hurricane harry

I love my Ortlieb bags.
I hate the rattly P.O.S. mounting system Ortlieb uses.
For me, one of the many reasons for riding a bike is the silence.
Do you relish silent riding and tie, shim, strap the rattles out?
Or do you enjoy the day and let your bike rattle on?

overbyte

I also hate rattles. I solved some caused by loose fit of pannier mounting hooks by wrapping some vinyl electrical tape to make a more snug fit. Another annoying source of rattles is the tool kit in my triangle frame bag. I wrap some tools with a small piece of cloth as necessary. My thought is that the rattles you know about just mask the rattles you should discover, ones that mean something is coming loose.

Cyclebum

Attack with vigor. Cooking gear rattle when crossing a track, that's ok. Otherwise, no.

Northwestrider

My Ortlieb bags came with shims that were meant to provide a better fit. If you have them, they may help you out. If not, then as Overbyte suggested, electrical tape may be the solution.

hurricane harry

Mine came with shims as well, but the rattle comes from the bottom hook. I cable tied the bags permanantly to the rack and engineered the rattles out.
Now the handlebar bag is another story. The mounting system rattles even without the bag attached.

staehpj1

I probably would tune out most of the rattles that worry you guys to the extent that I would no longer even be aware of them. That is after I decide they are harmless and not a real maintenance issue.

BobG

I returned a small Arkel handlebar bag for the same reason. The metal clip on the bag rattled where it engaged with the metal mounting piece attached to the bars. Decided I didn't need a HB bag anyway. I'm using Axiom panniers that have silent Rixen & Kaul plastic mounting clips.

pdlamb

I can't imagine how an Ortlieb mounting system could rattle. Do you have the cable tight on both sides of the intermediate set screw?

fietsbob

Are you using the 11mm insert on a rack with 8mm rails? change the insert.

inserts, none is 14 mm ..


the older hooks of type 1 were 10mm , no inserts .. when hung over Tubus racks the 10mm ones fit better ..

when I got my newer Roller set , Wayne supplied 1 set of older 10mm hooks and I swapped out the other 10mm hook set

off my older sport packers , and used the newer hook set with the 8mm insert on it
which is closer to the size of my Bike Friday's Front Rack.

now all 6 work fine.

DogBoy

+1. Cured the problem right away. Now the only sound I have is the zipper rattle on my handlebar bag.

hurricane harry

It is the spring loaded locking mechanism that rattles, even with cardboard and toothpicks jammed into it.

overbyte

I had the same thing. I wrapped black electrical tape around the zipper pulls on the handlebar bag and triangle frame bag, which got rid of the rattle and "ting" that I heard when the metal pull hit the bike frame.

indyfabz

Miy Sport and Bike Packers rattle. The rattle comes from the lower "hooks," not the ones attached at the top mounting portions. The space between the inside of the lower hook and the inner face of the pannier is quite generous. It's way wider than any rack tubing I have ever seen. My racks are either 9mm or 10mm and there is still a significant gap. Bumps and unpaved roads cause rattle. Wayne from Thetouringstore suggested wrapping something like cloth tennis raquette grip tape around portions of the rack. It's something I have been meaning to do but have been too lazy to. I have promised myself I will do it before my mid-June trip in MT. If all goes as planned, my route will have at least 60 miles of unpaved roads. Maybe more.

indyfabz

As I noted in my previous post, I have the same problem. You might try some cloth or other type of grip tape on the racks as was suggested to me by the guy whol sold me my Sport and Bike Packers. The noise can get annoying if you ride on long stretches of unpaved and/or bumpy roads.

fietsbob

Your Hearing will deteriorate, then you will look back on when you could hear those rattles, with nostalgia.

djb

QUOTE=hurricane harry;16708828]Mine came with shims as well, but the rattle comes from the bottom hook. I cable tied the bags permanantly to the rack and engineered the rattles out.
Now the handlebar bag is another story. The mounting system rattles even without the bag attached.[/QUOTE]

In theory I too don't want noises as I want to hear new ones that should be addressed like stuff getting loose.
I should mention that if your lower hook/plastic tab thingee is making sounds, then you need to adjust either it or your two upper sections. I have the upper clamp things adjusted so I use part of the rack support areas to firmly hold the lower hook thing against the rack support, so there is no movement when rack is on properly. Works when panniers are very light or full.
Not sure if describing well, but I use the parts of the rack that are perpendicular to direction of bike to brace the upper clamps from going one direction (backwards) and the lower clamp butts up against the vertical rack support so it can't go forwards any more. Both upper and lower mounting areas work against each other to stop any movement or rattling.

