A Rear Rack on the Surly ECR

I was a stumped for a little while recently when a customer asked about a rear rack for her new Surly ECR. Most standard rear racks are either not tall enough or not wide enough to clear the massive 29×3 Knard tires. I figured Channing at Old Man Mountain would have some ideas- since he already makes racks to fit regular fat bikes- and I was right. He suggested mounting the Old Man Mountain Sherpa rack to the rack eyelets on the ECR rather than trying to use the typical, hub axle mount. It’s as if this rack was designed for this bike when attached this way! I used the 26″ Sherpa rack and ended up with a couple centimeters clearance between the bottom of the rack and the top of the tire. The stock extender bar made to go from the rack to the threaded holes in the seat stay needs to be replaced with the longer, 12″ extender bar. The fit kit brackets on the bottom of the rack legs are about 27mm thick so I found some M5x0.8 bolts in a 35mm length at the local hardware store and used those to attach the rack to the threaded holes on the dropout. With those two easy modifications the 26″ Sherpa rack is a good option for the ECR. For those who prefer a little bit larger, beefier rack with lower pannier rails, the Old Man Mountain 26″ Pioneer fits too as long as the longer bolts and extension bars are used.