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We're not talking about those things you lock your bike to outside the store or the contraptions you put on your car to haul the bike you should be riding. No, we're talking about bike cargo racks, something of an oddity in this day and age, when bike marketing is all about lighter and faster; bike racks are actually designed to [gasp!] make your bike heavier, or rather, to enable your bike to gracefully handle the heavy loads you need to haul.
Generally, there are two types of bike cargo racks: front and rear. Rear racks have higher weight capacities than their front counterparts, therefore most people who choose to have only one rack pick the rear, for the versatility. However, most rear racks rely on their top rail for pannier mounting, raising the bike's center of mass above the rear axle, which can significantly change the bike's handling characteristics, whereas most front racks feature "lowrider" pannier mounting, directly centered over the front axle, which tends to stabilize your bike. Thus, it can be very advantageous to include both, especially with expedition-class touring loads. Commuters with smaller loads, however, may choose just a front rack, as it will have less overall effect on their bike's handling.
Just like most bikes, bike racks are typically constructed from one of two materials, steel or aluminum, and each has its own, particular advantages. Aluminum racks, such as those from Old Man Mountain, are lighter than steel racks, especially when the metal is tubular. Aluminum is a tried and trusted rack material with high weight capacities. Cheaper racks are also typically made from aluminum, but they use lower-quality, solid struts. Steel racks, such as the Tubus lineup, may weigh a tiny bit more than aluminum racks, but they have one significant advantage: steel is easy to weld and you can find someone in nearly every village or town around the world who can fix your rack.
Probably the most important question to ask when considering a rack is, "will it fit my bike?" Chances are, if you don't have disc brakes or a suspension fork, and your bike's frame incorporates rack eyelets at the dropouts, the answer is, "yes." If this isn't the case, don't worry, you just need to do a little research, as only certain racks will work.
Disc brakes:
Mountain, touring, and cyclocross bikes with disc brakes are something of a special case as far as racks go. Front disc brakes usually aren't an issue, but, on the rear, the disc caliper's position can present a problem. Racks designed to work with rear disc calipers include Old Man Mountain's Sherpa and Cold Springs and Tubus's Disco.
Suspension forks:
Because of suspension forks' dynamics, it is generally harder to mount racks to them. They also, generally, lack eyelets, further complicating the matter. All of our rack manufacturers have come up with some innovative ways around these limitations, however. Old Man Mountain's quick-release mounted front racks, the Ultimate Lowrider, Sherpa, and Cold Springs, all work on suspension forks. For forks without cantilever brake bosses, additional hardware is required. Tubus's Swing, which takes a different approach, works specifically on suspension forks.
Rear suspension:
Yeah, well, suspension forks are one thing. How about rear suspension? Old Man Mountain makes it easy with their Sherpa and Cold Springs racks.
No rack eyelets:
If your bike's frame does not include rack eyelets welded onto the front and/or rear dropouts, have no fear, you can still use a cargo rack, if you have quick-release axles, that is. Typically, the strategy used here is to mount the rack to the quick-release skewers. Old Man Mountain's Ultimate Lowrider, Sherpa, Cold Springs work on the front while their Sherpa and Cold Springs are designed to work without eyelets on the rear. Tubus, on the other hand, created the QR Adapter so the Cargo, Logo, Vega, and Cosmo racks could work on eyelet-less frames.
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