Cool tip: zip tie an old license plate to a rear rack. You now have a flatbed, fender, small table, etc.

I've been observing the whole bikepacking phenomena for a while now, and am really intrigued. Top tube bags, stem bags, frame bags, fork bags....all brilliant ideas which have given us more versatility. However I'm so glad you have spoken about some of the obvious flaws of these ridiculously oversized saddle packs...particularly stability. I seem to recall a lot of bikepacking 'innovations' came about soon after manufacturers started to remove eyelets from frames. They were an answer to the problem of making frames look 'clean'. Thankfully some manufacturers are waking up to the idea that most people don't race...so a couple of extra ounces to put eyelets back on makes a bike far more versatile! We've gone full circle!

Dude, I am so thankful for people like you! I appreciate you taking the time to research, trial, and review bike gear. Your efforts help me make better gear decisions and therefore get me out enjoying the great outdoors in a more confident and comfortable way. Thank you!

As a non-ultralight bikepacker heavy duty rear racks are what enables me. It is great to see options are expanding AND that frame manufacturers are adding back mounting points for them.

the thru axle mount for the old man mountain rack, allows it to have a heavier load capacity compared to mounting on the eyelets

I found an old pannier rack in my garage the day before starting a 3 day gravelbiking trip and I was so excited. It changed EVERYTHING and I knew it would. It was missing the final attachment hardware to the seatpost, so I dug up an old reflector seatpost mount and used that to connect to, and it worked fine the entire ride. And yeah, next time I'd put less in the pannier bags and more on the flat top to be more aero. But the upside of pannier bags is really low center of gravity. You don't need to spend a lot. This one was awesome and it was a cheap one probably 15 years old. They've figured out the design decades ago. Anyway, I was able to have a fresh bike kit every day and a few more items because of it and it was so great.

Oh... on the seat bag/rear rack thing: those of us with short legs almost never have seat pack options. Rear racks (or trailers!) are sometimes the only functional option 😂

maybe we can just call it touring again.

I have the Aeroe with two side-by side cradles. It’s a great setup and I get full use of my dropper post.

Great job covering all things rack here Neil. Have owned a dropper seat pack and when it came time for a new hardtail, I definitely wanted rack mounts for the reasons you cite. Tumbleweed T-rack + Rockgeist dry bag do the trick for singletrack touring.

Great video. I have always used racks on all my bikes and find them very convenient for lugging stuff around town or on long rides. My go to rack is the Tubus Logo Classic rock solid performance for many years.

I have the Tumbleweed front and rear racks running Frameworks design mini panniers, just finished the Attack of the Buns ride in Australia, and racks and bags worked a treat.

The Ortlieb Quick Rack is amazing. I descended a volcano with it on summer, fill with panniers and dry bags and worked like a charm. Its an amazing product.

I used the Tailfin for about a year on my 46cm gravel bike and even with the extended rack stay, I still had to jam the bag under the back of my saddle, which required some creative packing and sometimes would rub my butt. Also, adding the QR dropouts raises the height of the arch which compounds this problem, so I was never able to use them. I really wanted to like it, but after my Great Divide trip, I was completely fed up with the packing issues and ultimately ended up switching to a regular rack that sat lower over my rear wheel and further back.

The Tailfin is expensive, but now I have a rack that I can effortlessly remove when I don't need it or, with a few extra adapters, swap to any of my bikes in under a minute. I absolutely love mine

As an old bike tourist (racks/panniers) I have resisted being converted to bike packing primarily because of the increased complexity multiple bags and strapping onto the frame while simultaneously increasing the time to pack and unpack. My current system consists of a Iberia rear rack and trunk bag and two Ortlieb waterproof panniers. I can remove and replace all three bags to the rack in one minute. Each has a shoulder carry strap. The trunk bag has five zippered compartments giving immediate access to everything needed during a day of riding. I have a rain cover for it for the rare rainy days ride. This is simple, accessible, easy to live with, and doesn’t require a myriad of solutions to fasten loads all over the bike. It need improving with a front load carrier for balance. It wouldn’t be ideal for real off-road bike packing, but for any kind of touring that involves roads, it works great.

