I bought this bike rack because of the angle at which it encounters my rear dropouts. The rear dropouts of my bike have a metal cuff around the top of them that prevents me from being able to use a bike rack that connects with arms coming down at a 90 degree angle. This bike rack's arms come in at more of a 20 degree angle, using the longer small connector arms it comes with.
I have a 26" Dean mountain bike, which this rack fits perfectly on widest-angle option, of its longer pair of small connector arms. However, there is very little room, one inch, for a fender between this rack and my tire. So, I will take the recommendation of a bike specialist at REI, and build my own rear fender out of corrugated plastic-- the same plastic that political campaign signs are made out of. "Corruplast" as it is also known, has the same structure as corrugated cardboard, only with plastic, making it stronger and more durable.
I will need to customize the fender out of corruplast to fit and attach directly to the bottom of this bike rack and attach with zipties or metal plumbing strapping. This will custom fender work out well though, as I will be make it into more than just a minimal fender. By essentially covering the buttom side of this rack, at the main platform and down each side down to the horizontal bars near the top. This will provide a bit of protection and improved cleanliness to the items mounted on my rack, in the case of riding through water/mud. I may even cover the entire inside of this rack cage with corruplast, as I will be touring a tropical and rainy place (Hawaii).
What I really like about this rack is its strength and various mounting options. I will be carrying about 82 liters of gear (the volume of my two packs combined), and about a 40 liter tank of water strapped to this. Each backpack will sit strapped to a minimal PVC frame I've built. The PVC frame is mounted to the bike rack using metal plumber strapping. Check out this example: http://i143 dot photobucket dot com/albums/r154/n4zou/rearview.jpg
(source: http://www dot bikeforums dot net/commuting/285046-bicycle-rack-backpack.html )
So, given the amount of gear I have, which may be 60 pounds at the maximum, depending on how much water and food I will carry, I needed a strong and stable rack. This one is both strong and stable. It has become a natural extension of my bike, and feels very sturdily attached to the bike.
Besides the main load bearing V-frame of this rack, I really like the horizontal cross bar, and the elbow shaped bar that extends off the bottom. These are super useful for my uses-- lots of customized loadout, versus saddlebags (panniers) which I am not using. I am going with, as I mentioned, a backpacking loadout, so as I said, I constructed my own PVC frames or carrying my backpacks on both sides of this rack. (about 14" wide and 25" high, with one crossbar right in the middle-- the crossbar and bottom bar of my PVC-backpack frames connect perfectly to this rack--- score!).
Given my needs for a rack with lots of mounting options (i.e. for mounting backpacks, big water jugs, and other items) and capable of carrying heavily loads, this is an excellent rack and deserves 5 stars based on my needs.
| Color | Black |
|---|---|
| Brand | Axiom |
| Material | Aluminum |
| Item Weight | 1.3 Kilograms |
| Mounting Type | Rear Seat Mount |
| Orientation | Rear |
| Wheel Size | 29 Inches |
| Item Package Dimensions L x W x H | 17.48 x 13.66 x 6.89 inches |
| Package Weight | 1.38 Kilograms |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 15.75 x 14.75 x 7.5 inches |
| Brand Name | Axiom |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Manufacturer | Cyclone Bicycle |
| Part Number | 590.AX171281.02 |
| Outer Material | aluminum |
| Sport Type | Cycling |
