Suggestions for a strong rear rack for e-bike?

My pack weighs 23 lbs plus I've got 2 panniers attached to the stock trek rack. My concern is that there are just 2 small stainless steel bolts holding the rack up. Any suggestions on stronger rear racks?

Simplest is to support the rack on the axle, instead of the usual fender mount.

I got a cheap one of those with my e-bike kit; put it on my '78 fuji road bike and ended up breaking the axle, but it is a 35 year old bike and I had a burley trailer hooked up to the quick release pulling my 40 lb son around so probably wasn't the rack's fault but until now I thought it was. I'm having difficulty finding an affordable axle mount rack, kinda hard to even do a search for them. I find Old Man Mountain (too expensive) otherwise, mostly ones for disc brakes, but can be used on regular bikes too like this one:

So any particular name brands would be greatly appreciated (or a better way to search for them.)

Thanks!

Better bolt can help, though the rack itself can still break.

Instead of the cheap bolt, get a grade 8 allen screw. The bolt wont break if you do that. This will help till you find the rack you like best.

Sometimes you can make something stronger than stock and usually for pretty cheap. A good seatpost rack can have steel legs added to it for example. They can brace back to the seat, or if the bike is not suspension, brace right to the frame near or at the axle.

Any idea where I'd find those? I also purchased a few more cells so could do that 36v pack if I want but it would bring the weight from 23lbs to 30lbs. Did your wilderness energy kit come with a black rear rack that was axle mount? Mine did but it looks kinda cheap.

My Wilderness was stee, not axle but fender, Strong but too much waggin it's tail.
What are you running that's 23v at 36v SLA?

Dan

Mine is the clamp on tube style, is that the worst for strength?

DAND214 said:

My Wilderness was stee, not axle but fender, Strong but too much waggin it's tail.
What are you running that's 23v at 36v SLA?

Dan

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Prismatic Lifepo4 cells. Made a 9 cell pack that's 27v but now I have 3 more cells so am thinking of moving up to 12 cell 36v pack since you said it gave you more torque.

My favorite seatpost rack of all, is the axiom, pannier model. But I still braced it with some steel tubes for more strength. I used to carry up to 50 pounds in the panniers and on top with that, before I build the cargo bike. Zero wag.

Tubus Cargo.

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tubus_racks.asp



Rated to 40 kg.

I resently got a baby bike seat rear mounting for a cargo trike the rack can take upto 22kgs mine is holding a ping 35v 15a battery at the moment.
http://www.conwasa.demon.co.uk/bobike/bobike_brackets.htm
Bobike 1-point Bracket the Maxi City and Tour seats. The bracket attaches to the bicycle frame at at one point, the seat tube, and performs the function of a rack for rack-mounted Bobike Maxi City and Tour seats. The metal loop can be removed from the clamp by pressing the light grey button. The loop cannot be locked in place as there is no provison for a padlock. This bracket will need the Rack Adaptor (£12) if its used on a second bike. Fits seat post diameters 24mm to 34mm. Weight 2 kg.
2/3 down the page

Whatever you do, do not get this one:

http://www.rei.com/product/832784/t...390482760&msid=ztAKnH9S_dc|pcrid|74537624800|

I had it for 8 months, and then hit a big bump going over a construction site and it bent right where it mounts to the frame at the bottom. When this happened, it made the top of my tire strike the bottom of the rack which instantly popped the tube and locked up the tire at speed. NOT FUN. Go with something made of steel. I had a 36v 20ah ping on it at the time which was well below the rated weight limit.

I'm thinking if I upgrade to a 36v prismatic pack it's going to take a bit more room and weight. Something more like 18" long. I see the Jandd Expedition rack is long and I've had good luck with their stuff but it's not axle mount. Do you think 30 lbs on an average rack is going to hold up, I cringe every time I hit a bump. Those Tubus racks seem good also but I'm looking at another $100+

or build your own

http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=49550&p=1032370#p1026929

Wow, that Tubus is bombproof looking, but I don't see if it clears disc brakes? I am converting to disc, so this is a valid concern for me. Anyone had success with the Cargo and rear disc?\

Also like the homemade approach, as I have a welder sitting in the garage waiting for me to get off my arse and work with it some more.

