# A Rack for Bikes with no Eyelets



## Andy M-S (Feb 3, 2004)

Howdy, all. I've been busy in school and so haven't posted for a long time, but this I wanted to share.

I've continued to ride my Kogswell to school, but sometimes a bike with a heavy frame, 28mm tires, dynohub and fenders feels like overkill. 

For the last couple of weeks, it's been warm and dry, so I decided to start riding my '85 Trek 560 a bit more. However, as much as I love it as a skinny-tire bike, it has no place to attach a rack for panniers (which I generally prefer to a messenger bag for book carrying). Then I saw this:










This is the Axiom "Streamliner Road DLX" and it is rather a cool design. It rests on the rear skewer and attaches to the rear brake bolt. Whether this is more or less secure than P-clips I don't know, but it looks better, and the extra rearward placement of the rack means that I don't get heel strikes in my size 13's.

There's not a lot of clearance for fenders, etc., in my opinion (and you wouldn't want to use this on a bike with tires much fatter than 25mm) but it really works well. Around $25 on Amazon, and highly recommended.

Oh, and it has vertical mounting holes on the back plate for a blinky...


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## PlatyPius (Feb 1, 2009)

I just ordered a couple of those for my store after I saw some at Virtuous Cycles in Lafayette.


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

seen those... do you run the skewer through the attachment? won't you need an xl skewer? and what do you do in the case of a rear flat?


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

I had something similar (Old Man Mountain) on a 80s Bianchi; worked great. I think this design is even better since it mounts to the brake bridge (I had to use struts and p-clips).


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## Andy M-S (Feb 3, 2004)

Most skewers are just fine, and unless you have socketed dropouts, there's plenty of room. And if you have a flat, you fix it . Seriously, pull the skewer, take out the wheel, fix the flat the usual way and put it back.


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## tuffguy1500 (Jul 17, 2008)

be very forewarned about the dlx and its variants.. the rear downtubes of the rack are not attached to eachother to make a single, strong vertical tube. This means that a heavy load can and will eventually cause the rack to sag down. I've had to deal with that issue many times over, and it almost caused a crash when, after hitting a large bump, it sagged so far it locked my rear caliper(disc brake set). The single mount point also allows the rack to sway from side to side, which is problematic if you're running fenders underneath them in some cases. 

In spite of all that I still use it because I haven't found a better alternative. Two things I recommend tho- Electra Seatpost camp, this allows for two points to mount. I just picked up some spare rails at REI or somewhere then custom bending to fit, and a way to attach the two vertical tubes. I didn't have enough tools to fab something amazing and better, but ended up with an L-bracket and four extra bolts/nuts to prevent sagging.


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## PlatyPius (Feb 1, 2009)

tuffguy1500 said:


> be very forewarned about the dlx and its variants.. the rear downtubes of the rack are not attached to eachother to make a single, strong vertical tube. This means that a heavy load can and will eventually cause the rack to sag down. I've had to deal with that issue many times over, and it almost caused a crash when, after hitting a large bump, it sagged so far it locked my rear caliper(disc brake set). The single mount point also allows the rack to sway from side to side, which is problematic if you're running fenders underneath them in some cases.


a) The rack is for light loads.
b) The Streamliner Road DLX is for road bikes. It is not made for disc brakes, wide fenders, or wide tires.


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## tuffguy1500 (Jul 17, 2008)

PlatyPius said:


> a) The rack is for light loads.
> b) The Streamliner Road DLX is for road bikes. It is not made for disc brakes, wide fenders, or wide tires.


Understood, and it was meant for the Trek you see in the background. I needed it to carry two books 9 miles each way, on 23c tires with crud fenders and it failed to do so without constant attention. The fender thing is just something to be aware of. When it comes to disc brakes, my Kona has an odd placement of brazons so a rack designed for disc bikes wouldn't have worked anyways. My post is an FYI for people who think it's going to magically solve the no-brazon problem like I originally thought. 

If I had solved the issue of the two vertical stands slipping before buying the Kona, it would have worked perfectly with any smaller diameter fender under it.


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## Andy M-S (Feb 3, 2004)

Interesting. It may vary with the frame geometry--I use a much shorter forward support with my old 560 than I see on that compact frame. 

