Rear rack for packraft / 4kg drybag?

[McNik]

Hi all, first post, great forum you have here!

Looking for advice for what rear rack to get. I need to carry a 4kg 20 litre drygag with packraft / paddles / PFD in it. It is too much on the front bars.

I would consider any option for carrying this on the rear, including beam racks and standard racks. Looking for light and strong and stable, so I guess the lower the better. Needs to work on a disc brake MTB with 26" wheels, has rack attachments in frame on dropouts and seat stays.

Budget is not an issue, considering those titanium racks if they are the right choice.

Thanks!

[DaveC]

If cost is no object I'd get a ti Tubus rack.  I have a steel Tubus Cargo and it is very well made.

[McNik]

Yeh I like the idea of  the Tubis rack



But I'm not sure it would work with my rear disc brake calliper, and also the top is very small and has an upturn at the back that may negate me being able to slide the drybag back all the way to the seatpost - the drybag is quite long.

[DaveC]

Discs can be a bit tricky.  There are various work arounds.  Check out the mounting accessories available at The Touring Store.

IME you won't want to slide the dry bag all the way forward to the post.  Your thighs will hit it when you pedal.

[jhl99]

Beam racks are not good--- they tend to put the load too high and might sway.

Might want to look at a Blackburn Expedition rack  (about US$40, it has triple stays).  It should handle the load, might need a stand off to clear disk cailper if mechanical disks, might not need standoff if hydraulic caliper.

[McNik]

Thanks for the advice.


Looking at models, I see that this Madison Ridge Disc Pannier Rack http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=26971 seems to fit the bill - Disc compatible, simple...



I guess that since this i my first try, a cheep rack that is gonna fit is a good bet. I'm not planing to approach the weight limits on these racks, and i'd rather break / find out a £30 rack is not suitable, than a £130 one!

Still, further advice and experiences welcome!

[bmike-vt]

tubus stuff is great... for disc, why not old man mountain?

http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/RearRacks.html

[boddunn]

All the Tubus racks I've had include a shim for the non-drive side which stops the rack interfering with the disk. It's worked on two frames I've tried it with and I've used it with my girlfriends' Tortec Ultralight too and it works fine. If I bought another rack I'd go for the Tortec as it's almost as light and far cheaper than the titanium Tubus I've got now.

[Done]

Freeload makes a cool rack that might work well: http://www.freeload.co.nz/

It'll work on the front or back--and no problem with carrying capacity or disc brakes!

[Eric]

Tubus racks are nice but some models are on the narrow side. For a packraft get as wide as rack as possible.

[cgar380]

the one you have pictured is very, very weak unless you have the support bars about as short as you have them in the picture.
The absolute best rack you can go with that will hold all the weight you need as well as be easily compatible with disc brakes is the Old man Mountain rack. i've had three of them. Sold them and then repurchased them after trying to unsuccessfully find a cheaper alternative.
I have the rack you have pictured hanging in my garage because it was too weak and an an old man mountain rack on the bike. I've used it to carry a packraft as well but I've found that it's actually easier for me to put the boat & gear in a backpack and use the rack for other stuff I need to carry. Worth the money and hold resale really well of you don't like it.

The packraft & gear is really bulky & a 4 piece paddle is long and it hangs over the rack. If I'm packing before a trip it's fine, but getting back on the bike after being on the water, it's too much work/time for me to repack to fit on the rack and get going in a timely manner.
A handlebar bag from Revelate Designs works really good & not too expensive(30$)as Eric is a huge packrafter and this is probably one of the main reasons behind the design of the system.
https://www.revelatedesigns.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=store.catalog&CategoryID=3&ProductID=9

the one thing I don't like about the OMM racks is the skewer attachment. Even though Channing and his crew @ OMM have tested these things extensively with alot of weight, I still feel it is the weak part of the rack system and end up really cranking down the skewer to ward off the failure demons in my head. With a geared bike it's not that big of a deal and I wouldn't hesitate to ride anywhere with one but it's a little sketchy on a SS w/ any sort of chain tension.

My theory after many years of buying and selling stuff is this; spend the money to buy the best gear you can afford & you'll probably not have to worry about that piece of gear again for a long time.

Call eric @ Revelate & see what he thinks.
Buying products from either Revelate or OMM would be purchases that wouldn't let you down.

my 0.02.

[sigma7]

I'm using Tubus racks since more than 50.000 kilometers. They are light & durable. Check the Tubus Disco.

http://www.tubus.com/en/rear-carriers/disco


-- sigma7

[McNik]

Hi everyone, thanks for all the feedback!

sigma7 - The Tubis Disco looks to have too small a platform to for a 20 litre drybag



I like the fact that it can attach to the eyelets though.

cgar380 - I have looked into the OMM racks, but I agree with you about not being keen on the skewer - apart from a single point of failure being catastrophic in more ways than one, it also means taking off the rear wheel for puncture repair is a PITA with a loaded rack. I wonder if it is possible to use them with the eyelets instead? Just bolt em on?!?



