Tortec Expedition Rear Rack

'''What no Fancy title?'''

It's a a rack. It goes on your bicycle. It carries stuff. Enough said.

I purchased this particular model because it had a Cycling Plus best buy, and had positive reviews elsewhere. I have a daily 22 mile commute, and need to carry quite a bit of kit, including shower stuff and a change of clothes - my walking rucksack was starting to get rather heavy. The rack comes in silver or black - I bought ...
...in at 900g with a carrying capacity of 30kg, and comes with a handy bracket for mounting a rear light. The multi-mount fitting system is designed to fit a wide range of bicycles.

'''Out of the box'''

The rack certainly looked the business. It appeared to be well constructed, with tidy wields, good quality anodising, and all screws were stainless.

Fitting is relatively straightforward. It does come with instructions, ... more

What no Fancy title?

It's a a rack. It goes on your bicycle. It carries stuff. Enough said.

I purchased this particular model because it had a Cycling Plus best buy, and had positive reviews elsewhere. I have a daily 22 mile commute, and need to carry quite a bit of kit, including shower stuff and a change of clothes - my walking rucksack was starting to get rather heavy. The rack comes in silver or black - I bought the black one. The Expedition is a heavy-duty rack, weighing in at 900g with a carrying capacity of 30kg, and comes with a handy bracket for mounting a rear light. The multi-mount fitting system is designed to fit a wide range of bicycles.

Out of the box

The rack certainly looked the business. It appeared to be well constructed, with tidy wields, good quality anodising, and all screws were stainless.

Fitting is relatively straightforward. It does come with instructions, but it is obvious how it supposed to fit - I only needed a quick glance over the instructions. I loosely bolted on the bottom stays; loosened off the 4 top stay retaining bolts; then adjusted the top stays for the correct width; bolted the top stays on loosely; adjusted the rack until it was level; tightened everything down (8 bolts total); gave it a good shake and was good to go after ten minutes.

I mount my pannier bags on the lower rail, but it is possible to mount them on the higher rail for better heel clearance - your bag will be bent slightly by the lower rail but it does seem to work OK. My pannier bags have Rixen and Kaul fittings and fits the Expedition rack without any trouble, but cheaper strap on pannier bags should fit too - I have a Halford's Bikehut jobbie which fits fine.

There is a rear mount for a light, but you need to buy either a light designed to fit a carrier, or a mounting bracket. Cateye produce a rear carrier mounting bracket which fits all their rear lights, and is available from Wiggle for £2.39.

A year on

The rack has been faultless in use - my bags clip on, they stay clipped on, and they come off at the end of the journey. The rack has stayed put; nothing has loosened or broken off. To be honest I don't really notice it is there - which when talking about racks is a good thing.

Once set up, taking the rack on and off is a breeze - undo 4 bolts and off it comes. Because the top stays are firmly bolted into position - you can just bolt the rack straight back on again. The rack does appear to have enough adjustability to fit a wide range of bikes - my wife has also brought one and fitted it first to her 17" mountain bike, and then moved it to her 19" hybrid without any troubles. It does however need top and bottom rack mounting points on the frame of the bike you intend to fit it to - you probably could get away with using p-clips for the top seat stays, but I'm not sure that would work so well for the bottom stays. The rack however is very unlikely to fit if you have rear disc brakes, as the bottom stays are likely to foul the caliper.

There are only 2 smallish caveats. The rack is relatively heavy, it does change the way the bike handles and behaves. If you don't have a good pedaling technique - most people rock the bike as they pedal - then it can make the bike seem harder work. I did get used to it quickly, and only notice it now when I take the rack off. The other point concerns the black anodising - it fades in sunlight. Mine is now a burnished bronze colour along the top parts where it catches the sun. I personally think it looks fine, but you might not agree. The anodising on the whole is pretty tough - it's still intact where the bags clip on and off, but it has scratched where I've leaned the bike against walls, which is not entirely unexpected.

Overall

It carries lots of stuff without fuss, but does go a funny colour in the sun. 

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