Now then

Want a rear rack to carrier panniers for my and Mrs Stevew's hardtail mtbs. No mounts on either bike so what are the best racks out there?

Do any have quick removal capabilities to allow them to be taken off quickly / without tools as this would be a nice touch.

Any advice happily received.

The best? Tubus. http://www.tubus.com/en

You can get seat post mounted racks with a qr fitting but not suitable for heavy stuff

Thanks, I had seen a bit about the Tubus racks, look good, I'll check them out.

I presume they have adapters for sea-tstays to fit at the bottom of the rack but how do such racks work when there are no mounts on the top of the seat-stays / sea-ttube? Is this where manufacturers have a fitting to the seat post?

Tehre are various solutions but some from of clip around the frame tube is common

http://www.tubus.com/en/spares-and-accessories

Old Man Mountain make some excellent racks. I have a front and rear Cold Springs. Carradice sell them in the UK, and they have great customer service.

http://www.carradice.co.uk/categories/omm

The best thing about them is the mounting method means they will fit anything. They use an extra long wheel axle and then mount to canti/v brake posts or just using clamps around the seatstays if you have a disk only frame. They have a very high weight limit and have been extensively used for years now. I cannot recommend them enough.

Post-Moderne also make rack mounting seat clamps with a set of tapped holes for the upper mount, cost about £6.95 and are quite a neat solution.

Look at the new Blackburn disc rack, mounts on the QR.