I have a Revelate Designs "The Harness" handlebar bag already - I tried it last weekend with my drybag and packraft, but I felt it put too much weight on the front, and when the suspension moved, it caught my front wheel. Maybe just the packraft on it's own would work up front there? I was planning more to carry my tent and sleeping bag there, but I am not set of exactly where everything should go, it could be the tent and sleeping bag and paddle could go in the rear rack.

I have a 5 piece paddle, so packing it is a bit easier - it is the same length as a folded packraft.



I don't have a problem buying the best I can get though! Just need to figure out what will work.

Eric - Hi! Thanks for confirming needing a wide rack, I had a suspicion about that.

TobyGadd - the Freeload rack looks interesting, but seems a bit heavy and I'm not sure I'd trust the plastic bits. it is also quite expensive once I take into account import.

[cfi on the fly]

Im in the same boat as you, new to this forum and I also just got a packraft, a llama.  I wish I had come upon your post a few hours earlier, as I just purchased a harness from Revelate Designs with the hopes of putting the raft up front.  You feel that it is just too much weight up there?  Maybe I will transfer my dry bag from the rear up front and use the frame to hold the raft.  My plan is to load the paddles, (I have the same as you) in my backpack on me.

The problem with trying to figure all this out is you just dont know if it will work untill you buy everything (shipping takes time) and piece it together...and then you have to return or sell what doesn't and try again.

Ive posted what I am using for a rear rack right now, and it appears very sturdy and Im sure would accept my raft with no problems.  Problem is it may be more weight than people are used to.  I just got this a Scheels for $45 and will try it out tomorrow on a overnight camp, packraft trip.  

[McNik]

I wish I had come upon your post a few hours earlier, as I just purchased a harness from Revelate Designs with the hopes of putting the raft up front.  You feel that it is just too much weight up there?  Maybe I will transfer my dry bag from the rear up front and use the frame to hold the raft.  My plan is to load the paddles, (I have the same as you) in my backpack on me.

Hi cfi... I was trying to carry the packraft (Llama) plus paddle plus PFD (Stormy Seas) all in a fairly substantial drybag - I think at least 4 kg if not a bit more. I had a feeling already this was too much for the handlebars, no matter what system you use to attach. it wasn't my plan to have that all up front, but the rack a friend was gonna lend me for my daytrip didn't fit my bike, so it all had to go on the bars.

I still did a 5 hour trip with it, with a 550m climb, at lest the weight up front helps with that! But the rubbing when the suspension sagged on the downs was not good, although it didn't wreck my bag or stop my wheel. I reckon an Alpacka will go on the bars no problem, maybe at the top end of how much weight you'd want there depending.

[McNik]

Looking further into things, the Old Man Mountain racks look good, but just had a thought that they would be a PITA packrafting, as the rear wheel has to come off when packing the bike on the boat, I presume then leaving the rack just getting held on at the seatstays, I can't imagine this is ideal at all :-/

[bmike-vt]

Looking further into things, the Old Man Mountain racks look good, but just had a thought that they would be a PITA packrafting, as the rear wheel has to come off when packing the bike on the boat, I presume then leaving the rack just getting held on at the seatstays, I can't imagine this is ideal at all :-/

pull the skewer, drop the wheel.
put the skewer back in the frame.

[McNik]

An update on this.

It looks like the OMM Sherpa racks can be attached either with the longer skewer, or to the rack eyelets:



An email to OMM confirmed this.

Also, the Sherpa has a new bigger tubing just out:



So looks like I'll be going with this rack, will hopefully be ordering in the next week.

Thanks again for everyones help.

[Eric]

You can't go wrong with anything from Old man mountain though, they are incredibly durable for their weight.

The Harness was made with packrafting in mind and has been used lots with boats by myself and others. But like anything it depends on what you're riding.. you don't want 6 lbs on your handlebars regardless if you're riding much tech stuff. Paddles don't work well in it unless everything is rolled together and are usually best on your back.

Front racks are not good with boating since they will interfere with paddle stroke when the bike is on the boat, usually at least, there are so many ways to go about loading.

If you end up putting it on the rear rack, using a durable stuff sack over the rolled up boat is good idea to prevent metal on really expensive boat fabric wear.

[McNik]

Thanks Eric!

I had the packraft in it's stuffsack, in a 20 litre drybag with the paddle and a PFD stuffed in there as well, it was simply IMHO too much on the front, will try the packraft by itself on the front next time, that will save about 1.5kg which is a lot. Will also try on the rear rack as well and see if it is better. The drybags I am using are heavy duty (almost like cordura) so will resist abrasion and rubbing, but I'm going to keep a close eye on all of that!

I have the OMM Sherpa ordered, looking forward to this final part of my jigsaw coming together!