Anyone got one? Thoughts?
Sturdy over rough terrain (with the seat stay adapters rather than the bolt mounts)?
Is there clearance for a rear MTB Mudhugger rather than the optional integrated mudguard?
How solid is the dedicated pannier attachment system?
I was in Backcountry Bikes yesterday speaking to the owner there about them.
He's got one that's just done 3k off-road miles touring with panniers, another that's many years and many bivvys in Scotland down.
The way they mount means the loading is not on the mechanism, but on solid steel rack structure.
I'm likely buying one next weekend from him after I check my pannier (Odd Thule mounting) fit.
Interested in this as I have 2 Ortleib rear pannier bags. Potentially for use on Genesis DayOne and Sonder Camino though both have/will have SKS mudguards installed.
Currently using a 'hard wired on' rack which is a bit heavy and a pain to refit/remove.
If it is as sturdy as claimed and an easy fit/remove, great.
I use one on my gravel bike. Highly rate it. Sturdy, comes on and off in literally seconds. Really nicely made and works really well with their own bags and quicklok system. I’ve no experience of the mounts for non-drilled frames, but I’d expect they will help you position the rack as you please to create clearance for guards.
Yep; girlfriends got one using the seat stay adapters; it’s solid. Not had to be readjusted since we fitted it; taken full drybag/ mini panniers down some very rough terrain over multiple days and it’s not skipped a beat.
I've got one. Had it on HT on Badger Divide with Ortlieb Classic Panniers few months ago worked fine. Put on my gravel bike and survived some abuse on big gravel descents in Spain. I added an extra lever holder arm thing so I had two on each pannier to hold them to rack. Worked fine no issues with dropper post. Swapped the set up to a Genesis CDF for a tour round Holland couple weeks ago with no issues.
I used the bolt mounts which are fiddly to move from bike to bike but appears bombproof. Ortlieb should sponsor me!
I’ve used one with Ortlieb gravel panniers bikepacking from Rome to UK and across Spain, both gravel type routes. Works well, no problems, prefer it to my Tailfin system. I use the rack eyelet bolts supplied.
I've one, highly rate it. Super easy to install and remove, sturdy enough that I removed a second clip on the pannier bags. Looks well smart.
But to your questions, about the mudguard, not sure, I have the lightweight option and it might get a little tight, imagine the bigger rack would be ok. Dedicated pannier attachment? Are you on about ql3? I use ql2 and it's fine, mainly for urban and a little bit of gravel. I think if it was MTB I'd have to put the second clip back on the bottom, so there's one pointing forwards and backwards like their "gravel" panniers.
Slight hijack, can anyone recommend a similar quality front rack?
I use an SKS X Blade under mine. My bike has various different rack eyelets so I can position the rack higher to get the mudguard underneath.
These look good but have noticed the optional seat stay mounts say not suitable for carbon frames. It's a shame as I am looking for something that's easy to swap between my gravel bike and my carbon road bike (without mounting points). Tailfin looks like the only real option but struggling to justify the cost, thought this might have been the solution
If it helps, I can easily fit a Win Wing under mine, which is the non-lightweight version using the bolt mounts.
It is sturdy.. I think it's rated up to around 20kg which I doubt you'll get anywhere near in off-road trim.
Tailfin looks like the only real option but struggling to justify the cost, thought this might have been the solution
Not necessarily cheaper, but the Old Man Mountain racks + a Robert Axle Project through axle might be something to investigate...
Unsure of ETA but there's a Tailfin-esque axle mount for the Ortlieb quickracks coming soon, along with 2 new rack sizes:
(from 5min30)
Ortlieb also have a thru axle coming soon that should take the mounts.
Interested in opinions from someone who’s had both the tailfin and the ortlieb!
Oooh, that would be good. Might hold off placing a tailfin order for a bit (been holding off for about a year due to cost so probably won't be hard!)
I asked Ortlieb about their new rack and axle mount system...they confirmed an early 2025 release date. If you can hold off, I suspect it will bw much cheaper than Tailfin's offering.
That's all sounding positive. Load weight wouldn't be an issue, I'm looking at smaller setups like this:
https://bikepacking.com/gear/mounting-mini-panniers-and-cargo-cages-on-a-quick-rack/
I was playing around with similar lash-ups on my old OMM rack back in the spring but wouldn't be able to use that old QR135 rack on my mountain bike.
I've got size 14 feet so heel clearance has always been an issue on bikes with shorter chainstays.
hazmoFull Member
I asked Ortlieb about their new rack and axle mount system…they confirmed an early 2025 release date. If you can hold off, I suspect it will bw much cheaper than Tailfin’s offering.
