Rob63

Hey everyone
I'm planning some heavy touring in Europe next year, and my 1991 Miyata 1000 I bought a few months ago came with this original rack (I'm fairly certain it's original because I also bought a 1989 Miayata 615gt that came with the same rack). Has anyone toured loaded with rear panniers on this rack? Did it hold up? Any other concerns with this rack? Is a new rack an upgrade?

cyccommute 

It will probably hold up or, I should say that it probably would have. Yours looks like it’s been bent at some point. That weakens the aluminum. A Tubus would be a substantial upgrade but even something like a Racktime would be a nice upgrade.

By the way your picture is hidden by the “spoiler” label. If I click on the + mark on the spoiler I can see it but it would be nicer if you would get rid of the spoiler thing.

Rob63

I tried but gave up in the end with trying to delete the spoiler option.
I think your word "probably" is enough to raise concern, even without a bend. Racktime I just looked up. Thanks.

veganbikes

Racktime is neat if you want a system rack they have a whole line of awesome, bags and baskets and are also compatible spaced with MIK stuff (with a RT adaptor plate) but if you have your own panniers Tubus is the way to go plus they have a ridiculous warranty and really stand by their stuff. I haven't heard of one breaking yet but I am sure someone must have managed it but it has got to be tough. Plus they make the strongest and lightest racks on the market. I have a Cargo EVO and the Duo racks and they weighed together less than my single Surly Nice Rack (which is a fine rack) and held the same weight (or technically more since it is two racks)

I love Racktime but I find it better as an urban commuter rack whereas Tubus is the better touring rack however RT is owned by Tubus so you aren't going wrong. Aluminum vs. Steel or Titanium.

I am probably about to drop the coin on the Tubus Airy rack (which I recognize as slightly crazy) because it is such a neat rack. It weighs less than a pound (12.7oz) and can carry over 57 pounds which is ridiculous.

imi

Same here, Racktime for commuting, Tubus for touring.

Tourist in MSN

I use a Tubus Logo EVO (steel) for touring on my medium or heavy touring bikes.

My light touring bike, use a Racktime Addit (aluminum) rack.

The German racks have recently had a downgrade in capacity, it is my understanding that the companies lowered their capacity ratings due to a rule on child seats that they did not want used on the racks, I learned that on another forum so I could be wrong on that. I think the new racks are just as strong as their older rating.

My older Logo EVO is rated at 40 kg, the Addit at 30 kg, both are plenty good for my purposes.

Photo of the Addit below, I cut clear plastic tubing with a lengthwise slit and put that over the tubing where the rack and pannier would chaff, that is on the rack if you are wondering what that extra stuff is on the rack.



The bike with a load on the Racktime, photo at:
https://www.bikeforums.net/22868083-post4731.html


On both the Logo EVO and the Addit, I like the way that the panniers are mounted lower for a lower center of gravity.

polymorphself 

Some threads in the Classic & Vintage section where you may want to show off your Miyata 1000:

Show Your Miyata 1000!
Show us your Vintage Touring Bikes
Just how big is the Miyata Cult?

And yeah, rack would've been good but not worth trusting it bent. Velo Orange Campeur is another heavy duty option with a nice classic styling: https://velo-orange.com/collections/...peur-rear-rack

And don't forget all of the Nitto racks: https://global.bluelug.com/brands/nitto/rack.html

djb

as an aside, whatever rack. you end up using, be sure to look into putting some blue loctite on the bolts when you mount it--and in the first bunch of days touring with a load, check the tightness of the rack bolts.
Its super common for rack bolts to loosen up a bit, and loctite helps keep them from loosening.
I also go over my bike once a week or so and check all the bolt tightnesses when going over things, cleaning the drivetrain etc, really good habit to get into as it helps avoid losing a rack bolt and damaging threads.

cyccommute 

Yea, the spoiler is kind of weird and mostly useless. I didn’t even know until your post that you can click on the + sign and it will show the picture…and I’ve been posting here for nearly 20 years. And it’s close enough to the quotation symbol that I keep clicking on it due to fat fingers. I’ve found the best thing to do is to erase the post and repost it.

TiHabanero

Although you have apparently decided to change out the stock rack I will relate my personal experience with one as well as a friends experience with one. Matt did a cross country ride around 1988 with his Miyata 1000. His model was from 1986 and used the stock rack. Went up in BC and down into California as well as crossed the middle of the country and had no problems with it.
I still use one that came stock on the 1985 model 1000 and have had zero issues with it. Unlike Matt, mine has been thoroughly abused, crashed and thrashed on commutes and tours. It has been bent and straightened without any weld failures. It now serves duty on a grocery getter and shows no signs of giving up the ghost. They are good lightweight racks.
Never have overloaded the rack by keeping weight around 30 pounds, which may have helped with the lifespan of the product. When new I think the rep recommended no more than 40 pounds.