Don't know if my vague description has helped at all.

PS yours are newer ones right, 20 yr old ortliebs had an actual metal hook.

indyfabz

The attached illustrates why I get rattle and probably why the OP was experiencing it, too. As you can see, there is a lot of space, and it exists no mater where I position the lower hook. Some sort of dampener wherever the plastic can come into contact with the rack is the solution.

djb

indy, I see. The thing I was describing was for a rack where the tab butts up against a nearly vertical rack strut, and is forced up against the strut by the holding action fore/aft of the top parts. Your rack is a front rack right?
I only have an old low rider blackburn that I use an old set of panniers on that use a hook to attach to the lower horizontal part of the rack, but have often wondered how a set of ortliebs would attack properly to it.

For you guys, how about using hockey stick tape to thicken up your racks, its better than electric tape as it is cloth like, and it doesnt get all sticky with heat. Kinda "bakes" with time and is pretty tough.

Northwestrider

I used to get a rattle with my handle bar bag as well, but mine came from the attachment snaps. I use velcro now.

Tourist in MSN

I cut some small pieces of inner tube rubber and wrapped that around the rack tubing, then went over that with electrical tape to keep it in place. Only one layer of rubber, more and it would be too thick. After 500 miles I needed to touch up the electrical tape, but overall was quite happy with it.

Some people have bought plastic tubing at the hardware store and slit it lengthwise so that it will fit over the rack tubing. I have not tried this myself.

indyfabz

That's a Nitto Big rear rack. I also have a Nitto Big front rack, which is a mid height rack with a platform. Same situation on both though.

I defintiely think that a cloth-like tape would work better than electrical tape as it would be thicker and thus fill the gap more easily. I also have to imagine that it would offer better cushioning. Need to get off my lazy behind and get some. Maybe during lunch today.

fietsbob

Gaffer's tape is using fabric. good stuff, not cheap. .. Movie biz uses a lot of it to secure all those cables on the set.

the guy who does that is credited at the end of the movie.

LuckySailor

SILENCE! I kill you.

djb

fiets, I wouldnt recommend using gaffer tape, I've used it for decades with work and over time it can get weird, in heat it can get sticky , and over time it can kinda dry out and you get all this gross dust sediment stuff (guess its the glue that dries out). I recall using it on motorcycle parts that got broken off or whatever and with time it was a real mess to deal with. For short term stuff its fantastic, but for this sort of thing, I've used the hockey stick tape with great success on my bar ends and brake levers to cover up bare metal for very cold riding (fingers dont freeze as much) and the stuff has been on for years and takes on a nice appearance after a while, looses any stickiness and holds well over time.

Gaffer tape or duct tape also has a wide range of quality depending on brand, I buy stuff from a cinema supply place and its way better than the stuff you find at regular stores, but then again, I've always used it for short term use (taping down cables, holding stuff up or whatever, sticking gels on things).

djb

Indy, this made me recall when I got my latest set of Ortliebs to replace myold ones that used the lower metal hook method. Being new to the "plastic tab" system, I recall trying to set them up for my racks, and getting the space like you have, and it rattling around--it just didnt make sense to me but fiinally I figured out how to set up the tops clamps so that the bottom tab would be forced up against the vertical strut, thus taking away any space and rattling.
I googled your racks and see how the two verticals are fairly far apart. Is there no way to set up the tab to get forced up against either vertical?
I saw the rack on the Rivendell site and so how about calling them for ideas, I'm sure they know the best Ortlieb way to go.(they say on the site to call them for any mounting issues, about rack to bike mounting issues I guess, but they should be able to help).

just an idea