Racks

Sam Salt said:

What's the bees knees in rear racks these days.Tubus,Bor Yeuh,anything else that folks can
recommend.I was looking at a Tubus model ( The Logo )
kinetics.org.uktubus racks.htmlOpen ↗

on which the panniers fit on a lower bar presumably making the bike more stable.Anyone any
comments as they are quite a price ( £70 ).

I have a Bor Yeuh rack on my tourer which is good but it was a bugger getting the Karrimor pannier
disks on as the tube thickness was at the upper limit. Definitely worth ckecking that your existing
panniers will fit easily.

The other advantage I can see for the Logo rack for my panniers is that it will take the tops of the
panniers below the top of the rack, that means I can fit a rack pack more easily or stick something
on the rack which sticks out sideways (the Karrimor panniers rise above my rack and make this
difficult.)

Colin
--

Tubus are supposed to be the mutt's nuts, but unless you really need the extra strength and
capacity, then I for one am quite happy with Blackburn. The one on my touring bike has been doing
sterling service since 1984.

Avoid cheap Blackburn clones, as they are made from cheese.

--

Dave Larrington - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uklegslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukOpen ↗
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On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 13:11:05 -0000, Dave Larrington <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Tubus are supposed to be the mutt's nuts, but unless you really need the extra strength and
capacity, then I for one am quite happy with Blackburn.

Hang on, are you saying I'm weedy and can't hold my beer!

Quoted message said:

Avoid cheap Blackburn clones, as they are made from cheese.

<fx: mad professor> But zis is only the start of my experiments! Hahahaha!! <rl: need a coffee>

Colin
--

Dave Larrington said:

Avoid cheap Blackburn clones, as they are made from cheese.

I quite like the bor yueh blackburn clones (as supplied with dawes bikes in the mid 90s). The back
ones are better than the blackburn equivalents IMO, primarily due to having a dogleg rather than
straight back strut.

cheers, clive

Dave Larrington said:

Tubus are supposed to be the mutt's nuts, but unless you really need the extra strength and
capacity, then I for one am quite happy with Blackburn. The one on my touring bike has been doing
sterling service since 1984.

Avoid cheap Blackburn clones, as they are made from cheese.

My Backburn rack has been trouble free since 1990, took it across America, around New Zealand and
Tasmania. over 200 days/3500 miles of loaded touring on one trip alone.

--
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On Thu, 22 Jan 2004 13:25:17 -0000, "Clive George"

Quoted message said:

Dave Larrington said:

Avoid cheap Blackburn clones, as they are made from cheese.

I quite like the bor yueh blackburn clones (as supplied with dawes bikes in the mid 90s). The back
ones are better than the blackburn equivalents IMO, primarily due to having a dogleg rather than
straight back strut.

cheers, clive

Blackburn do the EX-2 ( it think it's called) which has dog legs. I have one. It's the dog's
b*ll*cks. Bor Yueh racks IMO are nowhere near as good as Blackburn. I've seen an alloy Bor Yueh rack
with broken dog legs - at the seam (bad weld, braze?). Blackburn have a lifetime guarentee.

Chris
------------------------
I have no sympathy for idiots. I have every sympathy for the innocent.

Dave Larrington said:

Avoid cheap Blackburn clones, as they are made from cheese.

Damn sturdy cheese, IME! I have a B-Y on the MTB and it's never given any trouble aside from the
mounting screw coming out (my fault rather than the rack's, I think). My old 'bent had a B-Y too,
and until a car spun into the rear/side of it (with enough force to break the frame) it did fine
service too, with numerous day tours and even more numerous shopping trips.

So in this case, I vote for the cheese!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

Chris Heys said:

Blackburn do the EX-2 ( it think it's called) which has dog legs. I have one. It's the dog's
b*ll*cks. Bor Yueh racks IMO are nowhere near as good as Blackburn.

That would account for them being 3 times as expensive. If I was about to cycle across Africa I'd
certainly prefer to spend the extra money, but for typical UK use a B-Y should be quite sufficient
for most. And you can have two fail before you'll have paid as much as the Blackburn...

