mkeller234

I won this Nitto campee rack with a last minute impulse bid. When I tried to find out more about what I bought, it looks like they are no longer made? It also appears that there are different versions?

I couldn’t find a lot of pics of these. Hopefully that doesn’t mean it’s loathed!

3speedslow

Nitto and loathed usually don’t appear in the same sentence.

Salamandrine 

I have one. I bought it on impulse a few years ago. The main thing to know is unless you have small feet and long chainstays, heel clearance is an issue. Fortunately for me, though I have big feet and long cranks, I also have a first generation Rivendell Clem Jr with 22" chainstays. It doesn't work at all on my Mercian touring bike. Someday I will use it with Clem on a trip to Patagonia or something. For now, it's convertible, so you can use the top rack only to carry your tent and sleeping bag or something, and put the rest of your stuff in the front bags of your hip front loaded low trail touring bike, if you have one.

Irregardless of all that, it's Nitto and therefore it's quality and it's cool.

mkeller234

I was planning on putting this on my Melton, sounds like that may be a no go. What kind of pannier bags can you mount on the low riders? Can I use my Cannondale pannier bags?

Salamandrine 

Maybe. Depends. You'll have to try. It's going to depend on your chainstay length, foot size, and crank length; as well as pannier size and shape. I tried my Carradice Kendalls and those had about an inch too little clearance for my heels on my Mercian, which has pretty classic touring geometry. 45cm chainstays IIRC. Those kendalls are fairly wide though. Maybe Cannondales will work since they have that cutout corner for heel clearance. I suspect a skinnier taller bag like a Jannd mountain mini would be good. I have a pair of those but haven't tried them with that rack.

mkeller234

I've got big wide feet (11.5), so that doesn't bode well. I'll measure my chain stays today.

mkeller234

Almost every bike I own had 18” chain stays. My Melton and Miyata Ridge runner were both tied for longest at 19”. Shortest was the Schwinn tempo at 16”.

The Golden Boy 

Speaking personally- the only reason I don't have one is because I like the old Blackburns enough to justify the expense.

However, if I were to start getting Nitto racks, I'd have to do all my bikes with Nitto racks...

mkeller234

Most of my bikes wear Blackburn racks. Definitely a favorite of mine. I think they are great because they are built strong enough for serious use without being too complicated or heavy.

Looking it up now, the Blackburn is just over 1/2 pound. The Nitto is over two pounds. Probably stupid overkill without needing to carry serious gear... which I don’t.

Salamandrine 

I've had both and I like Nitto better. That said Blackburns were fine BITD. A lot of stuff today seems overbuilt, but I guess people carry more gear. No laptops or drones or cellphones or digital cameras or GPS in 1980.

FWIW, I remember Blackburn rear racks weighing about 1 lb even, maybe just under. My (one piece) Nitto rear rack weighs ~ twice that, but carrying capacity is doubled as well. At any rate I've presumed that the idea with that convertible is for light trips you detach the lowriders and only use the top part for light panniers or something. That was the selling point for me.

BTW, I'm thinking the Cannondale panniers with that big corner cut off have a reasonable chance of working with the Campee. You could also play around with the mounting locations.

mkeller234

The main selling point for me is that it’s pretty! I pined for one way back, maybe about 10 years ago. Now I had the opportunity and the price seemed good.

I do commute with a decent amount of gear. I take a MacBook, lunch, light tool kit, change of shoes, etc.

mkeller234

Rack showed up, I quickly installed it on my Melton.

What day you all, yes or no on the Melton? I’m not sure I want the extra weight on this one.

The Golden Boy 

It's certainly beautiful; it does add a certain French/old world flair to it- but I can imagine it changes the ride a bit.

PS- that Melton is something special.

tricky 

I'd say remove the side bag supports. The remaining lighter rack will look great on the Moulton.

alo

I like it.

If heel clearance is an issue, and you are creative, you could make up brackets to mount it further back.

mkeller234

I was surprised that her clearance was not an issue, I have a few inches to spare even. I’m going to give it some time to get used to it. My other consideration is to cut my losses and sell the rack.

mkeller234

Yeah, not sure if I wanted the old world vibe here. I like it ok.. but I need to see how it settles.

Anyhow, I’m loving the Melton. It’s been getting more miles than the others lately. I’ve used it for commuting the past few weeks.

The Golden Boy 

You could also just use the rack without the 'lowrider' portions until you need them. Probably save a pound and a half.

merziac

I dig it, not sure how you got here if you didn't want "old world vibe", your Melton exudes it all day long IMO, kind of like this.

scarlson 

I toured using Blackburn racks for six months and broke two. Made it through using broken spokes and twine for a bailing wire repair. At that time, I think the year was '02, they honored their lifetime guarantee and sent new racks after the tour was over. We didn't carry any heavy tech with us, but we were a family of four and I was an energetic teenager so I hauled the lion's share of the load.

I now use Nitto and Tubus because of this experience. But another family member broke a Tubus Duo last year touring. The tig welds seemed to lack penetration in some spots where I can envision it being hard to sling an arc. Cracks started there and propagated. I brazed it back up, so now it's better than ever.

Based on my experience, the way racks fail is fatigue. Aluminum in general is more susceptible than steel. I bet the Nitto racks, being bronze fillet brazed crMo steel, are most fatigue-resistant of all.

Salamandrine 

^^^ Yeah, that's why Nitto is my choice. Also, they are very nice looking and well crafted. Tubus racks look like cheap 70s lawn furniture from Kmart.

Back to the main topic: I think the Campee looks nice on the Melton, but it kind of needs a matching front rack to balance it aesthetically. I agree with the others that for commuting, it makes sense to just use the main rack without the lowriders. That would look good. You could then add the lowriders back, along with a front rack, if you ever take it camping. I'm not really convinced that rear lowriders will improve handling anyway. Maybe.

It's interesting that you have heel clearance. I guess you can thank Cannondale for panniers with cutaway corners. No problem for me on the Clem with whatever bags. The Mercian KOM touring is pretty similar to the Melton though, and no way on that. Probably a combination of the wrong bags, size 12 feet, and 175 cranks. It runs a 33R rack instead.

mkeller234

I’m starting to believe my rack is not a genuine Nitto model. I’m going to post pictures showing my doubts, but I’m curious if others here will agree

mkeller234

Here are photos that lead me to believe this is not genuinely a Nitto rack.
1)There is no where that says Nitto stamped in. 2) The ends of the steel tubes are open.
3) The joints are sloppy
4) The lowrider attachments are not threaded. There is a nut on the screws.
5) The tubing looks different than what I see on the web.

mkeller234

Salamandrine 

Yeah, I think maybe you are right. I saw that it looks different than mine right away, but thought maybe it was just an older model or something. Mine is more of the usual satin nickel finish. All the joints are either braze, or welded and cleaned up enough to look braze. Seems like the tubes are thicker on yours, possibly brushed stainless. In general style it looks more like a VO rack - those are actually pretty good BTW. Clearly it has a couple QC issues.