Hey y'all! Anyone else have alternator dropouts and think to themselves "boy, Salsa is getting away with highway robbery asking $120 for a rear rack!" Me too.

I've been eyeballing Blackburn's new Local Deluxe rack, which utilizes an interesting ladder-like approach to setting rack height. To me, it looks like it could play nicely with the alternator dropouts on my Marrakesh, by inverting the lower assemblies and drilling them out for the frames M6 hardware.

This would allow the rack to "hang" from the dropout, rather than being held above it, so that your panniers can sit at a reasonable height over your rear wheel (rather than up in the stratosphere, as mine currently do.)

https://www.blackburndesign.com/local-deluxe-front-or-rear-rack.html

I have a set of those lower arms coming from Blackburn right now to experiment with before I pull the trigger on the rack (although, at $45 it's not exactly spendy.)


Has anyone else thought this? Anybody tried this? Anyone want to put on some def leppard and stay up all night drilling on some bike parts like it's 1991?! YEAH! HECK YEAH!

We all laugh but in six months Vans will be selling hip bikepacking/skate touring gear so you can pedal coast-to-coast with your board!

Hey everybody! Andrew here. I live in Flagstaff, Arizona, although I've spent the past many years in Salt Lake City, Utah, and will be moving back there in a few months.

I've done a handful of short bikepacking overnighters around Utah, and a few regular (panniers and pavement) longer tours.

I've got my eye on a 30-night GDMBR N>S attempt come August 2019, and between now and then I'm planning on tackling a handful of awesome shorter training rides around northern AZ.

I've just finished building up a new bikepacking rig (27+ HT, a Kona Big Honzo DL) after six years riding a long-travel huckster bike.

I've worked as a bike mechanic on and off for the past twelve years.

I'm also jumping in the deep end of MYOG - I've just finished tuning up (and beefing up) a sewing machine to start learning to sew on! I'm dreaming of an x-pac/cordura grame bag, a dropper-friendly x-pac seat-bag, two stem feed bags, and a DCF handlebar roll.

So anyone in Flag/Sedona who wants to ride, camp, sew, and drink some coffee or beer - let me know!

I'd love to hear any and all tips, tricks, resources, advice, steer-clears, and jokes y'all have for a bikepacker and newbie frame beg maker.

-Andrew