Hi there, welcome to the BLOG of my life as a Vagabiker. Beryl calls me a 'Free Spirit' my Grandpa a B.U.M. of no fixed address. Kelly says I'm 'off the wall'. I think that the Toad is closest saying I'm the Cat in the Hat it's fun to have fun—but you have to know how.

These are the stories of my unique, home-and-job-free Natness.

Naturally, quasi-legal events are fictional. Everything else is the unvarnished truth.

Surly ‘Nice Rack’ bike rack

Surly ‘Nice Rack’ Front.

Adjustably is good. The rack came out of true, but it’s cromoly so I was able to bend it straight. It’s also very heavy. It’s a really cool looking rack, beefy, and can hold much more than most front racks (70lb rating) and you can strap things on top of it.

I did have my touring bike weighed down pretty heavily, but bikes can only handle so much weight, if you had over 70lbs on your front rack your bike would be unridable so that’s not an issue.

This rack was my main mechanical of the trip, as the lower mountain bracket broke (I had it attached by the skinny end, and was going pretty fast on dirt roads). I was easily able to bend it, and clamp in a different spot. I sent an e-mail from an internet cafe in Mexico saying my issue, and giving my address 2 weeks down the road. Then next time I checked e-mail there was a nice note from Surly confirming that they had mailed me the replacement part for free.

Verdict

I would, and will buy from surly again, because of their stellar customer service, though because of the weight of this rack, I probably won’t get it.

Filed under: Gear Review, bike touring by Nat @ February 2, 2007 | | Top   

1 Comment »

  1. used the front rack… was mighty proud of it… carried loads with it… sold the bike it was attached to… didn’t miss the bike but miss the rack… surly does surly rock… :D

    Comment by Maik — April 7, 2007 @ 1:13 am

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