I agree, it's best used for light loads. I'm trying to figure out a way to firm up the lower leg connections. So far, I've had no problems carrying significantly more than two (law == large) books.

I use a different Axiom rack on my Kogswell (also with a short center front stay) and have carried significant touring loads with that one--but of course, it was bolted to lower eyelets.


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## |3iker (Jan 12, 2010)

I'd just go with P-Clips. Opens up the choices for regular racks.


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## Andy M-S (Feb 3, 2004)

I hate to comment on my own posts, but so far, this rack has worked very well. This afternoon, 8.5 miles (just a jog to and from school) with 19.5# plus the panniers and the usual stuff that sits in them, call it another 2-3#. The rack was rock solid, loaded as it was with (one side) my bag with notes, laptop, misc. electronics, notebooks, insulin kit, and, on the other, two rather thick legal tomes on employment discrimination. The only weirdness was when hauling the bike around by hand--it's odd with the load mass being centered behind the rear wheels.

But there was no excessive sway or anything while riding, and the far rear load didn't make the bike handle strangely at all. So far, I recommend this rack without hesitation.


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## PaulRivers (Sep 11, 2006)

If you're looking for something sturdier (and more expensive), Tubus also makes a similar rack -
https://www.rei.com/product/768567?...-81F9-DE11-BAE3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA










As well as an adapter kit for all their other "regular" racks -









From:
https://www.tubus.com/en/spares-and-accessories

It's called "Adapter set for QR-axle-mounting"

And a number of kits, also on the page, to do the same thing as p-clamps and mount the rack on the seat stays.

p-clips don't work on bikes with carbon fiber rear stays - Axiom also makes a replacement seatpost clamp so you can attach the front of the rack there -
https://www.axiomgear.com/products/gear/racks/rack-accessories/trekk-seat-collar/


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## Andy M-S (Feb 3, 2004)

The Tubus looks nice enough, and it's probably better-made, but at more than 6x the price, it oughta be!


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## Andy M-S (Feb 3, 2004)

*Even that adapter...*

Looks like runs 2x the price of the Axiom rack.

Now, I'm all for good quality, but I would be paying more for the rack than I would have for the bike...

The Axiom works just fine.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

I remember this post from some time ago and thought I'd add to it. We just got done with 2 days of "practice run" touring to test out all the equipment. My wife used the Axiom rack on her racebike. In general, it worked great, but with some issues:

1. Mounting. My wife's bike's rear brake caliper mounts below a funny bulge in the carbon. This made it impossible to mount without modifying the mounting metal piece that connects to the caliper mount. I tried running it from underneath the caliper but it would rub the tire. So, I ended up cutting about 1/2 inch off the metal piece and redrilled the mounting hole. I then had to use a vice to bend the crap out of it into a shape that would work on the bike. Once done it mounted great.

2. Comment on fender clearance. This rack can actually be mounted _very_ high above the tire. You just need to loosen the four bolts on the skewer mount pieces while it is mounted on the bike and pull the whole thing upward. You may have to bend the metal piece that mounts the rack to the caliper to allow for the raised height but it works fine. Then retighten those bolts like crazy.

3. Sagging rack. Yep, ran into this problem half way through the ride. Wife hit a bump and had instant rear tire lock up. Luckily we were only a couple of miles from Tomales, CA and the little general store had locktite. Problem solved. No more sag whatsoever. Previously I had tightened the bolts to the point that they were stripping, but the nylon lined nuts were not enough to prevent the whole thing from loosening up. The locktite did the trick. For point of reference, the wife had two axiom Cartier panniers with about 15lbs of weight. 

4. Forget using a topbag on these racks. Panniers only due to the narrow top width.


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 20, 2007)

Ridgetop said:


> We just got done with 2 days of "practice run" touring to test out all the equipment.


Blatant hijack, but...
Care to elaborate?


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## PaulRivers (Sep 11, 2006)

Ridgetop said:


> 4. Forget using a topbag on these racks. Panniers only due to the narrow top width.


Axiom does make another rack with plenty of room for a trunk bag on top of it - it's just a different rack.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 1, 2005)

Hey Rodar, I'll have a ride report up in the next day or two. I've got lots of pics and had zero time . The ride basically went well with some issues, but nothing horrible.


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