actually been using a bike with 29 by 2.6 inch tires with this short version and it has worked for me overall this system has treated me very well it's not too heavy at 638 grams it's durable and it comes with additional three pack mounts on the side for that extra cargo capacity Plus the full deck on the top acts kind of has a fender in a way protecting your dry bag and your backside from the elements which is really nice the previously mentioned fit kit also comes with seat stay adapters meaning it can fit on any full suspension mountain bike making it that much more versatile and this is actually one of only a few racks that actually work well on full suspension bikes you will notice however when you compress the rear shock the rack kind of moves forward and the load moves forward but with the rather short deck it makes this rack actually much more full-sus friendly maybe one downside here is if you cut your struts Too Short you will need to order some Replacements but luckily old man Mountain does sell those so I did a full review of the old man Mountain Elkhorn rack and you can find that in the description below the rack has a capacity of 25 pounds and it comes in at 168 USD and if you need the fit kit that's an additional 80 USD the rack is made in Taiwan and has a lifetime warranty the Aero pack is tail fin spin on the traditional CPAC and it just might be the most versatile system that I've ever used the aeropac carbon and aeropac alloy both consist of an integrated bag and a purpose-built rack which is permanently connected to the bag the system was designed to fit a wide variety of tire sizes from 26 by 4 inches to 29 by 3 Inches while you can purchase the version that just mounts directly to say a rack mount on your frame my rack came with these quick release dropouts which is compatible with both their Universal axle Mount or frame mounting kits and while these are an additional cost it is well worth the ease of installation on any bike and AIDS in the versatility in swapping from bike to bike so this system also mounts to the seat post or seat tube using the seat post connector so the seat post connection comes stock but if you wanted a bit more space between say the dry bag and your dropper or you're having clearance issues on say a smaller frame or a smaller bike the extended seat post connector is definitely a worthy upgrade and I actually just always keep that Extender on this particular system while tailfin does offer a rack without a dry bag the fact that the dry bag is there ready to be loaded up makes this system really handy so you can easily open it up stuff it with say all of your belongings sleep system or whatever roll the roll top closure clip the webbing straps and tighten it down it is such a cinch when it comes to racks or rear cargo systems the easier they are to use the more often I find find that I use them go figure and the tail fin system is super easy it has honestly fit all of the bikes that I've tried to install it on that is with the necessary accessories including full suspension bikes and bikes with dropper posts the system does sit a little bit higher than most traditional seat systems but I don't notice that too much and when riding over chunky single track there is really not much movement at all and while I rarely fill up this huge 20 liter dry bag it's so darn nice knowing that I have extra space when I roll up to a resupply spot before camp for some food and a beer or two well the Aero pack is a bit more expensive especially with all of those add-ons and I'm not totally in love with the look however it is growing on me a little bit it's a system ready for any bike the tail fin Aero pack starts at 305 USD for the simple alloy direct Mount version and can go as high as 535 USD with the carbon system and all the those add-ons the tail fin system has a weight capacity of 59 pounds or 27 kilograms and is manufactured in Taiwan and comes with a five year warranty I also did a full review on the tailfin Aero pack and you can find that in the description below so when I think about Simplicity of a rack that is built to withstand the rigors of off-road terrain I usually find myself thinking of the Tumbleweed t-rack in elegant yet purpose-built steel rack that has accompanied me on many bike packing trips the rack is more of a traditional style as you can see that mounts directly to the brazons near the Dropout and it also mounts to the seat stay mounts or a seat post clamp Mount more on that later it adjusts with a more traditional rack mounting kind of hardware and has a few less moving Parts than the previous two racks that I mentioned the rack comes with a nice black powder coat three pack braisons on each side for extra cargo capacity and it even is designed to work well as a front rack the rack comes in two sizes a 355 millimeter and a 380 millimeter Tumbleweed recommends that you have roughly 25 to 50 millimeters between your tire and the platform I've been using the 350 millimeter rack so the smaller one over the last handful of years and it has gotten the job done with most of my setups usually on drop bar mountain bikes with 2.2 inch tires generally speaking though the the biggest tire clearance that you can get on the larger rack is 29 by 3.5 or 26 by 4.75 inches when I have no issues with rack compatible bikes and I tend to test a lot of those especially these days with bike manufacturers incorporating racks or rack mounts to their bikes this is my go-to rack I really like the 120 by 300 millimeter top platform as it holds a long dry bag and a set of tent poles very well and the rack really kind of looks the part and and has really withstooded some serious abuse and while this particular rack is not designed for Penn years the Tumbleweed mini pannier rack can tackle that extra cargo for just 10 extra dollars which is pretty nice one thing I would love to see on this rack is a deck though just to ensure a bit more Tire to bag clearance and protection the T-Rex has a weight capacity of 55 pounds or roughly 25 kilograms and comes in lighter than the previously mentioned setups this particular short rack that I've been testing comes in at 575 grams the t-rack is also made in Taiwan and comes in at 130 USD ortlieb quick rack is the last rack that I've been using recently and it's a pretty slick design but of course that's no surprise from a brand that has continued