I have the Tailfin, it's great!. Rock solid and so light. One thing you can also do is remove the drybag and use its internal frame as a conventional rack. While it's not necessarily designed to do this, it worked very well for carrying my tripod strapped down with a pair of voile straps.

Neal you are so good at this!! Tumbleweed rack looks like a great fit for me!Thanx for these informative vids,the best in da biz!!!

I was not aware of the Ortlieb rack but I’m very interested now. Thanks for the video

Thanks for this review! Do you think the Aeroe Spider is safe on carbon frames with no connection to the seat post? I’m thinking of the torque of 20lbs lurching 15” above a fairly narrow mounting area.

Luddite Club meeting confirms racks are great!!

Huge fan of axiom, dlx and the journey are both incredibly well thought out and work well with both front and rear panniers. I use the journey with smaller front panniers and have 0 play. The rack and bags set me back about $125...including a dry sack on top.

Cycle tourist since 1982. Back then in the U.S. all we could get were Blackburn racks, and Kirtland panniers. I've used most of the systems from Tubas, Ortleib, and Arkel. After living from your bike for two months you figure out that less is more, and simple is "more better".These days, I've completely switched to frame bags even for road tours, and especially for off road tours. I've found off the shelf Revelate Designs to be the best bang for the buck, and very durable. I ride a Brooks B-17 saddle so the Revelate Spinelock seat pack system doesn't work with the Brooks saddle, but the Revelate Terrapin worked great for 2,000 miles off road until the plastic support started to tear out. Now I have a 7Roads seat pack from Ukraine that uses a small stainless support attached to my seat post for the seat pack. I feel that using a dropper post for long off road tours might become a problem, I had a brand new $350 dropper post fail on me after two weeks (no pack attached) which the company serviced under warranty. When I got it back, I sold it and got a Thomson post. When you have weight on the bike touring, more than likely dropping your seat to descend will be the last thing on your mind. You might even walk some downhills when presented with baby-head loose rock and erosion rutted DG. Happy trails!

I never fully transitioned away from racks. I have a tubus rear rack and a Surly front (6 pack rack, love it), with a Rogue Panda frame pack. The capacity in the frame pack lets me get away with small panniers on the front and rear and I still have the top of the rear rack if I want to go full lux with a camp chair or something. I don't even need a bar bag. The whole set up feels more evenly distributed and works for commuting or road touring just as well.

Thanks! I've got the Salsa Alternator rack on my Salsa Timberjack, with Arkel Drylites. For my road & gravel bikes, I want something that I can move between bikes as needed. Looking at the Ortleib or Tailfin, but certainly open to others.

I have both styles of Tumbleweed racks and love them. Also own a Tubus rear rack for less adventure style rides.

Tumbleweed racks are just simple and just simply great. To address the "missing" tire-to-back-interface-platform, I just added a transparent cutting mat from a household store for 1 CAD between the rack and the dry bag - increases the lifetime of the dry bag and keeps everything a bit cleaner.

I installed an inexpensive Blackburn rack (Maybe $35 USD) on my 1998 Gary Fisher mountain bike. With a pair of Ortlieb front panniers, it makes a perfect commuter.

34.9mm seatpost owners: The salsa rack-lock in size 35mm will fit over our seattube (but not seatpost) if you take a half-round file and file off the lip. Works really well but I do have two seat binders now, one normal and one specially for my rack mounts. I couldn't find an option for a 38.6mm binder. 2020 Specialized Fuze 29 (has rack mounts by the through axle)

The quick rack looks sick, looking forward to that review

Just ordered an elkhorn and a 5L dry bag from sea-to-summit for the front of my lynskey. Really excited to have more storage space! Mostly need it to carry extra water.

Love the shirt, man.

