Personal setups, Ultralight / Singletrack » Lee Blackwell’s homemade rack
by Lee Blackwell
bike rack and sleeping setup
My bikepacking started 6 years ago when Steve Becker and I rode a section of the Colorado Trail to Durango. I used an Old Man Mountain rack with Arkel Panniers on my Moots YBB. The whole setup was the best I could do at the time but proved to be heavy and awkward.
Later, with more experience when Scott Morris and I rode the AZ trail I used the Old Man Mountain on my Moots but without the panniers. The load was secured to the top of the rack.
Last year I decided to make my own rack to fit my full suspension Lenz Leviathan. Full suspension bikes are a greater challenge. After several pretty laughable attempts and a few fiascoes during the rides (thanks for your patience Mike and Scott) I did come up with my own design which has worked very well. I did have a lot of fun designing, and testing and refining the rack.
Now in the quest for an ever lighter rig my thinking is to try the new generation of seat bags. It’s in the works. More later..
Lee Blackwell
ScottM on 
Dylan on 
AmosIv on 
Preston on 
Jesse on 
Martin on 
Rod on
Lee
Nice lean to set up I like the way you have incorporated the bike into it.
The new extra large seat bags do seam to be the way to go several of the AZT 300 riders had them this year. They are about the same size as my Jandd rack pack duffle but lose the weight of the rack.
Very creative, Lee. Those are bottle cages on the struts, aren`t they? Are you still using them and do they (did they?) they catch a lot on trees and brush? I`m working on a rear rack also and thought about putting bosses in the struts for bottle cages. Do you think they would be more out of the way if they faced back rather than to the sides, or would that cause a problem by moving the weight back too far?
Brian
this might be of interest to you …check these guys out i got one for my full suspension and works a treat http://www.freeload.co.nz
cheers
jason