That’s ace news!!
For closure, this rack does clear a Mudhugger over 2.35" tyres (just):
My current small Carradry panniers seem rock solid, no hint of rattle or sway on rough tracks (actually very pleased with that aspect). Plenty of heel clearance for my size 50 feet.
I found the seatstay adapters a bit fiddly to install until I figured out what I was doing wrong. I also find the amount of plastic involved a bit disconcerting but assume Ortlieb have done their homework, and it certainly all seems solid:
Will be selling mine very soon
Uh oh. Why's that?
Just not using it.
Was considering going down to one bike (?) so bought the rack.
all worked fine on my hardtail but decided to keep my old touring bike for commuting.
Absolute speed of installation/removal isn't my top priority. I could imagine replacing the seatpost strap/cam with a threaded seatpost collar clamp (if only to make theft of the rack a bit trickier).
Follow up:
This STW thread (Nov 2024) mentions failure of a seat stay adapter:
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/tailfins/
I bought the Quick Rack in early September with a specific trip in mind, but also for odd trips when I might need more luggage capacity, e.g. taking firewood into bothies. So far it's been fine for both usages but, like the OP in that tailfins thread, I think it's for the lighter, more gravel end of off-road touring.
One point people may have missed. There are two racks. I bought the mini for my two fixed wheel bikes and downtown briefcase with QL3 tabs. The mini turned out to be fine on one bike, but on my commuter, I can’t get the pannier back far/high enough to avoid heel strike. Disappointing.
Also watch your fingers on clamping. It’s a bit snappy!
I used a Quick Rack with a set of Vaude lightweight panniers (the Aqua Front Lights) for a couple of nights bikepacking in Galloway back in April - carrying more kit than normal as it was properly chilly overnight! No problems with the rack at all, using the bolt-in points and it felt pretty secure to me. Certainly had less issue with that than I did with the Jack Rack I was using on the front, which swayed like a bugger despite only being lightly loaded...
Slight thread resurrection.
Has anyone seen the rumoured thru-axle mount yet? An internet search doesn't seem to show them yet but checking I'm not being daft
They’re showing as ‘not in stock yet’ or similar in a couple of places. How speculative that is i don’t know. ‘Ortlieb thru axle m6’ or something seems to be about the right text string.
Cheers. Interestingly they don't show up on the Ortleib site whereas other quick rack accessories and the seatstay mountings do. I wonder if they've pulled them or had issues. Suspect this means forking out for a tailfin, was just waiting to see if there were options out there
I think they were supposed to be q1 this year, so still time. They don’t have the two sizes of quick rack up either so i suspect the whole lot are in the yet to be released box.
That is my undetstanding, that they are due for release in March.
I don't think their UK retailers/distributors have much more info that that.
I had this from them a couple of weeks ago
The thru axle and new racks are hopefully due to be released at some point in March – we don’t have a confirmed date for this yet. We cannot share any technical information at this time, but we hope to provide updates closer to the launch date.
The thru axle will be compatible with our current quick racks also.
and
There are 2 new quick rack sizes coming, but again I have limited/ no technical information on what they will be compatible with at this time.
A 135mm QR adapter (along the lines of the old OMM Sherpa rack on my commuter) would be of great interest, allowing me to use the Quickrack on my monstercross (the seatstay disk mount precludes use of the stay adapters). Wonder if they'll provide that level of backwards compatibility?
Thanks, I can probably wait until March, the trip is mid-May but want it earlier so I can try it out and make sure there aren't any problems
^ ditto
A quick rack with the mudguard seem like an ideal way to make my Camino a full commuter (plus I have other bikes it could do that for too). Any suggestions for a "full" coverage front mudguard that attaches and removes in a similar way (for 45mm tyres)?
I think I've answered the above myself... the SKS Speedrocker XL
Still not heard anything from Ortlieb about the new Thru-Axle Quick Rack mount, waits patiently.
Still not heard anything from Ortlieb or its UK outlets about the new Thru-Axle Quick Rack mount, .. .. waits patiently.
Yeah, was checking their website yesterday, nothing announced yet
Bought the chainstay fixing mount, looked at the stainless steel bands, fitted two P clips instead. Only carrying a light laptop and clothing for work but I prefer the P clips. My fixed bikes have the correct mounting points.Can now switch rack between three bikes in seconds, and it has the QR3 mounts for my pannier. It took longer to secure the QR3 knobs than to fit the P clips! I'll try for a picture...
^ good stuff and interested in your pictures, though I need to be able to load up with a tent, clothing, food, cooking stuff, etc ..