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

Colin Blackburn said:

Sam Salt said:

What's the bees knees in rear racks these days.Tubus,Bor Yeuh,anything else that folks can
recommend.I was looking at a Tubus model ( The Logo )
kinetics.org.uktubus racks.htmlOpen ↗

on which the panniers fit on a lower bar presumably making the bike more stable.Anyone any
comments as they are quite a price ( £70 ).

I have a Bor Yeuh rack on my tourer which is good but it was a bugger getting the Karrimor pannier
disks on as the tube thickness was at the upper limit. Definitely worth ckecking that your
existing panniers will fit easily.

The other advantage I can see for the Logo rack for my panniers is that it will take the tops of
the panniers below the top of the rack, that means I can fit a rack pack more easily or stick
something on the rack which sticks out sideways (the Karrimor panniers rise above my rack and make
this difficult.)

Colin

Yes I was also thinking that about the pannier tops being lower on the Tubus Logo making a rack top
bag easier to attach.I have some Ortliebs and was wondering if dropping them down the rack as the
Logo does would mean the bottom fixing point was too low for the rack.Still I presume these things
have been thought of.

Sam Salt

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Peter Clinch said:

Chris Heys said:

Blackburn do the EX-2 ( it think it's called) which has dog legs. I have one. It's the dog's
b*ll*cks. Bor Yueh racks IMO are nowhere near as good as Blackburn.

That would account for them being 3 times as expensive. If I was about to cycle across Africa I'd
certainly prefer to spend the extra money, but for typical UK use a B-Y should be quite sufficient
for most. And you can have two fail before you'll have paid as much as the Blackburn...

Pete.

Agreed, you'd probably be fine with a B-Y for medium weight UK use. I've also found Blackburn to be
very solid. Plus the'yre not too expensive - I paid £22 for mine, admittedly in Edinburgh Bike
Collective's Jan sale though.

Sam Salt said:

What's the bees knees in rear racks these days.Tubus,Bor Yeuh,anything else that folks can
recommend.I was looking at a Tubus model ( The Logo )
kinetics.org.uktubus racks.htmlOpen ↗

on which the panniers fit on a lower bar presumably making the bike more stable.Anyone any
comments as they are quite a price ( £70 ).

Carrying the weight lower doesn't make the bike more stable. Bikes don't behave like four-wheeled
vehicles when loaded. Having more weight high up can actually make them *more* stable by making the
natural period of oscillation (wobble) longer - think of a pendulum upside down.

When loading a bike for camping or something else that requires massive amounts of luggage, it's
best to get it as close as possible to a line drawn between the front hub and the top of the rear
rack. This has the least effect on handling, apparently.

Anyway, also look at the Blackburn range and the Thorn range at www.sjscycles.com.

Dave Larrington said:

Avoid cheap Blackburn clones, as they are made from cheese.

But if you get the bonk on a long tour, they're great ;-)

Dave Larrington said:

Tubus are supposed to be the mutt's nuts, but unless you really need the extra strength and
capacity, then I for one am quite happy with Blackburn. The one on my touring bike has been doing
sterling service since 1984.

[snip, sig.]

I have three Blackburns from the '80s still going strong. Back then Blackburn made beautiful, one
piece aluminium alloy racks that bolted directly to the frame. Nowadays Blackburn and others use
cheesy bits of steel to provide an adjustable link to the frame. WHY??

I've just had an anonymous rack that has done maybe 10,000 loaded and bumpy miles on my Cannondale
break, so replaced it with a Topeak that seemed a good idea at the time: it's made of strong tubing
and has a dovetail slot for accepting a rack pack. JOKE! Fit the pack and you can't attach panniers
to the rack! What [censored] prince of design thought this up? Luckily, understanding LBS refunded me for
the pack, but I'd bought the rack a few weeks before, so I'm now stuck with a rack with a rather
unwanted top section:-(

--
Jan Dreaming of a world in which companies get rid of their marketing departments and just stick to
designs that work.

