# Rack suggestions for 2018 Marin Pine Mountain (I've tried several with little luck)



## DRamsey1991 (Jan 15, 2018)

Hey guys,

Just like the title says, I am searching for rack suggestion for my Pine Mountain. The eyelets on my seat stays are poorly placed and the left one seems to be almost tilted towards the front of the bike.

I have tried an Axiom unifit mk3 and Blackburn outpost fat rack. Both are great racks but neither fit my bike correctly and couldn't return them. I had to take the loss and just gift them to family members. I found that the topeak explorer 29 disc fits with the longer arms available from topeak. The band style arms can be bent and worked really well. 

For the front, I kind of wanted a minimalist rack and I started with a specialized pizza rack. The center support was not long enough to get it anywhere close to level. 2[SUP]nd[/SUP], I saw someone running a Nitto M18 with a basket on a PM. I purchased one and had to, again, buy longer stays for it to work. I later read about Nitto rack failures and Nitto asking users not to run baskets so I am a bit nervous to use it.

The longer stays (from Nitto) can reach from my lowrider mounts near the axle or can be attached to the mid-fork eyelets and cut down. I am not sure if there is an advantage to running them one way or the other. One way provides a more vertical position but the stays may flex more, and the other provides a shorter, stiffer stay but the stays are at more of an angle. I thought the latter may put more stress on the center support. 

I am really afraid of the center support "diving board" failing and am not sure what to do. I also worry about using a center support rack like this since the lower arch on the PM rigid fork does not have the bolt through design but is instead a very small diameter steel tube and only accepts a short M5 bolt. I worry that if the diving board does not fail, maybe the bolt will be pulled out since there isn't much to grab onto here. 

So far, in my journey to find a decent rack setup, I have spent a pretty penny. I "gifted" some of them to alleviate some of the pain of losing the money.

$99 Specialized Pizza Rack (installed on my wife's bike)
 $65 Axiom MK3 (also installed on her bike)
$99 Blackburn Outpost Fat Rack (installed on my brother's bike)
$99 Nitto M18
$30 Nitto 42cm Stays
$25 Wald 137 Basket without hardware
$55 Topeak Explorer 29 Disc
$10 Topeak XL Arms


The topeak rack works well on the rear, but I would like to know if there is anyone else successfully running a rear rack so I know what other options there are. As for the front, I am still looking for advice on the Nitto rack or a suggestion for a front rack. 

I have am a natural resources grad and spend a lot of time outside. This is a field you are in for passion, not money. I don't have a lot of money or space and had to get down to 1 bike. The Pine Mountain was on sale and I chose it over the Kona Unit for that reason only. It will be my bike for fun, commuting, outdoor and urban exploration, camping/bikepacking, field herping, birding, etc. Any suggestions on a nice setup are greatly appreciated. 

Thanks for your time.
Best,
 Dalton


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## jcd46 (Jul 25, 2012)

Just a thought but what about frame/saddle bags. There are some nice set ups, and maybe more affordable?


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## MikeTowpathTraveler (Aug 12, 2015)

Dalton, for my Specialized Fatboy, I looked around the internet for pictures of this bike with rack set ups. Pickings were slim several years ago when I purchased the bike. I settled on the Surly Nice rear rack, for both my rear and front rack setups.








My original setup for the rear Nice rack, using the top seat stay attaching points. The Surly rack stays are adjustable as for the height, unlike a lot of the other racks out on the market. On line bike shops like Universal sell different length stainless rack stays for the Surly rack, as well. In the end, I was not happy with the look of the top rack stays, so onto version two.....








Version 2 and final set up. I think this looks a lot cleaner. I used a Problem Solvers seatpost clamp with rack attachments and in the process, I lowered the rack in order to lower the center of gravity regarding any gear carried in the rear panniers. Here is the link for the Problem Solvers seatpost clamp that accepts rack seat stay mounts: https://problemsolversbike.com/products/cockpit/seatpost_clamp















2 shots of my Fatboy with 2 rear Ortlieb Office pannier bags on the Surly Nice rear rack. My Fatboy came with the front Carbon fork. I wanted the gear carrying capacity of a front rack and that was not happening short of going with an Old Man Mountain front rack. So I wound up buying a used Fatboy aluminum front fork, had riv-nuts installed where I thought the rack would best fit, then primed and painted the fork black with 2 part automotive black paint. The front and rear racks also allowed me use of holding my dyno hub powered lights....








Shot of the aluminum fork with the Surly Nice rear rack installed. I had my LBS install the riv-nuts I supplied them; drilled and installed in the mount points I thought allowed the best fit of the rack on the fork.

