Rack options on a Giant Fathom Hardtail eMTB

Today's grocery run was... "more". $200 worth.
Required some strategic packing to be sure, and definitely needed the trunk bag space (not expanded).
The load was just as easy to handle as last time, no increase in perceived weight.
When I re-attached the rack I failed to notice that the rear bracket frame mount was too close to the rear tire AFTER I packed everything. ACK!
Fun raising the rack as a whole with the additional weight...
Rookie mistake number 3.
This load was just about all the trunk bag/panniers/backpack can handle. Now I know. I could expand the trunk bag with the zipper to get a very small amount more, but...
Screwing up and getting even more would require bags slung over the handlebars, and I hate that.





Oh... and it was HOT out.
 
It's 31C here too, which is HOT for here. It was yesterday too, and I only did a 28 Km ride.

I am out of town this week, so I hesitate to resubmit my order for the rack, frame and bag. I think I'll do that when I get back from my road trip up to Northern Alberta.

Will be driving my Volvo wagon up the Icefield parkway between Banff and Jasper tomorrow, and we'll spend the night in Hinton.
Then up the forestry trunk road (highway 40) up through Grande Prairie with our final destination just outside of Peace River.

I did a lot of mountain biking with old school tech (Rigid Kuwahara) in Peace River in the 80's.

It will be approximately a 900 Km trip each way, and there's lots more Alberta to go after Peace River. It's still 400Km to the North West Territories border.

No bike on the back for this short (time duration) trip, but I was pretty tempted. But there won't be any time for when we're up there.
This is mainly to stop my wife from loosing her mind, as she doesn't go out much these days, and she wanted to visit some friends from our days up there.
I have my bike and a lot of golf, so I am living a reasonably normal life at present.
 
Guys, I'm not sure if I have already told you about some negative experiences I had with carrying panniers on my FS Trance.

You both ride HT e-bikes and the rack belongs to almost the entire mass of your bikes. In the FS bike, the rack and the pannier belong to the small unsprung mass related to the rear wheel. That part of the bike undergoes extreme vibrations on the ride, even on the road. With such vibration, two different Ortlieb panniers have already managed to detach themselves from the rack. The first case cost me a broken DSLR camera, in the other the pannier got entangled in the rear-wheels spokes.

I'm worried. It might mean I should carry the cargo in the large Ortlieb Vario backpack because if a pannier with the spare Giant battery detached, that could mean very serious, costly and dangerous accident...
 
TomD said:
Why not a trailer like the Burley Travoy? Seems like a better solution for groceries.
Click to expand...
Was looking at those as well. My grocery runs are relatively small, but I do like the idea of a trailer. Thing is it's got to be able to come in the store as I'm not a fan of leaving it outside unattended, so the Travoy does fit the bill.
 
Stefan Mikes said:
Guys, I'm not sure if I have already told you about some negative experiences I had with carrying panniers on my FS Trance.

You both ride HT e-bikes and the rack belongs to almost the entire mass of your bikes. In the FS bike, the rack and the pannier belong to the small unsprung mass related to the rear wheel. That part of the bike undergoes extreme vibrations on the ride, even on the road. With such vibration, two different Ortlieb panniers have already managed to detach themselves from the rack. The first case cost me a broken DSLR camera, in the other the pannier got entangled in the rear-wheels spokes.

I'm worried. It might mean I should carry the cargo in the large Ortlieb Vario backpack because if a pannier with the spare Giant battery detached, that could mean very serious, costly and dangerous accident...
Click to expand...
Yeah, I can see how my setup could be a problem for some bikes. Thanks for the heads up!
 
Stefan Mikes said:
@RandallS you are lucky to own the hardtail e-MTB. There are many choices for you, and I think the racks from Topeak are very good. Now just image my trouble to find a rack for FS MTB with a dropper post... Only two choices: Either Topeak TetraRack M2 or Old Man Mountain. I went with the former but you really might look at the...

oldmanmountain.com

Classic Rack and Fit Kit | Old Man Mountain | Bicycle Cargo Racks

The Old Man Mountain Classic Rack is our signature bike rack. Durable, strong, versatile cargo racks, Backed by a Lifetime Warranty.
oldmanmountain.com oldmanmountain.com

The nominal max load of the Old Man Mountain is 32 kg! (TetraRack only allows 12 kg).
Click to expand...


Just gonna chime in that I have a full suspension with dropper and I tried both the topeak tetrarack and the old man mountain.

The old man mountain is superior in every way and well worth the money.

The topeak terearack is held in place with velcro and flimsy hardware...its no comparison.
 
Stefan Mikes said:
Guys, I'm not sure if I have already told you about some negative experiences I had with carrying panniers on my FS Trance.

You both ride HT e-bikes and the rack belongs to almost the entire mass of your bikes. In the FS bike, the rack and the pannier belong to the small unsprung mass related to the rear wheel. That part of the bike undergoes extreme vibrations on the ride, even on the road. With such vibration, two different Ortlieb panniers have already managed to detach themselves from the rack. The first case cost me a broken DSLR camera, in the other the pannier got entangled in the rear-wheels spokes.

I'm worried. It might mean I should carry the cargo in the large Ortlieb Vario backpack because if a pannier with the spare Giant battery detached, that could mean very serious, costly and dangerous accident...
Click to expand...

Might as well chime in again that with the old man mountain rack, the entire load is carried on the thru axel. Its a rock solid design.