I saw that homemade rack when I visited Amberwolf recently. Badass!

The real issue here is "bike stuff", that is all made to be light first, strong second. To me, the real solution remains a good seatpost rack, then some bracing to make it even stronger. Seatpost racks tend to have a strong center beam, which is really easy to drill and bolt additional supports to. Not like trying to add support to something made from thin tubes.

Here is a pic of my axiom pannier rack.

Unfortunately, this rack is no longer offered, but perhaps you can still find one in a bike shops stock. But others with the same qualities can be found. Specifically, it's not attached with one QR bolt, or even just two bolts. 4 bolts to attach it. Your post will break before those bolts. Here's one, http://www.blackburndesign.com/racks/seatpost/spx-1-ultimate-seatpost-rack.html#.VS0Gq2d0zY8 And another.
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1023817_-1_400031__400031

Here's one with pannier supports, that keep the bags out of the spokes.
http://www.amazon.com/Delta-Children-Post-Porter-Rack/dp/B004UMFAWW

Point is, they are out there with a quick google search. Just choose one that has the 4 bolt post connection.

Then you simply drill a hole in the beam where you need it, and add two strong supports. I happened to use electric conduit, but any bit of steel angle, or thick aluminum tube or angle will work. Easy as pie, all you need is a hacksaw and a drill.

Brace the rack to the seatpost as in this picture, or you could brace down to the axle, or the stays using a clamp at the end, whatever works best for your needs, clearing the brakes or whatever. Don't sweat the hole in your seatpost, it won't make the frame break.

The only downside I see, is once you install it, you are stuck with the seat height you chose. This worked for me for years of carrying 25 pounds every day, and occasionally carrying 50 pounds.

Yes that would work and doesn't seem too complicated. I liked my allen bolts more secure than how they just screw into the eyelet so I bought some stainless steel ones and put 2 lock washers on the end--turning the allen side inward and where the sprockets are the allen part needed grinding down a bit so it didn't catch on the chain at the bottom gear. Getting into the details of upgrading my pack to 36v is coming up with a container. Something that's 10"x12" would work for most racks otherwise I'd have to get one like the Jandd Expedition that's 16.75" or so. Know any others that long? Or any container around that size (if not 10x12 then 8"x16"?)

Here's one, http://www.blackburndesign.com/racks/se ... S0Gq2d0zY8 And another.

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I have that one on another bike - it is has been solid so far, but all it holds is a large controller, so I can't attest to putting a bunch of weight on it. The reflector in the back is a nice touch... I think I might turn it into a light one day!

My experience with stainless fasteners has been that they are soft as butter. For a hard bolt, choose grade 8 stuff.

Good idea though, to back up the eyelet with a nut and washer.

Just spotted this on CL - look like a decent setup worth picking up to you guys?
http://denver.craigslist.org/bop/4970184623.html

Looks better than average to me. Looks like the bolt on point is steel.

FWIW, I've not had much problem with any kind of rack, when the load is kept under 10 pounds. My current most used battery, a 48v 13 ah, weighs only 8 pounds.

After looking over a slew of different racks, I got the Sunlite Gold Tec HD Tourer Rack from Amazon.

striider said:

Just spotted this on CL - look like a decent setup worth picking up to you guys?
http://denver.craigslist.org/bop/4970184623.html

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Those are no Ortlieb bags and that's no Tubus rack. I certainly wouldn't pay $125 for that setup.

Hey, I have that Trek handlebar bag and love it.

Do you think this would make a good battery box? My 12 prismatic cells in a pack are either 12x10x7 or 16x7x7 either of which this box can handle being 16 x 10 x 9 And for an easy strengthening of my existing rack I was thinking like but instead of welding just using something like this The pack would weigh around 30 lbs.

Box is too big and too high