Those prices are insane. Several hundreds of $ for some welded aluminium and a few extra clamps and screws.

Thanks for such a detailed review! Dang!

Great vid. Been looking forward to tbis since it was hinted a few weeks back!

Love seeing the Grappler in there with the Old Man. :) Agree 100% on the usefulness of racks. Just gotta make sure to balance between front and back and you're golden.

I use the Carradice Bagman Expedition. It's great for a biggish Carradice style saddle bag, it's also amazing, because I can fit a small saddle bag between it and the seatpost or a bottle. This time I chose to put just the Restrap Techbag on it plus my sleeping pad. Next time for when I have a Neo Air I might put my sleeping bag on it. It's way more versatile than a seat pack and I was able to pack my bike a bit more front heavy to have more fun on trails. For riding with a dropper post I might use a Tailfin

My husband installed the Ortlieb quick-release rack on his gravel bike and liked it so much that we bought one for my hardtail mountain bike with the seat tube and through axel attachments. Fingers crossed it will work for me as well!

Found a Wren rack for $75 recently and am running that on my Ritchey Ascent. It plays nicely with boost and 2.3” rubber.

Very Good Review of all the different racks. I recently purchases the Aero Spyder rack system for both the my gravel bike and my fatty. I am looking forward to using them this summer. I like the flexibility of the mounting system, although it does take a few minutes to mount and take them off.

Great episode! I’m going with the Tumbleweed mini pannier rack. Original ordered the T-rack, then saw the mini pannier and thought it would be better if/when I may want to use small panniers. Our Canadian distributor was cool with the change after the order. Will be using it with cages and 5L lightweight drybags for the GDMBR in late summer.

Carradice make an amazing option for this. It's called a bagman. If you have brooks style saddle loops it's a super lightweight bend of metal that can support 5 kg. Fits a milk crate, designed for traditional saddlebags. Looks like a Jack the Rack. They make a QR version for if you don't have loops which is £50 currently from SJS (UK and Europe) and they've got a bunch of discounted saddlebags on there as well. I use the sport on my road bike and use a lightweight audax 12l and honestly I have space for the Expedition version which is big enough for the 20l Super C or Barley. Combine that with a frame bag and a handlebar support for a roll or Carradice bag. And honestly if you're not doing more than a 2 week trip you don't need more than 10kg of gear, you just need some extra space for food. The cheapest Jack style handlebar support I could find is £50, the bagman QR is £50, my audax bag was £40, and a larger carradice bag from SJS will be like £60. Add a frame bag like my lotus for £20 and you've got a proper lightweight, stiff, around 30l setup for like £220. My bivvy setup cost me around £70 and the bike £325 second hand with upgrades. All my cycling kit was like £150 max. Garmin 800 secondhand £60. I'm at well under a grand for the whole setup.

Tumbleweed looks very nice…..i’m currently using a steel rack i found in a skip…my Surly loves it 🥰🥳

I really like Topeak's system of rear rack and platform that accepts Topeak's rear rack "Trunk Bags." Slide the bag into the grooves on the rack platform, and click it into place. Easy to mount rear-tail light hardware too. Can fit both the trunk bag and panniers onto the rack, depending on the panniers --some have too much bulk where they hang from the rack, but others work just fine. Really well thought out.

Great summary of rear racks. Could you do a specific one on front racks, and (for those of us who like to carry a lot of stuff...) include your recommendations on the various pizza racks out there. Thanks!

I like the Tailfin rack, and I'm intrigued by the Aero system. But, as a penny pinching Scotsman, I'm sold on the Ortlieb Quick Rack, which looks functional, durable and affordable. Cheers

Thanks for the content!! Just a quick question: at 15’50 which bike is that? It looks awesome and the geometry is to die for 🙏

Thank you Sir, may God keep you safe from all that you do not fear.

Because of the Catrike Expedition's unique frame design it makes it really difficult to find a rack that will fit it. So we use the Evo rack with Arkel Dolphin panniers. They're expensive but so worth it.

