Tubus Tara Titan coming up this summer
 

Everybody knows the Tubus Tara lowrider, the classic CrMo front tack that now comes with a light mount as well.
A couple of years ago they introduced the polished stainless steel version, the Tubus Tara Edelstahl, of which I haven't seen many reviews.

And for 2021 they are introducing the much lighter Tubus Tara Titan which is made from Titanium. Bloody expensive of course, but it might be interesting if you are looking for a 200 grams (7.05 oz) weight savings at the same (rated) carry capacity of 18 kg (39.6 lbs) for a total rack weight of 300 g (10.6 oz).

Pricing in Germany is:

• Tubus Tara
  • Black = €55 ($67)
  • Silver = €55 ($67)
  • Big Apple = €55 ($67)
• Tubus Tara Stainless
  • €81 ($100)
• Tubus Tara Titan
  • €250-300 ($300-366), unknown pricing right now. I've only seen them as a placeholder in a Dutch shop.

I ordered the stainless steel version for my Koga-Miyata "Graveller" to match my Velo Orange canti rack but I wonder if anybody is curious about these. Would a 200 grams (7.05 oz) weight savings appeal to you?

http://i.imgur.com/G9VyR94h.jpg

Pics of the stainless steel version incoming when I receive it.

I've used a Tara for a number of years, and it's already rather light, so for me, that money could go towards lighter tires, spokes, panniers, tent , campmat etc.

interesting that a titan one is available, but boy that's a lot of money.

Plus, over here, a regular Tara costs about 150 Canadian dollars.

I agree, steel racks on my titanium bike are good enough. But a titanium bike would certainly look good with titanium racks. You have to look good out there on a bike tour.

+1. I certainly try. It's one reason I shave my legs and wear stuff that matches/goes together.

I suspect it will come down some in price over time but it's definitely expensive. My guess is that it allows for a more positive comparison to bikepacking setups. And some bikepacking bags can be even more expensive than these racks.

Next time you look for a new Tubus rack try looking at some German retailers. Even with shipping and taxes it might save you quite a bit. Same for tyres and dynamo hubs.

@Tourist in MSN we all want that combo of the perfect Ortlieb color with your dogs face printed on it, as if it were tattood like the hard-ass they/you are.

Or, to put it another way, lose half a pound (227 grams) and save $300 for the same bike and rider weight.

oh I agree on how some bikepacking stuff is rather expensive also, and thanks for the recommendations of German retailers. Yes, the price differences can be rather astounding sometimes, especially when sales are on.

Two of my racks were shipped from Germany, over a decade ago you could order Ortliebs from Europe and that is where my Ortliebs came from. I even bought my Rohloff from a German internet seller, plus some dynohubs and other misc. supplies and components.

Decades ago when camping gear cost a lot more than it does now when measured in hours of wages needed to pay for it, a lot of us made stuff ourselves. I bought a discounted double A frame tent that was missing the tent fly, made the fly myself and I still have a down vest that I made. The vest, I do not recall if it was Frostline kit or Holubar kit.

From what I have seen, some bike-packers have been doing a lot of DIY frame bags and other misc supplies.
DIY / Make Your Own Gear (MYOG)

Check out https://www.bike-components.de/en/

The America market markup on Ortlieb/Tubus is about 100%. I got my stainless steel tara for less than what the street-price chrome-steel version costs in the USA.

thanks

+ 100

Well, the stainless steel Tara came in and it's more of a blasted finish. Not bad but I am sort of contemplating giving it a polish.

Better pictures tomorrow once I get outside in the sun again but just to give you an idea.

EDIT: The rack seems to be made from stainless steel tubing but the mounting holes for the struts and light do slightly react to a magnet.

http://i.imgur.com/IX0sfEAh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HOP8e78h.jpg

Some stainless has slight reaction to magnets. And sometimes I have noticed that a weld can be more magnetic.

My titanium bike has a finish that looks like someone at the factory went over it with a scouring pad, factory calls that finish industrial mill.

And that is a very nice finish for a bare metal bike frame because it hides scratches very well.

Before you polish your rack, think about what it would look like after a few scratches from bike racks, etc. Would polishing it make scratches and day to day wear look worse?

I see that you use Schwalbe's aerothan tubes. What patch kit do you use? (1) Looks as if Schwalbe's is out of stock; (2) I read somewhere that Park's self-adhesive patches work fine (!?)

This is my first one and I mostly bought it as a spare. If it rides well I might use them as standard on my next bike. But yeah, they seem to be sold out here in Europe as well. Perhaps some production delays?

I have to say that I still really like the aesthetics of the Tara rack, an added bonus of why I got one (the shape I mean). Plus of course it works really well and I knew I'd be using only Ortlieb panniers on it, so I didn't need the hook add on thing.

Only place I could find is Merlin.

I like the Tara rack too, but I have found that it did not fit well on some of my bikes. It has only minimal adjustability.

Tubus used to make a rack called the Ergo, that had two sets of mounting points on the hoop instead of one set for the horizontal bars to attach to, that fit much better on one of my bikes.

I bought a Tara to use on a different bike and it fit so poorly, I ended up putting the Tara on the shelf and buying a different rack for that bike.

Later, when I built up my titanium bike with a LHT fork on it, the Tara fit nicely on that so I finally found a place to use it.

ya, when I got my Troll and was considering racks, I specifically went with models that I had seen used successfully on other Troll touring setups. Figured that would be the best thing, go with what worked for others--specifically the rear rack, due to the mountain bikey shaped frame, so a rear rack that has longer mounting stay thingees is important. I had seen numerous folks using the Logo, so went with that, plus I liked the lower rail to lower the pannier weight-with the downside of a smaller top rack area compared to the Cargo.

I promised some more and better pictures of the stainless steel Tubus Tara. So here they are.
If anybody is interested in any other close-up pictures just let me know. I'll gladly shoot some more.

One thing to note is that the horizontal struts are designed for M5 bolts and I had to drill them to the larger M6 bolts my bike used.

http://i.imgur.com/Ib3qQku.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/x5nfsEa.jpg
(Less shiny than the polished stainless steel of the VO rack but not annoyingly so)

http://i.imgur.com/52OXnfs.jpg
(Sandblasted finish looks rougher up close than from a distance)

http://i.imgur.com/Fhmutxg.jpg
(Overview of the bike with all its racks)

Could you elaborate a bit on your rear rack? (what model, what capacity, why not a "conventional" rear rack?)

It's a Carradice Bagman QR Expedition with support. It's sort of what the Erlen saddle bag support was designed for as well. This one has a 10Kg (22 lbs) weight capacity but it can be increased with some extra struts.
Basically it's a support for a (larger) saddlebag. I use mine with a Carradice Super C (23L / 1403 cu inch) but there are tons of other options like a Swift Zeitgeist and many others.

I ride this bike with a front bias, so with a rando bag in the front + two smaller panniers and a saddlebag in the back. A frame bag is coming up. It's slightly more aerodynamic and I like the saddlebag for ease of access while riding. It's really easy to strap extra things to it as well.
Plus I think it looks cool. :lol:

But a saddlebag like this mostly rides really nicely because it is in line with your center of gravity on the bike. So you hardly notice it while riding.

Here is a different bike with the same bags and rack:
http://i.imgur.com/as7HnAs.jpg