I don't see any reason to buy a rack other than old man mountain.
 
DaveMatthews said:
I'm hoping it works out well for you. Curious to see how it fits with the suspension seatpost!
Click to expand...
So am I!

I hummed and hawed about which version of rack to get as my space on the seatpost is limited due to the aforementioned suspension seatpost. Add to that my short legs, there's not a lot of room. But I did buy version E anyways as my eyeballed guesstimate says it should fit.

Hopefully we'll find out within the next week.
 
Well, I am super impressed with Chain Reaction Cycles

I ordered the rack, bag and pannier frame late evening Friday (which was the wee hours of Saturday morning in the UK) and the stuff just arrived 30 minutes ago (via DHL - my fave shipper).
I eyeballed the rack, and it sure looks like it will be fine with the suspension seat post.

Will post more opinions once fitted and a ride completed.
 
RandallS said:
Well, I am super impressed with Chain Reaction Cycles

I ordered the rack, bag and pannier frame late evening Friday (which was the wee hours of Saturday morning in the UK) and the stuff just arrived 30 minutes ago (via DHL - my fave shipper).
I eyeballed the rack, and it sure looks like it will be fine with the suspension seat post.

Will post more opinions once fitted and a ride completed.
Click to expand...
Well... it's been an hour!! 🤣
 
Put together nicely. The trunk bag is a little tight to the saddle, but nothing serious. The clearance to the tire for the pannier adapters was a concern and rightly so. It will work however and I'm going to try it as-is before I start adjusting the saddle forward. My big U-lock won't fit inside, but I rarely go anywhere where I think I need it.

I'm not likely going to be riding for a few days as I have some diagnostic/treatment work to be done on my hips tomorrow and Thursday is booked up with family stuff. Friday looks promising and I hope my lumbar issues lessen by then. I will likely ride anyways as even with the pain, the motion is therapeutic. Wouldn't be as much on an Analog bike I don't think, and I certainly wouldn't go as far.
 
RandallS said:
Put together nicely. The trunk bag is a little tight to the saddle, but nothing serious. The clearance to the tire for the pannier adapters was a concern and rightly so. It will work however and I'm going to try it as-is before I start adjusting the saddle forward. My big U-lock won't fit inside, but I rarely go anywhere where I think I need it.

I'm not likely going to be riding for a few days as I have some diagnostic/treatment work to be done on my hips tomorrow and Thursday is booked up with family stuff. Friday looks promising and I hope my lumbar issues lessen by then. I will likely ride anyways as even with the pain, the motion is therapeutic. Wouldn't be as much on an Analog bike I don't think, and I certainly wouldn't go as far.
Click to expand...
Awesome, and pics when you get a chance! Good luck with diag etc.
 
Diagnostics step one done, so now I'm radioactive for a day or two. :eek:

I promised Pictures, so here they are:

The clamp fits underneath the suspension just fine.

20200902_103212.jpg


As I said, the trunk bag is tight to the saddle. I will ride as-is first and then adjust the saddle forward if I feel I need to.
I do want it centred when off road to maximize the efficiency of the suspension post.

20200902_103202.jpg


I had mentioned that one of my concerns was clearance for the pannier frame supports with the "E" version of the beam rack.
My concern was justified, but it does in fact fit with 1" (2.5 cm) of clearance. As such, I can't mount the rack lower to give more room at the saddle with the trunk bag.
And yes I know that the mounting is a little off centre - just not as much as it looks in the one photo.

20200902_103222.jpg
20200902_103348.jpg



The weather is rather foul here at the moment, and with the current lower back tenderness I think I'll wait a day or two for the weather to improve. Likely a Friday ride and I'll include a test run to the grocery store.
I need to pick up some picnic stuff as the wife and I are due for our annual drive of the Highwood Pass loop. Someday I'd like to do some cycling up there - but not the whole route. Those days are long gone where I'd try to tackle that, especially on a mountain bike.
 
RandallS said:
Diagnostics step one done, so now I'm radioactive for a day or two. :eek:

I promised Pictures, so here they are:

The clamp fits underneath the suspension just fine.

View attachment 64206

As I said, the trunk bag is tight to the saddle. I will ride as-is first and then adjust the saddle forward if I feel I need to.
I do want it centred when off road to maximize the efficiency of the suspension post.

View attachment 64204

I had mentioned that one of my concerns was clearance for the pannier frame supports with the "E" version of the beam rack.
My concern was justified, but it does in fact fit with 1" (2.5 cm) of clearance. As such, I can't mount the rack lower to give more room at the saddle with the trunk bag.
And yes I know that the mounting is a little off centre - just not as much as it looks in the one photo.

View attachment 64208 View attachment 64209


The weather is rather foul here at the moment, and with the current lower back tenderness I think I'll wait a day or two for the weather to improve. Likely a Friday ride and I'll include a test run to the grocery store.
I need to pick up some picnic stuff as the wife and I are due for our annual drive of the Highwood Pass loop. Someday I'd like to do some cycling up there - but not the whole route. Those days are long gone where I'd try to tackle that, especially on a mountain bike.
Click to expand...
Nicely done sir!
The bag on mine is pretty tight to the seat as well. Wouldn't have minded an extra inch on the rack bar.
Hopefully your seat going down/up a tad won't be a problem with the bag.
Looking forward to your first test run!
 
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