Hope this is of help to you and offers you some ideas you can incorporate on your Marin. For the Fatboy, I wound up purchasing Ortlieb touring panniers in that same Hazel Brown color offered by Ortlieb in 2015. The office panniers are used on daytripping. I found in my kind of riding, traditonal racks make more sense; carry much more gear and offer more options then the bikepacking setups that are popular with the Minimalist Set.

Good luck!
Mike

(Note: Click on Photos to enlarge the picture)


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## nowhereyonder (Nov 29, 2016)

DRamsey1991 said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> 
> 
> ...


My Nitto recommendation would be to use Mark's rack. You could use the "diving board" to attach to the hole in the unicrown, the mid fork mounts and if your other stays are long enough, the low rider mounts.
https://www.rivbike.com/products/nitto-marks-rack-m1-20108
The failure sounds limited to the M12 racks which attack to brake bosses. Not a problem for you.

My other super solid option is more expensive, but has proven well for me: Surly fork with a Surly 8 pack rack. A Krampus or KM fork should work, even if the trail is off by 4mm.

You could also also try the 8 pack rack with MikeTowpath's Rivnut suggestion on your original PM fork, if you're up for it. Bikepacking.com just did a rivnut feature.Rivnut Bottle Cage Mounts, Installation and Test - BIKEPACKING.com


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## DRamsey1991 (Jan 15, 2018)

That rack looks solid. That problem solvers seat post clamp is really neat, too. 

Originally, I wanted a Kona Unit but got the PM due to price. One thing I like better about the Unit is the PM has the integrated clamp, so I can't go that route. It seems like the Topeak Eplorer rack fits the rear well, so I guess I really just need to find a reliable front rack now. 

Did you install the rivnuts yourself or did you have a shop do it? I wanted to get a surly fork but another thing I don't like about the PM is it uses 141mm boost quick release rear and a 110mm quick release front. Most of the surly forks are 100mm qr or they're thru axle. This bike has been a real pain in some ways. 

Thanks for the photos and info.


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## DRamsey1991 (Jan 15, 2018)

nowhereyonder said:


> My Nitto recommendation would be to use Mark's rack. You could use the "diving board" to attach to the hole in the unicrown, the mid fork mounts and if your other stays are long enough, the low rider mounts.
> https://www.rivbike.com/products/nitto-marks-rack-m1-20108
> The failure sounds limited to the M12 racks which attack to brake bosses. Not a problem for you.
> 
> ...


I am thinking about buying Mark's rack but it is painful to just throw away the money spent on the M18. I think Mark's rack would work well.

I wanted to buy a surly fork but the pine mountain has the 110mm boost Quick Release front wheel so there aren't many fork options out there. The rear is also odd, 141mm quick release. I will look up thar 8 pack rack.


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## DRamsey1991 (Jan 15, 2018)

MikeTowpathTraveler said:


> Dalton, for my Specialized Fatboy, I looked around the internet for pictures of this bike with rack set ups. Pickings were slim several years ago when I purchased the bike. I settled on the Surly Nice rear rack, for both my rear and front rack setups.
> 
> View attachment 1233190
> 
> ...


That rack looks solid. That problem solvers seat post clamp is really neat, too.

Originally, I wanted a Kona Unit but got the PM due to price. One thing I like better about the Unit is the PM has the integrated clamp, so I can't go that route. It seems like the Topeak Eplorer rack fits the rear well, so I guess I really just need to find a reliable front rack now.

Did you install the rivnuts yourself or did you have a shop do it? I wanted to get a surly fork but another thing I don't like about the PM is it uses 141mm boost quick release rear and a 110mm quick release front. Most of the surly forks are 100mm qr or they're thru axle. This bike has been a real pain in some ways.

Thanks for the photos and info. I really appreciate it.


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## MikeTowpathTraveler (Aug 12, 2015)

DRamsey: I played around with the rack placement and how it best sat on the fork; then marked the positions with masking tape and a Sharpie marker. I had my LBS do the riv-nutting and it was a minimal job of 20-25 bucks if I remember right. 

Good luck with what you decide to go with!


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## nowhereyonder (Nov 29, 2016)

DRamsey1991 said:


> I am thinking about buying Mark's rack but it is painful to just throw away the money spent on the M18. I think Mark's rack would work well.
> 
> I wanted to buy a surly fork but the pine mountain has the 110mm boost Quick Release front wheel so there aren't many fork options out there. The rear is also odd, 141mm quick release. I will look up thar 8 pack rack.


Ebay will work to sell the rack.

As for the front, not to help you spend your money, but here's a 110 boost thru-axle Mulefut rim for $99. (I bought a 29+ version of that wheel, since the price was right!)

Then go with a Surly Karate Monkey fork (assuming the axle to crown of your Pine Marin is the same) and then an 8-pack rack. Bomber.


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## cmc4130 (Jan 30, 2008)

I’m also interested in this for my Pine Mountain. I’ll take some pics.


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