# New Tandem. Yay! Fitting pannier racks and bags?



## ABOlsen (Nov 22, 2009)

Ok guys.

We are new to this forum.

Girlfriend and I, have purchased a Nicolai XTB frame. Expect delivery in middle of june.

We're both experienced riders, and have ridden tandems on and offroad, but untill now, have borrowed tandems from friends and friends of friends and so on.

We'll be doing XC stuff, and some easy AM mostley. What we also plan to do, is to do holliday trips, between major cities in europe, trips around Australia and asia, things like that. Front wheel is with 20mm axel. Does anyone have suggestions for pannier racks and bags that will fit, or is a trailer a better choise?


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## Team Fubar Rider (Sep 3, 2003)

Old Man Mountain probably makes a rack that would work for either end, but a trailer would be nice for when you reach your destination. Just pull the trailer off and hit the trails.


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## TandemNut (Mar 12, 2004)

Which fork are you using?


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## ABOlsen (Nov 22, 2009)

I'm using a Rock Shox Lyric U-turn. I know it's not rated for tandem, but I've recently ridden a tandem with one, and it worked really well. Besides, we are not a heavy team, about 265 with gear + bike.
I've talked to old man mountain, but they don't have anything for a fork with 20 axel.


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## bsdc (May 1, 2006)

Pannier and rack vs. trailer is the great debate. If you do a bit of searching you'll find a lot of opinions. I think the best opinions regarding mountain bike use come from the riders and racers of the Great Divide Route.

As a wannabe adventure rider I've done a bit of reading on the topic. My take on it is frame bags are better than a rack and panniers which is better than a trailer. The problems are: Racks are metal and eventually fatigue and break. Panniers stick out and might hang up on narrow singletrack. Trailers are heavy and cumbersome to get over obstacles.

If it were me, I would do some custom frame bags like this: https://www.epicdesignsalaska.com/ or https://carouseldesignworks.com/ I'd try to avoid using a rack.

Here's a loaded tandem that went 2400 miles from Canada to Mexico on the Great Divide Route. You can learn more about them by searching Jay and Tracey Petervary.

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OT5Jl61zmTI/Sj2c-6RlGAI/AAAAAAAAD18/TL5gap5Dda8/s1600-h/Tandem800.jpg


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## ABOlsen (Nov 22, 2009)

Thanks for the links man. It look as a really goo idea.


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## TandemNut (Mar 12, 2004)

We've rigged up front panniers with band clamps around fork lowers, depending on rotor clearance.
On the WB fork, the thru-axle is actually hollow, so one can run a skewer through it for an axle lower mount, and the fork can be ordered with V-brake bosses for the upper mounts.
Ortlieb makes a front rack that mounts around the crown of a suspension fork.
Good luck, and take pictures!


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## ABOlsen (Nov 22, 2009)

We'll arrange for the pics, once we get going with the build.

I found this one.
http://www.tubus.com/en/suspension-fork-carriers

Is this the same as the one you're talking about? I can't find one from Ortlieb. Do you have a link and a pic of the setup?


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## TandemNut (Mar 12, 2004)

ABOlsen said:


> We'll arrange for the pics, once we get going with the build.
> 
> I found this one.
> http://www.tubus.com/en/suspension-fork-carriers
> ...


That's it. Same US importer, which is probably why confused them:

http://www.ortliebusa.com/CartGenie/prod-83.htm

We just got set up with Ortleib, and I was going through the distributor's site looking at details.
I hear very good stuff about Tubus products from touring folk.


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## funhater (Dec 29, 2009)

We use a OMM Cold Springs rear rack in the 'tandem disc 145mm size'. 

We did need different bolts than provided (non-metric, possibly? it's been a while) to attach to the brake bosses on our Fandango.


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