We just received the Tour-It rack and the Travel-It front and Travel-It rear panniers from Racktime for the Bike Touring News Store. Ortlieb, Tubus and Racktime all come from the same company with the Racktime products intended for those who don’t want to pay Ortlieb and Tubus prices.
Racktime Tour-It rear rack
Naturally, as with any new gear, I had to fiddle around with it and I mounted the rack on Norm, my Surly Cross Check bike and installed one of the rear panniers. I wanted to see what the hardware was like and how well the bags mounted and also I was eager to see how the bags differ from the Ortieb back and front rollers.
The Racktime racks are made of aluminum as opposed to the tubular chrome moly or stainless steel of the Tubus offerings. This rack actually weighed a few ounces more than the Tubus Cosmo stainless steel rack even though the two have nearly identical configurations. Overall the mounting of the rack was simple and straight forward. Screws attach through a hole in the welded plate on the bottom of either side of the rack and into the dropout eyelets on the bike. The spacing was perfect for the 135mm rear blades on the Surly and I didn’t need any shims and there was no prying or spreading of the rack legs either.
The braces which secure the upper platform to the bike are meant to be attached to eyelets on the seat stays, but could be attached to clamps if no eyelets are provided. The other end of the braces then thread through an eyebolt which in turn is bolted to the rack platform. Even though this is a versatile setup, if I was going to make this a permanent attachment I would bend the struts in order to achieve a better alignment. Or else I would cut them shorter. As it was, the vertical sides of the rack interfered and I was unable to tighten things down completely.
All the hardware needed for the Racktime Tour-It rear rack. Standard bolts, eyebolts, and two stays.
The stays or braces bolt to the seat stays and thread through the eyebolts. For a permanent installation, I would either cut them shorter of bend them so they didn't hit the vertical leg of the rack.
I like theminimal hardware on this rack since the fewer pieces and bolts to come loose the better when on the road. The top platform is wide enough to actually be used to carry a sleeping bag or tent and the lower set of rails allow for the attachment of panniers in such a way that they won’t interfere with a load on the top platform. The little pump pegs on the left leg of the rack are a cool idea, but I am unaware of any pumps that will fit on them. I was told that this rack is made as original equipment on some bikes for the European market, and they have their own proprietary pumps. The rack also will work with the Racktime SNAPit components. The rack is rated to carry up to 30 kilograms and the suggested retail is about $65.00.
Neal April 11, 2011, 1:14 pm
“I wanted to see what the hardware was like and how well the bags mounted and also I was eager to see how the bags differ from the Ortieb back and front rollers.”
Me, too. I am considering this rack but how does the Ortlieb rear roller mate with this? Have you had a chance to find out? I have a Surly LHT.
Bike Hermit April 11, 2011, 10:04 pm
Neal,
The Ortlieb Rear Roller uses the QL1 mounting system. Quite versatile as you can see. The Racktime Travel-It panniers use the same mounting system and I did install a pair of those on this rack and they fit beautifully. Should work great on the LHT with Ortliebs. I will be posting my impressions of the Travel-It panniers tomorrow. BTW, where are you going?
William March 3, 2012, 9:28 pm
I found the Sunlite 9″ Frame pump will fit the pegs on the Tourit, but the bottom hole will not seat very far onto the peg.
The European brand that uses the Tourit appears to be Gazelle on the Luzern model, but I have not contacted them to find out if they sell it separately.
Racktime and OrtliebUSA say the SKS Diago should fit, but I do not see how it would mount to the pegs.