Rob63

Good to know. I once was gravel riding and my rack and panniers just flopped backwards for the reason you describe. Not fun. Thanks for the tip.

Rob63

I figured because the bikes were made so well surely the racks were made to suit. I'll keep them...maybe not for heavy touring but worth keeping. I'm also impressed by your memory from 1986.

TiHabanero

The 80's were very formative years for me and I can recall the silliest of details. Was able to recall dates and such, but those details have slipped away, but the broader points are still there.
FWIW I have a second stock 1000 rack from my 1985 on my current touring bike. I worked in a shop during those years and have lots of left over parts!

djb

Up here when I bought my old tourer in 90 or 91, another Japanese brand, (couldnt afford the Miyata 1000 at the time) it didn't come with a rack stock, but bought the Blackburn racks, best at the time. We have other bikes in the household with very similar aluminum rear racks to the Blackburn and yours, and they have worked great over the decades.
As TiHab said, keeping the rear load to a manageable amount is always going to be good for a rack anyway. It seems to me that at least one of our rear racks has a slight downward bend to the rear part also, with no ill effects--but again, they don't tend to get overloaded and ridden hard over rough surfaces--all that is to say that that rack certainly doesn't look in terrible shape, and has pretty minimal scrape marks on it from pannier hooks.
One of my bikes, an old 25 year old mtb I now use as my Canadian winter bike, still has its original rack, with quite significant wear, and I keep using it just to see how long it will last until it breaks!

While I'm a big supporter of using reasonable quality alu racks, Tubus racks are really well made and are stiffer and stronger than a reasonably priced alu one.

With any rack, especially with a heavier load, do make sure that the contact point of pannier and rack rail is not too "loose", ie lots of space that will allow the pannier attachment point to constantly bounce and rub against the rack rail. You can even just fatten the rail up a bit with tape, so less banging forces going into the rack, and also less rubbing going on, so less scuffing and wear on the paint and rail material.
Very easy to do and add more if needed--very simple and effective when riding on rougher surfaces.

robow

Though Tubus racks are excellent, and I own one, if you want something lighter and far less expensive, you might consider an Axiom Journey rear rack. It is well thought out and supposedly will handle 154 lbs (though I have not tested that out) I own 2 of these and they have been superb for touring many years now.

djb

up here, Tubus racks are pretty darn expensive. I was lucky seven years ago now to find a good sale price on my Tubus front, and a reasonable price on the rear (although both still not cheap by any means)--I knew I would be doing some longer trips and they were totally worth getting--well worth the money over the many trips I have used them for.
Here in Montreal, you're looking at Yowzer---$270 for a rear Tubus Cargo and $230 for a front Tara (prices include taxes, so real world what you pay numbers)

Tourist in MSN

Reuters says that $1 CAD = $0.7317 USD, thus your $270 CAD = $197.56 USD, which is still pretty expensive, but sounds better to us down south. Last time I was in Canada (2019), I was shocked how high provincial sales tax was.

djb

in Quebec it is 15% (Fed + Prov)
but things have always been more expensive here in Canada, thats just what it is.

cyccommute 

Yea, no. There is no way that a welded tubular aluminum rack can carry nearly 3 times what the tubular steel Tubus can carry. I think there is a metric/imperial translation error there which is very common in rack ratings. They likely meant to say that it can carry 70 lbs…which is still a stretch…but translated the 70 into the kilograms column and then did the math to come up with 154 lb. It is likely a good rack but it won’t hold 154 lbs.

cyccommute 

Try Rose Bikes out of Germany. Shipping isn’t too expensive.

robow

You could be correct, I've always thought the 154 lbs seemed excessive but just quoted what has forever been stated on their website. Those darn Canucks don't know their kilos from their lbs. ha.......but they have been excellent racks and held up well after many years of significant use.

djb

Yup, thanks for that. I've always been very much surprised by the sometimes huge difference in prices at places like those.

djb

Re pounds Vs kilos
look up the "Gimli glider" for a story about the air Canada flight in the early 80s? that ended well in the end, but was a eff-up with fueling and a mix-up of Imperial and metric
(wasn't long after we did the official switch, I recall it at school in the 70s)

imi

I live in Sweden. I buy most of my stuff from Rose Bikes or Bike24.com in Germany.

Chainreaction in the UK used to be be my go to, but not since brexit due to import charges and stuff getting stuck in customs.

Tourist in MSN

Axiom has overstated the weight rating for their racks for years. I have one of their front racks, I do not remember what they said but I knew it was bogus when I read it.

Thorn rates their rear expedition rack at 40 kg if you use M5 bolts, 60kg if you use M6 bolts. Based on that it sounds like M5 bolts which most bikes use for racks are limited to about 88 pounds. They also say cut that in half if you ride on rough ground. Their lighter duty bikes use M5 but their heavy duty bikes use M6 for rack bolts.

I suspect that the Axiom ratings are based on a static test, or perhaps someone took a tensile or shear strength rating and applied that to a theoretical result?