Hi, I found this video informative and use a full rack with paniers. I also have a rear seat post rack from Arkel ( not the rollpackers) called the randonneur rack that would be worth a look and a review.

Hey Neil - thanks for the video. Been thinking about diving into bike credit card touring and what option to use - rack or seatpost bags. After discussing the issue with the guys at my LBS, it seems a rack with a dry bag and a handlebar bag, and maybe a 1/2 frame or full frame bag is the way to go. Since all of my bikes are Salsa's, I'd probably go with their racks. Unfortunately, that means an alternator rack for standard rear axle width, the fat bike rack for my Beargrease, and Wanderlust for my Journeyer's. Or I just pick one bike (probably one of the Journeyer's) for touring. What do you think about Sea to Summit's Big River Dry Bag? I'm looking at their 20L version since credit card touring means I don't have to carry as much gear. Thanks, sir 🍻

I have a HD Jand 22 inch long back rack, wonder if they make anything similar on disc bikes?

Can vouch for the voile rack strap. It's wonderful! I use it all the time on my Pelago front rack.

+1 for the Ortlieb Quick Rack! Works perfectly on my gravel bike together with two of their 10L gravel pack panniers and a small dry bag on-top. As I mostly use my bike for day trips, it is nice to be able to quickly set it up and remove it again. Also quite sturdy and love the locking mechanism 👍 Thanks for the great overview, Neil!

Any recommendations for a rack thatll fit my fatbike? Ritchey Commando, have both a 26x4 & a 29x2.8 wheelset. Ideally id like one with mounting bolts on the struts so i can fit bottle cages.

Mountain Laurel Designs has some pretty awesome bags now, specifically designed for bikepacking. They’re made from Ultra 200 and super lightweight. I ordered the Poco Ultra panniers and the 22L Ultra bikepacking dry bag. They’ll be here Monday. They’re gonna sit on the Old Man Mountain Divide (made in USA) rack that will be here Monday as well.

You continue to amaze

hehe, interesting how everything is somehow repeating. This "new" style of backpacking is what I have done 3 decades ago on my mountainbike ;). For same reason: balanced weight distribution and good stability of the packs.

Question: can you use the tailfin universal thru axle with the ortlieb quick rack? So, is the clamp system of the ortlieb compatible with that of the tailfin. Reason for asking, i don't like the idea of having some stubs mounted on my seatstays because i'm afraid it could cause damage to te frame when using the bike without the rack. Those stubs then stand out and can easily hit a tree stump whilst riding. Causing damage to the frame.

Damn that’s a great video. Thank You.

You mentioned you have the shorter of the two tumbleweed options, what do you think the max tire size on a 29er would be before you went up to the longer version?

Have used the Areo rack on a full suspension carbon bike on single track solid set up. Would buy again

first one... yeah. And I switched form Seatpack to Tailfin Aeropack.... It is a great Rack especially if you want to use a dropper..

A superb pack for a rear rack are the British military ruck rocket pouches. Super tough and lightweight. I zip tie them from the webbing on the back to the rack, and they fit like a dream. 15 liters per pouch, 30 liters with 2 pouches. You can't beat them for the durability and the cheap pricing.

the Ortlieb Quick Rack Light look really great .am using the arkel randonneur but i cannot use pannier .the ortilieb look the best of 2 world easy to remove and work with pannier .

I've decided to put my old Tubus rack on my MEC Cote. I'll keep the Timbuc2 BP bags including the seat bag, and just use skinny panniers on the rack. I mainly want to eliminate my backpack. Weight should be about the same, and I have a lot more flexibility. I used my old Tubus rack on the tandem for MANY miles of radonneuring and touring. But I have had Axiom rack welds come apart in the middle of a tour. Quality counts.

