I decided to fit a rear rack to my mountain bike as I occasionally need to carry extra equipment. I have an Ortlieb saddle bag which is big enough for my tools, waterproofs and a snack but not really much more. Sometimes, especially if I’m out for a full day but don’t want to ride my touring bike, I’ll put extra things like my camera in a back-pack but I really don’t enjoy riding with a bag on my back.
When I saw the Aeroe rack advertised, I thought it would be an ideal solution. I already have two sets of Ortlieb panniers and with a previous mountain bike would regularly use a single pannier on the rear to carry things like my change of clothing for work. The option of carrying a pannier just seemed to be the best way to go.
I sent off to the web-site and the rack arrived within a few days. As it seems to be a New Zealand based company I had expected a longer turnaround but was pleasantly surprised.
All the reviews I had read stated how sturdy the rack was and how easy it was to fit. They were right. The Aeroe rack does not need any bosses or threaded mounts as it fits directly on to the frame. The downloaded instructions are easy to follow though it took a bit longer then they made out to get things just right. There was a fair bit of trial and error to get everything lined up and adjustments made but eventually it all came together. Part of the messing around was in order to make adjustments in the positioning to allow me to retain the saddle bag and and allow room for my dropper seat post. Eventually it did all line up and it has turned out to be a great rack. Once fitted the rack feels solid. It is a fairly simple design and fits in well with my bike. I will probably use it with one or both of my smaller panniers (25 litres) but am quite confident that it would safely carry the 40 litre ones. There’s also space to bunjee a bag or clothing to the top of the rack though with a maximum capacity of 16kg this could be restricted with both panniers loaded. The Aeroe system also has options to replace the pannier rack with the spider rear rack which uses the same frame and mounting arms.
So far I’ve only used the rack a couple of times with panniers but as it’s fairly unobtrusive I could leave it on all the time. So far I’m really pleased with it and it performs better than I had expected. I have since learned that the rack is easily removed and fitted in only a couple of minutes so I have taken it off and only have it on when I need to carry a load. This is more for ease of cleaning the bike as the rack does seem to gather quite a lot of mud.
Just Me - On my bike 