Customer Reviews

Topeak Explorer Bike Rack with Spring

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I use this rack, with the corresponding Topeak MTX bag. It makes a sturdy and stable combination, although the spring rack is noisy on bumps. If I were to do it again, I'd buy the same rack, without the spring rack. I've never wanted to ride without the panniers, and the rattle would be reduced, without the extra mechanism.

It was beyond my expectations. Its a sturdy well constructed rack.
The spring on the rack works great! Combine withn the bike bag I purchased its all I need for my cycling experience.

I got this rack simply becuase it had the spring mounted holder in addition to the snap in system of the other Topeak rack. The slot is there for the Topeak specific bags to mount.. but for their cost I don't think I will ever buy one, so I got this one with the spring.

My bike is a Fuji Sunfire 4.0 26in Hybrid and it went on no problems. The cap screws, washers, nuts are all chrome plated so they should last a while without rusting. Since I also had the frame mounts already welded on it was simply a matter of bending the horizontal support bars a bit and tightening everything up. There is no interference from my seat or the seat tube.

The rack is well made, the welds looks very nice (no spatter, voids etc) and the powder coat is nicely done. The rack even includes on inverted 'T' bracket at the end and several generic mounts for lights and reflectors at the rear of the rack. The stickers they put on the main support tubes are the only COSMETIC issue.. printing them on would have given it a much cleaner look.

Good value, good fit for my bike.

It's attached to my bike and it carries stuff. It passes.

The one thing you should know before getting this is that it's designed for bikes that bosses by the seat post for the arms to attach to. I think most modern bikes have these, but I had to ream out the holes in the arms so that I could attach it to the seat post bolt instead.

This is a nice rack. The only reason why I do not give it a 5-star rating is because I would like a simple plate that I can attach pre-existing items to to carry on the rack. However, it does accept standardized bags. I since purchased a new Topeak MTX Trunk Bag DXP Bicycle Trunk Bag with Rigid Molded Panels and it was a wise investment.

I have been commuting with this rack on my Hybrid for over a month now and think it's great. The integrated rack and bag feature is very convenient. Although the spring hinged part of the rack keeps my Topeak bag from being as secure as the rack w/o the spring. But if I don't use my bag, which is rare, the spring would be handy.

These racks are sturdy and installation is intuitive. However, with the supplied hardware they are not universal. It's easy enough to pick up whatever hardware you will need to make it work on your bike.

Be warned that this rack MAY NOT fit on your mountain bike if you have rear disk brakes! I tried to put it on a Giant CypressLX and the disc brake mount won't let me bolt the left-hand side to the bike frame. You could, however, modify it, but that would entail some cutting and fabrication of an additional bracket and.... Who wants to do that?

I'm sure that there is a rack out there that is made to fit over the disc brake mount, but this one isn't it.

But you might not have the new-fangled disc brakes. On that note:
- this rack is made from aluminum, so you won't have to worry about it rusting away on you
- it feels solid and well built
- comes with mounting hardware and instructions (see picture)
- made in Taiwan (incase that's a problem for you.)
- cardboard placard says "1 size fits all of 26[inch] or 700cc frames" Instructions say, "One Fits All" and "[fits] most size of bicycle frames from 26" x 14.5 up to 700C x 63cm." Their website says "One size fits all frames" Which is it?

This rack was as-advertised and easy to install, although I had to redo it to make sure it went far enough back to also function as a mud guard. My only minor complaint is that it's designed to accommodate a particular brand of rear light/reflector mounted on the back, but I wish it was designed a little more generically to handle the light and reflector that I currently have mounted on my seat post.

This is a good product that works very well but I did not have the required places on my bike to attach it and we ended up drilling holes in the frame of my bike. The screws were not the right size for my bike and this left me needing more nuts. I do agree that it seemed to be the best one out there and it is very stable and easy to use. I am thrilled with it just know that it may take some adjustments to fit it to your bike.