Retro Rack is ACTUALLY Brilliant!

[@peterdelmonte9832]

I’m 74 and in the UK. You know how to make a chap feel his age. Retro? I carried my school books in my Carradice saddle bag on one of those racks in chrome steel throughout the 1960s. A perfect design in my opinion.

[@mechanicaldavid4827]

​@@pinky6863(Growls in Nottingham dialect)

[@jolyonstone6696]

I still have my Karrimor bag support. I don't remember it as especially brilliant going to school in thé 70's but it was quite handy for hanging thé saddlebag on your shoulder off thé bike ( if you could stand thé pain long term). Thé modern design is very slightly différent to mine!

[@Ey_up]

​@@mechanicaldavid4827 Don't get mardy...😊

[@Barry101er]

@@jolyonstone6696 Karrimor used to be a great brand until they got bought out by the devil. I still a great jacket.

[@DrTomCruisin]

Want to feel really old? I'm 37 and the music I grew up listening to is now called "old school rap".

[@leightonbohl1920]

I used one of these supports for years back in the 70s and 80s when doing a 10 mile daily commute in Manchester, Uk. A word of advice - the strap is redundant; take it off. You are meant to run a toe strap through the loop on the bottom of a Carridice bag, then around the seat pin or around the seat post cluster and tighten. This effectively secures everything to the point of immoveablity. Simple and effective. BUT - if you overload the bag it’s weight will pull down on the saddle loops and can loosen the rivets holding your Brooks saddle! Thirty marked exercise books I found to be just on the heavy side. Used judiciously, however, the support is an excellent bit of kit. The Fossil

[@felixjackson2670]

I have a Karrimor saddle bag ,along with that design of uplift,which I used to cycle down through France from my home in Oxford in 1977,on my Race Bike.Worked fine and I had everything needed for the trip in that one saddle bag. Amazing that now,45 years later….

[@biosfearmag]

Reminds me of Jack the Rack, which I love. I dig racks that can easily be taken off the bike when not needed. Very cool.

[@slantedorbit]

looks elegant on the Sklar, and Carradice and Brooks are like pb and j, well done

[@petesig93]

I have been using one of these for about 14 years as a saddlebag support on my road bike, single-speed and on day-rides on my touring bike. It is really fantastic as it converts a difficult-to-remove saddlebag into a quick-release go-anywhere pack. Add a shoulder strap and it is ideal for around town uses and bush tours. In a few seconds I can remove the saddlebag and carry it away with me into cafes, shops or for a short walk.

[@stevekisby3241]

As others I used one of these in the'60s . It worked well and easy and quick to remove when going into school.

[@RobWhittlestone]

I had a Karrimor Hi-Lift when I was a teenager - IT'S BRILLIANT! Now, 50 years later I bought a CARRADICE BAG LIFT for my Brooks B17 and Carradice Barley saddlebag in green/tan straps with Union Jack flag It's an EXCELLENT CLASSIC COMBINATION! I often get compliments about it! All the best, Rob in Switzerland

[@Trevor.Adams640]

I had one of those racks probably 40 years ago. Not sure what happened to it. I used to attach it with a leather toe strap, which kept it tight against the saddle rails and stopped it rattling around. I might by another now that they are available again, I still have my Carradice Nelson Longflap saddlebag.

[@stephenmascena9741]

This is not something I need for the type of riding I do but I know it would pose a problem being in the way getting my leg over the saddle when mounting the bike. Hi from RI, it’s 4:30 PM.

[@jonathankeenan5163]

You missed possibly the best feature! It's one buckle clip away from instant removal from the bike, leaving you with your bag and convenient handle to carry it by. I find this essential feature when calling in cafe as you can keep all you valuables with you. It's also about 1000% + faster than one of those banana bike packing things.

[@alejandroaranda5254]

I used this rack with some Rok straps for commuting with my backpack attached to the rack so I could swap between bikes easily. Over the years it dented the saddle loops on my Brompton brooks and now it pops out every efin time. So back to backpack in the back

[@corwynwyatt3478]

I used to have one of these! I found it very functional, sturdy, and not at all in the way. Even got away with strapping large packages to it. My complaints were that it made little divots in my saddle tabs over time and... it wasn’t shiny. 😛

[@philtomlinson8220]

A really interesting design. Love the fact you can remove it so easily. Good call on replacing the nylon buckle strap with a voile. In my experience that kind of nylon strap can work loose over time. I'd be a bit concerned about the rack being in constant contact with the saddle rails. I wonder if that could be a potential wear point? Maybe wrapping the rack rails in inner tube would be good to act as a buffer? It would protect both the rack and saddle, and add to the vibration damping effects of the voile strap.