CW is superb.....Thankyou for the video

Hey, perfect video for what I'm looking for in the moment. I'm going to make an enduro rally, and I was looking into the Aeroe Spider Rack, do you think it's a good idea ? I see some enduro pilot with it. Thanks for this video, and the others, really cool stuff.

Where can I get a longer base rear cargo rack for a bicycle (long distance bike touring).

Phillip Priolo ive got a full suspension Stumpjumper and i used a Topeak Tetra rack. My wife uses one on a Santa Cruz 5010. The carbon seat stays need to be pretty beefy. My 2016 Stumpjumper rear triangle is box section aluminum (front carbon). See my comment above. The Topeak Tetra racks use a velcro strap and a tensioning system to secure the rack. The rack can slip, but weve beem able to redy that with various measures. Try to put some protective tape on the zones where the load goes first. A zip tie covered in duct tape can make a good location guide and backstop.

There's a cargo net called an air pannier (UK made), it really is great for stuff which won't fit in bags (tent maybe when bikepacking). But I can also carry my daughters bike on my bike with it! Might be worth a review!

as always ,a great review .I own them all and I always land on my tailfin,its just that much better .And with all the added goodies they continually pull away from the others .Hands down the best Bikepacking rack. ( skip the carbon one )

I have used the ortlieb quick rack for a touring/bikepacking trip of 3000kms on both pavement and fireroads and I am not convinced by the toughness of the rack and the fixation at all. I found the rack to slip out of the quick release rod and fully rotate on its bottom mounts to touch the road after a few kilometers on the road. I strapped it to the frame for the rest of the trip. So I recommend this rack only for commuting and not for touring/bikepacking. It has a non-slip paint which wore out very quickky with panniers (I had 2 ortlieb 10l panniers for a total charge of 14kg)

M-Wave luggage rack used for about 1000 miles!. Minimalist and £17 (about 20 dollars?). Given that I carry about 5 or 6 kg max on there (its rated at 25kg), its a no-brainer. Adjustable height setting too, have mine adjusted about a cm above tire, works perfect and keeps weight low. Another great example of how so many others are ripping cyclists off. Cheers from England.

Thanks for the great breakdown of currently available racks. I’m wondering if you’ve come across any alloy racks that are raw finish or clear-coat. All seem to be black powder coated. I’d just like to have something that blends more with my Ti frames. Thanks

Where do you find the Asture straps? I cannot find them anywhere. Can you provide a link?

Tumleweed Mini Panier Rack or Old Man Mountain Elkhorn Rack for a front Rack? any first hand experience regarding durability, practicability, etc.?

What are a few rear bag brands that make the larger rear rack bags? Im not looking for sidemounting bags mainly one that sits on the rack itself.

I saw this hooked up to a specialized levo emtb can you confirm please, im getting the same bike to load up the same rack just to hold my camera and food. good run down on these racks. I heard so man times that the same bike will not hold a rack at all and to get the other model bike that comes with a rack.

Have you had any experience with or heard much about the Soma Rakku Alloy? Price seems very reasonable, triple bosses for cages, clearance for 29 x 2.6”, and is come in raw alloy (thinking it may look nice on my Titanium Jones or Binary Havok.

Nothing beats my long milk crate box that sits on my back bike rack... load groceries & tools/material for work... its awesome & FREE!

What panniers are those at the 2:50 mark? They’re tan in color and have the blue lacing along the back.

A great tip is to put a small cut in the end of your bolts that you attach your rack with, if you snap one that is a big problem but if the hole goes all the way through get out your trusty swiss army knife and unscrew it.

I love my T rack. I can run it up front or out back on my Surly.

