# Has anyone ever broken an old man mountain rack skewer?



## isignay (Jun 1, 2011)

I was just reading through someones journal on the divide and their OMM rear skewer broke. Has anyone heard of this happening often, or if this is just a fluke / bad luck?


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## SeenYour Crash (Feb 7, 2004)

Rode the Divide, border to border in 2003. Still using my OMM front rack and skewer on my commuter with zero issues. Love it. Ten years and thousands of miles. Anything can break if abused or given bad luck.


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## PretendGentleman (May 24, 2011)

A buddy of mine was bragging about how is OMM rack didn't crack (not the skewer, but anyways...) until after many miles of loaded road touring. When he said 5k miles, I laughed. I guess he was given bad luck. I'm going soft mounted bags for my upcoming 5 day banff tour.


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## Saddle Up (Jan 30, 2008)

How does a QR break? Details?, did threads strip or actual rod snap?


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

I've got 8 OMM racks. My oldest is over 10yrs old. It's still going strong. I have some that are QR mounted and also some I just bolt to the frame.

They are strong and light and my first choice [obviously] when it comes to racks.

I'm sure you can break them and I'm sure people have, but that's true of any product.

I've ridden the CDN part of the GDR with OMM racks as well as toured Baja Mexico with them and wouldn't hesitate to use them for a long dirt tour.

If your gear weight is on the heavy side of the rack's capacity I would carry spare QRs. If your gear is on the lighter side of things I wouldn't bother. I've never broken one.










Note that the new OMM racks are stronger than the older versions. Most of my racks are the older versions and they are plenty strong, but if you buy new you can get something even burlier.

I also use Porcelain Rocket softbags and if you can get your gear down to the capacity of softbags they are very nice to use.

For my solo tours I use softbags and for group MTB tours where I have to carry more than my share of stuff I use OMM Racks and panniers.

I invested in so many OMM Racks because:

- they are made in the US
- great support
- they fit any bike I need to put them on [MTN, road, disc brake, fatbike, etc..]
- light so I can leave 'em on when I am not using them and don't notice them
- strong and durable










I'm headed into the Chilcotins with my buddy and his kids in July. I have to carry a bunch of food/gear for them to help out and my softbags don't have that sort of capacity so I grabbed an OMM rack and test fit [no front struts mounted in pic above] it on my Krampus to make sure it would work with the uber tall wheel. I'll use the OMM plus Ortlieb panniers for that trip.

It's nice to have versatile racks you know will work when you need them to.


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## isignay (Jun 1, 2011)

I noticed that you have the silver piece which the skewer is attached flipped from what mine is / the way it comes with, any reason? Is this just so that the rack is closer to the frame?


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## isignay (Jun 1, 2011)

I didn't break mine (knock on wood) I was just reading someones journal on the divide who broke theirs so I wanted to know if it was just bad luck or a recurring issue, seems like it was just bad luck from what I've gathered.


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

isignay said:


> I noticed that you have the silver piece which the skewer is attached flipped from what mine is / the way it comes with, any reason? Is this just so that the rack is closer to the frame?


Yes. You can mount the lower brackets either way. I'd rather have the load as far inside the rear axle as my feet will allow.

Those big 29 x 3.0" tires mean you need longer chainstays than a 26 x 2.3" tire so there is no as much need to get the panniers back out of the way of my feet on this bike.

You can also swap in different brackets to tweak the height of the rack.

I love how versatile these OMM racks are. I own Surly and Tubus racks as well, but only use the OMM ones.


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## isignay (Jun 1, 2011)

I ride a 29er when touring so ill have to give the bracket switch a shot, thanks for the info!


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

isignay said:


> I ride a 29er when touring so ill have to give the bracket switch a shot, thanks for the info!


+1 - the swap only takes 5mins and you can always go back to the original setup if you don't like it.


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## Witwickipedia (Apr 17, 2015)

I just purchased an OMM Sherpa from bike bag shop and I think I have a problematic one? I think mine came with one of the brackets bent or at least misaligned. Not sure if its just me being OCD but it seems like the two brackets just don't align as they should. Because the axle holes don't line up well I have to apply force to line up the axle holes in order to insert the skewer as well as use a disconcerting amount of force to push the skewer through. There is a lot of grinding and rubbing :/. Its even harder when going through the hub. Additionally, the bracket in question doesn't sit flush on my dropouts when clamped. Is this a normal for you OMM users?


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