[@petesig93]

I've had this rack for about 14 years. No wear to any saddle rails. The nylon strap with the snapback buckle is really easy to fasten/unfasten and has never worked loose for me. A voile strap would be far too prone to stretchy bouncing and slower to fit.

[@dungeek2777]

Nice review like always, I love how you always point out the downsides of products while not taking away from the upsides. This product isn't for me since I only short commute (5km) by bike each way and this seems more for bike packing. Either way I watch all of your videos since they're so well written and I never know if there is a product you review that fits my use case.

[@Dave435l]

Just get one of those “wagging poop bags” you’re killing me 😂

[@greigs9384]

They still snap at the upper bar weld which had the tabs that go into saddle loops. I’ve gone through two now. Carradice need to up their manufacturing game for this item, they manage it with the bags.

[@grahammitchell9415]

I got my B17, Carrimore uplift and Chossy saddle bag in 1977 for my 16th birthday. Used the combination for years on club runs and commuting . Back in the day it never came with a strap so I used a toe strap around the saddle rails. Still got all 3 items although the Brookes has so many cracks I can't use it.

[@elPedro666]

Not to encourage you into a retro moneypit or anything... But I believe Brooks will fit new leather to your saddle frame (for a fee!) 😉

[@grahammitchell9415]

@@elPedro666 Thanks for the info. I however have a downer on Brooks as I wanted a B17 for a project bike only to discover that if you purchase one in the UK it has done a 2000mile Round trip from Birmingham to southern Italy for distribution purposes. An utterly ridiculous situation, so no more Brooks for me.

[@roddinandracin1153]

I love the touch of vintage on your bikes and style

[@happytrails1963]

So cool and like the price!

[@user-sg5rr7od5x]

Just pull the nylon otherwise throug the carradice, then around the seatpost and in the clamp. So you have fixed the carradice and you are able to tighten the nylon strap, if it has loosen a bit.

[@JakeLuke308]

A great idea if you have a Brooks saddle...luckily enough I do. I was skeptical about the Brooks at first, within a month I found it very, very comfy.

[@YoSpiff]

I recently bought the carradice quick release that clamps to the seatpost. I had considered this one as well. Like this one it sticks up in the back and after one short ride, I could not tolerate the bag and frame bumping my butt. I like to slide back and hated it. An alternative I have used is a cheap Sunlite front rack, which can be adapted to the rear as a bag support with longer rails added. This is designed to mount to cantilever brakes, but one could likely put some clamps on it to attach to seatstays.

[@Threestrand1]

I've had one for I think 5 years. I still use it. The only problem I've had wasn't with the rack, but with the tabs on my B17. They started bending when the bag was only at about half the racks weight limit. I've since switched to a Brooks Cambium and have had no problems.

[@SteveFullerBikes]

Seems like it would be VERY easy to create metal clips to allow that to work with the Restivus. In these days of premium priced accessories, the price is definitely right on it.

[@blouisconcept4]

Recently got back from a trip using this rack through some pretty rough technical terrain and definitely agree with the thoughts here. One other caveat I noticed is that the floating metal hook pieces for the saddle loops seem to 'dig' into the metal frame of the rack after going over the rough stuff, which I fear could lead to structural failure if taken through enough abuse. Definitely wouldn't recommend for those who like to do more off-road bikepacking (carradice's bagman is probably better suited for that), but that's not to say it's not a great solution for a traditional road/touring setup

[@GrahamAtDesk]

I've got this rack, and within the space of two rides it broke one of the saddle bag loops on my Brooks Cambium. This particular Cambium had a nylon base, so the bag loops were made from Nylon. I wasn't that heavily loaded, and had only been doing some very mild off-road riding. I've found it to be fine with the cast aluminium Cambiums, but it does dig into those a little. This style of rack was designed back when leather saddles with built-in metal bag loops were standard, and fits leather Brooks saddles perfectly (and there's no damage to the bag loops). To be clear, I really like it. You just need a compatible saddle. I use mine happily with aluminium-based Cambiums and Brooks leather saddles

[@elPedro666]

Looks like a pair of locator pins with a ~90° bend in them might be all that's needed to make it work with your style of aftermarket bag loops

[@23willturner]

Hi Russ, glad you are reviewing this it is a great product though not sure you have that fitted correctly. Webbing strap feeds through the loop at the back of your saddlebag and then round front of seat post to clip at the side so you can cinch it tight easily and then just unclip to remove bag with rack in one easy go. Then you can carry bag by top of the rack. Mine is just going for 10 day tour in France again as on the ferry and hotels the bag and rack are just a quick unclip whenever needed

[@Eric-Red]

I have nightmares thinking about swining my leg over the rack. Looks cool and I'm sure it has its place for some folks.