Tubus Vega classic for life! 🤘🏽❤

Hey great shirt. where did you get it? 🙋🏻‍♀️👍

Really good video! So I can attest to the the Old Man Mountain experience, but went a slightly different route. I'll be honest, the $168 price tag just for the rack was too rich for me, and everything said and done starts getting into the Tailfin space. So what I did was purchase a mounting kit and 2 sets of axles kits (one for my 12x142 hardtail Ibis Tranny29) and one for my gravel bike (12x142 Rodeo Labs Flaanimal). I was hoping to get lucky that they shared the same thread pitch and length but unfortunately luck was not on my side. I really wanted the Ortlieb Quick Rack to work but I believe it was going to be too wide with the quick rack mounts. So after some searching, and measuring, a quick hack if you don't necessarily need a beefy overbuilt OMM rack that's quite spendy, it will work with racks with boost spacing, but you need to have the rack dropouts to have 2 holes to mount to the "Divide Drop Outs - Pair" (DRO100) to interface with the axles. Two screws to attach it to the rack with bolts. When you see the kit, its self explainitory. I personally went with a Racktime BOOSTIT 2.0 which fit my price/needs. I also purchased the Seat Post Clamp (SEA101) which is awesome because it splits in half. It doesn't fit on the frame but added some extra rubber to connect it to the seatpost directly. Which is even better because you remove the need to adjust anything when taking on/off. I really like this setup because its literally 4 bolts and I can move the rack from my gravel bike to my HT in less than 5min, and its 4 bolts (assuming the axle is installed) I don't even have to adjust the angle or length moving it from bike to bike (got lucky there). It's a slight hack and I had to drill two holes in the rack to get everything to line up, but the axle kit and Divide Drop Out kit is a legit robust easy pairing if you find an alternate rack that works with it. I will say that one of the reasons I looked at this particular rack is the "Snapit2.0" base that snaps onto the rack. I attached an Ortlieb Rackpack 24L to it and it basically does the same as the Tailfin AP20. I use it everyday to commute into work. Just quick-disconnect and carry the bag into work. Works better than loading/unloading panniers. This was my personal hack. If anyone wants to know more about this setup/DIY, I'm willing to help through the process.

Hey, what are those panniers at 2.53?

Haven't read all the comments. Unless i slept through it Neil didn't include the Topeak or Thule racks in the review which work with full and non suspension bikes. Ive seen these things haul panniers and dry bags no problem. My buddy rolls his stuff up in his temt or bivvy and straps it on top of his Thule rear rack platfrom. My wife uses a Topeak rear rack with small panniers so that she can use the dropper post. We have the Topeak suspension fork rack which works great as long as you put hose clamps at the bottom so the rack doesn't slip down. However on our last trip to the Moab area o decided i needed full suspension and a seat dropper. I modified the front rack to fit on my full suspension by removing the platform amd flipping the rack so that the cross bar is over the rear tire. Then i cut a large plastic protein powder jar in half and zip tied them into a perfect place to locate the dry bags away from my heels. This worked pretty well, but I'll be making some mods. During the trip banging down the Steel Bender i was able to use the seat dropper, but had to use a bungee on the seat post to stabilize things in a third point of attachment. Because a bungee is elastic i could still use the dropper post.

All of these are great products, but I still think the Tumbleweed is the king - Steel, bombproof, simple. 3-Pack mounts for extra capacity for either luggage or water... It's pretty perfect for this sort of use case.

Seat pack did not work for me at all this weekend bc i was on wet rocky rooty singletrack and i couldnt drip my seat post, felt like i was on a po go stick, took a couple spills, rack is looking like a much better choice than i had originally thought

Quick release rackstands that can fit Montague Paratrooper bicycles?

I love racks (pun intended)! Currently using the Aeroe spider!

Curious, if I were to use a carbon frame, should I be cautious of any of these rack designs?

where to buy these two green voile straps with white snakes? I dont find this verison.

Can anyone recommend please a full suspension bike for touring? (w. fenders, lights, dynamo, luggage racks etc? Thx

Love the shirt!

Doesn't seem like a ton of those options would work for those of us who used larger panniers unfortunately. Great to see so many options out there though!

What type of panniers are those in the image @2:57 ??

Thats a cool shirt. I like my panniers. Got them off that rainforest named company. About £40 Its heavier but i can fit the kitchen sink