Rhyagelle

Hello,

So, my recent bike purchase has been going strong, despite a few hiccups—namely, a set of fenders I bought snapped and got caught in the wheel, which nearly killed me—but the horrific crash did nothing more than bend the derailleur hanger (thankfully people here told me to buy a backup). While I'm recovering from said crash, I'm looking to get a rear rack that'll work on my bike and will support a large crate zip tied to it. I've already bought and returned two from Amazon, because they didn't come with instructions and the pieces were horribly disfigured and misaligned. Why, one of the most crucial pieces of the sets were completely unusable. So I really don't want to keep wasting time and money on it, so maybe someone here will have a suggestion that'll work on my bike? I'd prefer it to have the design that doesn't attach to the seat post, but at this point, I'm desperate just to get a good rack that actually installs on my bike.

I'd greatly appreciate any help.

Bike: Polygon Cascade 4 (2020)
Previous racks: Garneck Carrier Mountain Universaland Generies Universal

Thanks!

But its me 

The racks you link to appear to be for frames without threaded dropout mounting points. Your frame appears to have the proper points of mounting at the dropouts and seatstays. I would suggest a more established brand such as Planet Bike, Blackburn, Racktime, or Tubus. I linked one below (found by poking around your provided Amazon links) but plenty of other options and price ranges can be found. Although I run Racktime or Tubus racks, they are pricey. Racktime is essentially the “bargain” Tubus line. Racktime makes a system with the Snapit quick release system for top mounting of things like a crate.

Planet Bike KOKO

The KOKO has round rods for attachment, something I find makes for a more secure mount to the frame, compared to flat steel of lesser quality racks.

Rhyagelle

Hello,

Thank you for the help, been looking for rear racks since I got the bike and it's been quite stressful. As for price, I don't mind paying good money for the product so long as it installs and meets my needs. I'll be commuting with it to work and other such places for the unknown future, so durability/quality would need to be high. Which Racktime would you personally suggest, as well as Tubus?

That KOKO looks perfect for the crate I have, awesome! Just checked out their website too, and they've got different color options, so that's a plus!

Dan Burkhart 

Above suggestions are good. I've used this type of seat post clamp to attach the stays. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Be sure to get a rack that works with disc brakes.

cyccommute 

If you are looking at Racktime or Tubus and since you want to put a basket on the rack, I’d suggest a touring style rack from either company. The touring racks have wider decks that will support a basket better. Something like the Racktime ECO tour or Tubus Cargo Classic would be best. The Cargo Classic has one of the widest decks around.

Both of these racks have the best attachment I’ve ever used on a rack. Take a look at the way the upper stays attach to the rack on both of these rack. The attachment allows for a lot more adjustment then most other racks. That makes them much easier to mount than most racks.

You can also make your life easier if you get a basket adapter from Ortlieb. You’ll actually need two parts: the basket adapter and a rack adapter. This allows you to remove the basket if you don’t want to carry it around as well as mount panniers on the adapter if you need more space. I use a rack bag that I’ve adapted to using these two parts which gives you another option if you occasionally want something less bulky than a basket. Here’s what mine looks like.

Untitled by Stuart Black, on Flickr

JW in AK

I use this one. It will work with the mounting points on your Polygon. An added bonus is that the solid panel on the top works like a fender to keep muck off your stuff and your butt.

Pratt

Slightly OT, but why don't some of the independent framebuilders make racks? Or maybe they do and I'm just not aware of them. Granted, it is a small market, but there are a lot of posts/threads here bemoaning the quality (or lack thereof) and unsuitability of available racks.

Rhyagelle

Thanks so much guys! Issue now is....where do I purchase them online? Perhaps I'm not realizing something quite obvious on the websites, but there's no buy option.

cyccommute 

The links I provided were just for information. Do a Google search for either rack and you’ll find them. You can even order Tubus from your local shop if they have a J&B Importers account.

You can order the adapters I linked to directly from OrtliebUSA.

ARider2

I understand you want to buy online. Is there any reason you have not checked for racks with your local bike shop? Sometimes fitting a rack can be problematic, especially on smaller frames, and a bike shop may be able to get you the right rack that will fit properly and therefore avoid having to return something that does not fit. The reason I ask it seems you are not concerned all that much about the price, and you have already invested time and money without getting good results. Why not check your LBS?

alo

The rack may be shorter than the crate, so you may want to add something hanging out the back, to support the back of the crate, depending how much weight you put in it. I have one where I used lightweight supports from a broken tent, to support back of the crate. These were secured in a V shape, which also stopped the back of the crate tipping sideways.

If you are creative, you could make your own rack.

Rhyagelle

There are no local bike shops near me, unfortunately. I live in a small wooded country area of KY. The nearest shop is several counties away and they don't do shipping either, plus I have no way of getting there. Online and shipping is the only way I can get a lot of things to where I live. And a quick google mostly only comes up with foreign, over seas websites. I'll keep looking!

cyccommute 

Planet Cyclery in Brookfield, Co has the Racktime Standit. You can also get the Eco from Amazon, although it does come from Spain. You can also order some Tubus racks from Ortlieb USA. They have a Cargo Evo for $100. The Evo is only slightly different from the Cargo Classic. You can also order the K.O.K.O. from Planet Bike for about $40. It’s as good quality as the Racktime. It doesn’t have the large square deck of the Tubus Cargo but it’s not a bad rack either.

Rhyagelle

Wow, thank you so much for the links cyccommute ! I was just gonna order the K.O.K.O from their website because I was having trouble actually finding the others. I think I'll go with the Cargo EVO, looks like a really solid product! Thanks again for the awesome help guys! Now I'm off to buy myself a rear rack!

tyrion

Tubus is the best, but if you don't want to pay for the best, the Topeak Explorer is very good for the price. I think for your bike you need the one for disc brakes (google "topeak explorer disc") that has little stand-offs so the rack strut clears the disc brake calipers.

tyrion

Tubus Cargo Evo comes in 2 sizes - I'm pretty sure you need the bigger one (28" not 26").

veganbikes

I haven't heard of any of that stuff so it is a good sign to avoid.

I think the rack that will fit your needs well is Racktime. They are owned by Tubus but are using aluminum instead of steel (but are plenty strong) but more importantly they have loads of accessories that slide in and out very easily so instead of using zipties you can securely add different things to your rack for different purposes or say you are like me and need to go get groceries, you can use one of the baskets and load it up carrying what you can actually take on the bike rather than guessing and trying to take too much (which I have done many many times)

The rack that will probably fit best for you would be the TourIt or AddIt. Also probably something like the BoxIt or BaskIt would be a good accessory.

Avoid the junk on the internet, it is an easy trap to fall down but there is no mistaking quality and support behind it. Anytime I have had a Racktime problem which is rare (but we buy in massive quantities and use a lot of their racks often along with bags and baskets) I have easy support through their U.S. distributor JBI.bike so I will get a credit or have them send a new one easy peasy.

JW in AK

Sorry dude, just noticed when I checked back on my link that it seems like the rack I suggested may have been discontinued as Trek shows it as 2012-2019. If that model appeals to you, it looks like it's available from Bike America for $45. You might have to call them since their website shows it as in stock but there's no Add to Cart button. The negative reviews seem to be the result of operator error as I found this rack to be very easy to fit and swap between both of my bikes (26" MTB and 27.5" gravel).