[@daftpeasant1519]

Thats slightly different to the original Karrimor rack I used back in the late 70,s to early 80,s, with a Karrimor saddlebag. Always held firm when rough-stuffing in North Wales or Northern England, but so easy to remove from your bike at cafes or Youth Hostels. My rack and bag are still in the garage somewhere.

[@ThalassTKynn]

Huh. I wondered what the saddle tabs on my bikes' seats were for haha

[@jat475]

It works very well indeed for me. The relative positions of butt and rack are not a problem in my case, though I can see how they might be for certain kinds of riding. I keep the rack more or less permanently strapped to my Carradice Super C bag and then attach bag and rack as a unit when I want them on the bike. It's a little more fiddly to attach this way especially when the bag is loaded., but still quickers than threading straps thru every time you want to remove the bag. Also the top rail of the rack makes a useful handle when walking around. Fast descents on gnarly surfaces will get bag and rack moving around quite a lot. So on a full day's ride I might have to re-tighten the strap a couple of times. I like Russ's suggestion of a more elastic strap. Will try this - hopefully will mean I don't have to retighten. One tip: the lowest crossbar which holds the rack out (against the saddle rails at the point where they bend into a horizontal axis) can give the rails quite a battering. So, I wrap the cross bar in quite thick layers of insulating tape at the points of intersection. This is effective and hardly visible.

[@philtomlinson8220]

Interesting, that was my thought exactly concerning the rack being in contact with the saddle rails.

[@freespeechoneeach]

i love the rack , it actually reassures me when my butt buts up against it. i also use zip ties instead of the strap as it’s permanently on my bike.

[@petesig93]

The number 1 value of this rack with the saddlebag is its quick removability 🙄 You have just killed that!

[@freespeechoneeach]

@@petesig93 it’s permanently on my bike i have no need to remove it. its actually been on 10 years now works for me 2 zip ties secure it better than the nylon strap supplied. my bike my rules. sorry if i offended the cycle police.

[@philipbyrne3037]

I run the reverse, a Karrimor bag on a Carradice support!❤

[@jasonconrad9212]

I think I need this!

[@WARDANT1]

I have one of these. I don't know if there is a recommended weight that the tabs can cope with, but I think users should be conscious of this, particularly if riding on a lot of bumpy terrain. The bag & it's contents will move a little & exacerbate the force on the tabs. I really like it. The seat post strap of the bag also straps onto the rack. I do think the webbing buckle is a little flimsy. Some people won't like the bag so high, but that benefits those whose saddle is lower in relation to the wheel.

[@christopherflint2074]

The manufacturer suggested weight limit is 6kg

[@VeloObscura]

Never knew that Karrimor made stuff for Carradice. I know that they had their own line of bike touring bags once upon a time and a long time ago I met a guy with some of them on his old Dawes Galaxy.

[@ZenoLee0]

feels like a better alternative is to use a Nitto M18 rack backwards

[@Primifluous]

Or the r14!

[@donnyo65]

I love my Carradice seat bags but use their QR rack which clamps to the seat rails. i use them on a brooks and on a Prologo saddle. I use them most days to take stuff to work. In this configuration it doesn't get in the way of your butt on the saddle - however, I am 6' tall so have the space between my saddle and wheel. i do think you could get away with the smaller bags and QR rack though.

[@tomhullbridge]

Unfortunately, my two Brooks Team Professional saddles I bought more than twenty years ago, didn't come with bag loops. I love my saddles. They are the most comfortable I've ever owned. However, the lack of loops means I can't use this rack. Such a pity.

[@Ey_up]

I have Professionals and have added Velo Orange loops. Works pretty well.

[@myat9913]

Great review! I'm keen to try one of these. In terms of it getting in the way of moving back from the saddle on techy stuff, looking at your frame for many riders it looks like it could be used on a dropper? Granted there isn't the clearance for shorter riders but I can imagine it would clear the tyre with my dropper at it's lowest and actually give more space to move. It also seems better than some other supports for droppers like the Bagman, which sits too low to clear the rear tyre.

[@josephfarrugia2350]

Very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very limited number of saddle brands that can use this. Cool concept IMO nonetheless!

[@petesig93]

You do appear to be fitting the strap the wrong way around. I fit mine so that the buckle is on the left, between the bag support and the seat post, not in behind the bag. That way it is much easier to unclip and remove the whole thing while the bag is fitted to the rack support.