to innovate in this particular space for a very long time I've only actually played around with this particular rack for a few rides now but I'm already impressed the quick rack was of course designed to yep you guessed it quickly install or remove from your bike with their 515 method 15 seconds for assembly five seconds for disassembly this makes it really helpful if you want to use one rack on multiple bikes the rack comes with all of the necessary parts to easily Mount to your bike using standard rack mounts on your bike or the provided seat stay adapters the rack then has levers to kind of lock the rack basically to the provided Hardware the rack also uses a single strut that travels from the rack to the seat tube or seat post clamp that attaches to the main triangle of the bike while I haven't tried this yet ortlib says it even works on full suspension bikes and this is likely due to the quick Locking System near the Dropout that is not fixed which allows the rack to kind of rotate freely similar to the tail fin system the rack comes in at a weight of 580 grams with a capacity of 44 pounds or 20 kilograms maybe one of the downsides is that this rack maxes out at 29 by 2.35 inch tires that said it comes in at a very inviting price point of 100 USD I'll have more on this rack in the coming weeks after I test it more so I wanted to talk about three more racks and while I've not tested these racks I think that they're worth consideration made of tubular chromoly Steel by Nitto in Japan the new simworks burrito rack is a compact rear bag support that can fit a wide range of bikes it attaches securely to the seat post and both seat stays using adjustable struts that can be eyelet mounted or connected with included clamps the burrito rack can serve as a support for a larger Paradise style bag attached to your saddle or as a standalone rack for a smaller bag or dry bag the 200 burrito rack comes in Chrome or black plated options and both weigh in at 410 grams and have a load capacity of 22 pounds or 10 kilograms so the arrow spider rear back is a modular rear rack system that can be used alongside the included Cradle to hold any dry bag or tent or integrate it into a more complex system using arrows quick release gear pods the quick release mounting brackets can swivel and flex to accommodate different seat stay angles and widths then the rack's main tubing can also slide up and down to make room above the rear tire via four bolts on each side the arrow spider comes with loads of Tire clearance and weighs 997 grams with an approachable price point of 129 USD the Vega is one of 16 rear rack options from german-based rack manufacturer tubus and they've been making racks for a long time 30 years or so and have a reputation for offering durable and functional products that are also well suited for heavy loads and big trips the Vega classic and Vega Evo are simple rear racks that shed weight by foregoing a second mounting beam but are still both rated for loads up to 55 pounds or 25 kilograms it has a clearance for 29 by 2.4 inch tires and the rack itself is 370 millimeters tall and the lower mounting points can fit dropouts spaced 150 millimeters to 180 millimeters wide both Logan and Cass have used the Vega classic extensively in the past and speak really highly of it the classic will run you 150 USD all right with racks covered there are a few accessories that I definitely think we need to talk about and while they might not be necessary they certainly will definitely make your life a little bit easier so starting with drybacks most dry bags will get the job done but I find that a long and kind of skinny one works best such as the revelate designs Pronghorn dry bag I've used this bag a lot and I like that it can fit my whole Sleep System pad bag and tent in a pretty compact bag the one I've been using over the past few years is the small the row dry bag also works really well for not only a rear rack but of course for a handlebar Harness System I just got my hands on this small and medium helis so stay tuned for more on these bags in the not too distant future so there are a lot of options for straps out there vole even has a rack specific strap out there and I haven't used it but apparently it works really well but the two straps that I use almost all the time are just a standard vollay strap this is the bikepacking.com belay strap I think that 20 plus inches the 25 inch one that's what this is works really well because it gives you plenty of extra strap to kind of tug on when you're cinching down your dry bag in a more expensive yet very secure option is the stir strap and they are available in a variety of colors and they really just kind of look great and they are very durable so oftentimes your bike just might not come with mounts for racks and of course you're gonna need them in the event that they don't there are a few options that I've used in the past the salsa rack lock and and post Lock Mount which work really well especially for say those more traditional style strut mounting racks and I've also used the rock Geist Mr Fusion seat post clamp Mount that goes around your seat post I think Rocky sells these aftermarket if not you should bug them because yeah they work really well for rack mounts I could literally go on and on and on about all of these accessories and racks but we have a dedicated gear index to lightweight racks accessories and really everything that you need to know to run them on your bike so be sure to find that in the description below it's a great resource so what do y'all think about racks and which ones are your favorite or which ones are you eyeballing let me know in the comment section below and if you like this video definitely hit that subscribe button and notification Bell and consider joining the bike packing Collective support from our members sustains this Channel and everything we do at bikepacking.com the collective has a lot of perks including the twice Annual Bike packing Journal my monthly giveaways and much more so for more details click on the card in the top right corner or also find a link in the description below as always thanks so much for watching and until next time pedal further [Music]

Channel: BIKEPACKING.com

Views: 221,506

Keywords: bikepacking, bike packing, Cycling

Id: yf4CcTFvz38

Length: 19min 13sec (1153 seconds)

Published: Fri May 12 2023