While waiting for the Ortlieb Thru Axle mount for the Quick Rack, I have installed my ~20yr old Blackburn rack on the Camino so I can get some miles in with loaded panniers. Bit of a pull to get the rack stays around the mudguard stays on a bike with discs 😬
Edit:
Have I missed something, are these the new Thru axle stays for the Quick Rack? Can’t see how they would work 🤔
https://www.condorcycles.com/products/ortlieb-thru-axle-m6-connector?variant=55613351592320
I imagine the ends of the thru axle are threaded for mounting the stubs. I noted the quick rack has basically the same mounting as the Topeak trailer, and I imagine that their thru-axle would be worth trying too. I don't think I'd go with P clips and heavy loading (I have the light rack version anyway), but I do like the system very much.
Topeak trailer and axles https://www.topeak.com/global/en/products/167-Trailershttps://www.topeak.com/global/en/products/167-Trailers
Axle looks like it would work if the diameters are the same.
^ cheers I’ll look in to that.
That looks a quick bike! I wouldn't fancy keeping up with you on that, with or without a rack 💪
So the axle is available in Germany but not yet in the UK it would seem as it's not on the UK site yet. Also, when looking on the Ortleib German site they have 4 different quickracks for different tyre clearances since mounting it on the thru-axle mounts it lower and reduces clearances, the standard rack only has 30mm clearance if axle mounted
https://de.ortlieb.com/en/products/quick-rack
Assuming the Topeak drawing is to scale on their website, the diameter of the mountings is 20 mm, which is wider than the Ortlieb mount, so it won't work. Pity.
I'm new to this thru axle game (the above bike is rocking rim mini-V's and QR), and it seems remarkable that there are already three standard thread pitches 🤣 . And you'll have to unbolt the mounts to take a wheel off. P clips FTW. I'll replace them with the nicer stronger marine lined P Clips, but I could only find one in the TiRed box-o-bolts in 10 mm diameter.
When you look at how the Ortlieb solution is fitted with steel straps folded back on themselves, it's clear why they would fail. But the design is to allow the mounting tabs to be perpendicular to the bike frame axis. I just bent the P clips slightly instead.
I'll be loaded quite heavily, thus precluding 'P' Clips.
Yep, wheel removal not the fastest with the Thru axle. TBF, going tubeless means rear wheel removal is pretty rare and would anyway involve baggage removal.
Unfortunately you can't use the seat stay mount son a carbon frame so I need the thru axle version to swap between bikes
Just had an email from one of the UK shops who sells Ortlieb kit asking about delivery of the Thru-Axle and L/XL Quick Racks ..
Thank you for your email, sadly we do not have a date for these at the moment. We do know that there is a manufacturing issue with these from Ortlieb's supplier so it could be quite some time I am afraid.
They also noted ..
However I know that for some reason items are generally available in Germany, and the UK does seem to get ignored by them sometimes.
it’s time for Carradice to resurrect their limpet panniers.
They possibly killed them off, in the belief that they would eat into sales of proper panniers.
but they’ve kind of shot themselves in the foot by not marketing them to the gravel-set (most of whom would never touch racks and panniers , as they look to trad, daddy-o”.
not many pictures left online, but I might be able to resurrect some from my Bikepacking trip to tangier, circa 1998).
anyway:
https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?t=109142
(the forum forbids any pics of Charles Hawtrey from ‘Carry on Spying’, but you’ll get the idea) 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
Here’s the limpet panniers mounted aforeships:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/98219308@N08/shares/06Bd484zeS
hopefully I can find some more when the negative scanner arrives.
As Bikepacking kit goes, it needs reseurrecting. Very simple to fit (to the 9mm qr). And rugged enough to survive all kinds of abuse.
Similar experience here - bought for my gravel bike and it's just fine. Bought and extra pair of seat stay mounts, so I could swap onto my road bike, but that suffers from heel strike, due to the shorter chainstays ☹️
Odd, had an auto reply email from STW Forum saying this thread updated with a post linking to BikeRumour article about the new Ortlieb thru axle system being g available in the UK.
https://bikerumor.com/ortlieb-thru-axle-quick-racks-available-in-uk-usa/
But there must be a delay in the forum system, or for me at least, of that post 🤷♂️
Apologies in advance if this is a double post.
To late for me as I've fixed my old Blackburn rack on the bike.
Edit: @montgomery 's post has appeared now I've posted this 🙄
Do we think this might have had something to do with the UK/US delay- “Licensed by Tailfin® for the use of a THRU AXLE M6-CONNECTOR with a QUICK-RACK L or XL “?