[@alan12de]

I would wrap the restraining strap lower to the frame

[@zoarquail5102]

Off topic but… what are the levers and shifters on that bike? I like! I want!

[@calcagnolibero]

I’ve been a big fan of Carradice bags for decades and while I love the ingenuity and simplicity of the rack it doesn’ fit me at all. I want to be able to sliding my derriere back and out of the saddle in technical terrain and steep descents. I’m wondering tough if it could be used with some mods as a handlebar Camper support.

[@dreamcyclevancouver]

Hey Russ, try taping the inside of your. Dream bar for extra hand positions. Lemme know what you think. Also, did you try this rack with Brooks Cambium saddles?

[@PathLessPedaledTV]

It’s not recommended for Cambium saddles with plastic loops.

[@roydrink]

Ask me how I found that out… 😢

[@andygiametta517]

Is it just me, or would this rack be perfect if they just had two mounts to the seat rails instead of the fiddly strap?

[@benjames7290]

I’d be interested to see a comparison with the SQR uplift system - I’ve used that for a few years and found it generally excellent but it’s heavy and boxy compared with this much more economical design

[@PathLessPedaledTV]

SQR uplift sits lower and doesn’t protrude as much but requires more seatpost to clear the tire. This is better for shorter riders.

[@19quiz76]

Thanks, Russ! Can I ask which bike frame you’re testing the rack on in the video?

[@PathLessPedaledTV]

Sklar Super Something

[@oceanknight9]

Kinda reminds of jack the bike rack, in a good way.

[@TomLigman]

oh sure, release this video the day after I ordered a bagman support...

[@PathLessPedaledTV]

Bagman is great if you have longer legs.

[@sagehiker]

About $50 US. It is interesting and I have one bike it would be a nice accessory.

[@dpskiff2998]

I'm 73 and I would not get it for the simple reason, I'd have to swing my leg that much higher to get over that rack. That's the reason I got a triangle bag. A handlebar bag would be more practical, perhaps with a Jones bar.

[@lukewalker1051]

This rack is not only genius, many believe this rack design trumps the invention of the wheel, fire and the bicycle itself. It is certainly better than hiring somebody to run along side carrying all your stuff.

[@milesswanson8601]

Would this work with a suspension seat post like the cane creek eesilk?

[@PathLessPedaledTV]

Would work but prob not ideal.

[@jazzfan7491]

Whole industries grew up around the Brooks B17 saddle

[@seanpie5481]

Nice but gee whiz I’d have a hard time getting my leg over.

[@stevemakin7007]

Two things, do not use this with a cambium…. And look up John North, he was mr karrimor, and a legitimate legend in the off road world

[@NoZenith]

Why don't use this with cambium?

[@stevemakin7007]

@@NoZenith because the metal tabs snap the plastic loops on the saddle

[@NoZenith]

@stevemakin7007 oh! I didn't realize. I have the original Brompton seat and it has plastic tabs... I guess I made the Assumption cambium had more metal. Thanks for the clarification

[@stevemakin7007]

@@NoZenith the early cambiums did have an aluminium frame, but modern ones are plastic, I’ve heard of friends buying original versions from eBay just to get hold of the aluminium frame and swapping them in

[@NoZenith]

@@stevemakin7007 thank you. I was feeling crazy cause i REMEMBERED the aluminum 😅

[@niceup1177]

good stuff. what handlebar is beautiful, what is it?

[@PathLessPedaledTV]

Soma Dreamer.

[@niceup1177]

TY Russ! Keep doing what you're doing.@@PathLessPedaledTV

[@feedbackzaloop]

Somehow I already see it rubbing off seatpost anodizing and hear those tabs creaking. In general I'd say there is unfortunately no good way of mounting bags up from the toptube.

[@HeartPumper]

Anyone has an idea, how tall Russ is?

[@PathLessPedaledTV]

29 inch inseam. Height is irrelevant since it doesn’t determine saddle height.

[@HeartPumper]

@@PathLessPedaledTV True that! :) I was watching few of your bike reviews & was puzzled about the sizing.

[@Nicoya]

This is a really cool concept but I don't like the look of that mounting system at all.

[@cyclolenti4442]

Great rack. Also could you tell me what is the name of this beautiful bike in the video?

[@JimConnelley]

Interesting but doesn't appear sturdy to me.

[@PathLessPedaledTV]

Sturdy enough for road riding. Wouldn’t get rad with it.

[@pappydaddy7447]

Surprised about the direct metal rail against the seat rails. Should there not be some sort of rubber bumper between the two metal pieces? Like a rubber tube ?

[@PathLessPedaledTV]

The rack has a rubberized lining.