In message <40107187.DD39EB4F@SUPERFLUOUS_BITductape.net>, Jan Wysocki
<jan@SUPERFLUOUS_BITductape.net> writes

Quoted message said:

Dave Larrington said:

Tubus are supposed to be the mutt's nuts, but unless you really need the extra strength and
capacity, then I for one am quite happy with Blackburn. The one on my touring bike has been doing
sterling service since 1984.

[snip, sig.]

I have three Blackburns from the '80s still going strong. Back then Blackburn made beautiful, one
piece aluminium alloy racks that bolted directly to the frame. Nowadays Blackburn and others use
cheesy bits of steel to provide an adjustable link to the frame. WHY??

Presumably the great variation in frame sizes spacing of stays etc.? The old balckburn rack on my
tourer dates from the 80's and is fixed in this way to the seat stays.

Anyway. my Tubus rack has very neat adjustable fixings....

On the question posed by the OP, I'm now a fan of Tubus racks having had done on my town utility
bike for a year or so. They are very sturdy, the quality is good the adjustable fixings to the seat
stay are nice. I think they are good value for money, though of course not cheap.

Yes, I could buy maybe 3 cheapies for the same price, but I like things that work and do the job
well and are reliable.. Over the years I've broken 2 cheapy Al racks (A Nimrod and B-Y), a front
Blackburn rack and bent the rear one.
--
Chris French, Leeds

Zog The Undeniable said:

Carrying the weight lower doesn't make the bike more stable. Bikes don't behave like four-wheeled
vehicles when loaded. Having more weight high up can actually make them *more* stable by making
the natural period of oscillation (wobble) longer - think of a pendulum upside down.

If it's done properly, lower down weight is better. And I say this not from imagining pendulums but
from riding an 8 Freight with 50 Kgs of coal in the back in a low slung bin and finding it a damn
site more stable than my old upright tourer ever was with less than a third of that on board on
normal, high mounted racks.

Also the case that loading my 'bent, where I have the option of low and high racks, it comes
out far more stable when the heavy stuff goes into the lowriders that sit underneath me and
close to the road.

Quoted message said:

When loading a bike for camping or something else that requires massive amounts of luggage, it's
best to get it as close as possible to a line drawn between the front hub and the top of the rear
rack. This has the least effect on handling, apparently.

It's best to have a bike that takes loads better than a standard diamond frame with front racks
mounted on the steering forks. Aside from specialist options like I have, if you want "massive
amounts of luggage" you may well be better off with a trailer (note how BOBs keep their weight
low down).

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

Jan Wysocki said:

Dave Larrington said:

Tubus are supposed to be the mutt's nuts, but unless you really need the extra strength and
capacity, then I for one am quite happy with Blackburn. The one on my touring bike has been doing
sterling service since 1984.

[snip, sig.]

I have three Blackburns from the '80s still going strong. Back then Blackburn made beautiful, one
piece aluminium alloy racks that bolted directly to the frame. Nowadays Blackburn and others use
cheesy bits of steel to provide an adjustable link to the frame. WHY??

Yup, those of us with old Blackburns are happy with them. Mine is like you say, four point fixing no
moving or loose parts

--
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On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 00:57:56 +0000, Jan Wysocki

jan@SUPERFLUOUS_BITductape.net said:

so replaced it with a Topeak

Hate to [censored] off another rack manufactor, but also had bad experience with Topeak racks. They look
ok, but put anything remotely heavy one and it'll wag like the tail of a happy dog. Blackburn is
still the way to go IME.

Chris

Jan Wysocki said:

I've just had an anonymous rack that has done maybe 10,000 loaded and bumpy miles on my Cannondale
break, so replaced it with a Topeak that seemed a good idea at the time: it's made of strong
tubing and has a dovetail slot for accepting a rack pack. JOKE! Fit the pack and you can't attach
panniers to the rack! What [censored] prince of design thought this up? Luckily, understanding LBS
refunded me for the pack, but I'd bought the rack a few weeks before, so I'm now stuck with a rack
with a rather unwanted top section:-(

Depends on your rack pack and panniers, I suppose. My panniers hang off the sides on plastic hooks,
and the rack pack straps round the top with velcro. I can't see mine being a problem with any rack.