Velo Orange There and Back Rack Review

With releases from Tailfin, Restrap, and Old Man Mountain continuously elevating the standard for modern racks, bikepackers are spoiled for choice when it comes to loading up their bikes. Though plenty of worthwhile traditional racks have been around for ages, modern systems and their versatility have pushed the envelope on the kinds of bikes that can haul a load and how they do so.

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With Velo Orange specializing in gear more in line with classic bike touring, the new There and Back rack looks to strike the balance between a traditional aesthetic and modern functionality. Over my six months with the rack, I used it on several bikes and took a few short trips to see whether it is as versatile as its namesake suggests.

Specs

The There and Back rack features a 102 x 270mm platform split into two rectangles on top. With long, fixed support struts that bolt onto the bike through one of four bolt holes, another tube splits off in a “U” shape to support the rack’s rear. Both tubes have built-in three-pack mounts and a crossbar, plus a small, elongated attachment at the bottom of the “U” for panniers or as a waypoint for straps and other bags. The rack also has a set of adjustable struts that attach to mounting points on the bike and are secured in a vertical slot once the nuts are tightened. The fixed-length, adjustable struts have bends at their ends to better fit different bikes.

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The rack itself is made of stainless steel, which Velo Orange says has greater fatigue strength than aluminum, meets its aesthetic goals, and requires minimal processing to ensure corrosion resistance. Though I’ve never used a stainless rack before, my time with the There and Back didn’t introduce anything out of the ordinary, aside from impressing with its flex and strength. The material has a strong “memory,” returning to its original shape after being bolted into different positions across three bikes. There aren’t many other stainless steel options on the market, but it’s a material Velo Orange uses on most of their racks and one they say they’re quite happy with.

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The rack weighs 640 grams—a tad heavy relative to other options—but considering its flexibility in mounting position and modularity, it’s a fair tradeoff. It comes in black or silver, includes all necessary hardware, and uses M3 bolts for the attachment points and three-pack mounts. Although the height is adjustable by selecting the appropriate bolt hole at the end of the support strut, the overall rack height is 380mm, with a 35-pound weight limit. The load capacity sits at the lower end of the racks listed in the Rear Bike Rack Index, but it’s consistent with the load capacity of those that use a similar attachment style and tubing width, such as Tumbleweed’s Chromoly T-Rack and the Protostudia Y-Rack.

Compatibility, Intention, and Ride

Perhaps the most interesting element of the There and Back rack’s design is the adjustability built into the main support struts. Not only does it off four positions, but the flex built into the struts makes it compatible with a number of different bikes and, perhaps more importantly, tire sizes. Provided the bike has the appropriate bosses near the bottom of the fork blades or rear dropouts, the rack fits in at least one position on most modern bikes. I’ll get into my critiques of the attachment system later, but the flex in the struts made it possible for me to run the rack on burly, boost-spaced bike.

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Without using the lowest hole on the support strut, the rack maintained 2” of clearance between the top of the tire and the bottom of the lower platform. With about 1.5” of horizontal clearance, securing bags and passing straps through the rack’s sides remained comfortable and safe. The only issue I encountered was that the adjustable struts attaching to the tops of the seat stays were slightly short. Maxed out, the top of the rack doesn’t sit level and is slightly tilted. Still completely functional, especially when running my strap-oriented South City Stitchworks Love Handles, I experienced no issues, but it’s worth noting. Given their standard size, you could buy longer struts to level it, but I haven’t tried that. For reference, it sat level with plenty of room for adjustment on my Surly Midnight Special. Strut length was only an issue on the longer, lower rear stays of the boost-spaced bike.

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Mounting the rack to the front end of a bike was relatively simple as well. On my Crust Nor’Easter, the fixed vertical struts attached to the lowest mounts and the adjustable horizontal struts offered a few attachment options. Though the 29 x 2.4” clearance of the Nor’Easter made it awkward to get the strut length exactly right while installing, I eventually got it into place, and it’s been without issue since installation.

While Out Bikepacking

In use, the rack worked great. It was solid and stable once attached. Nothing came loose on rough terrain, and it has held up well in my tests during overnighters and with various bags and gear. The upper platform is a good place to stick a pair of camp shoes or a sit pad, while the three-pack mounts work great for bolt-on panniers, a Manything Cage, or just some extra water storage. The system’s height keeps it out of the way while still supporting all the attached items. It’s also nice to have a threaded rear light position on the backside of the upper platform.

The biggest boon on the There and Back Rack is the set of four parallel three-pack mounts. Not only do they provide tons of storage space, but their orientation also allows for a variety of gear configurations. Speaking with lead designer Clint Boyer of Velo Orange, he even suggested using the parallel mounts horizontally and said he had great success doing so. It’s not something I see value in, as the vertical use allows for a small dry bag and a water bottle on one side, but it offers creativity and versatility when needed.

My preferred use of the top platform is with systems like the South City Stitchworks Love handles. It makes good use of the platform’s size and can have smaller items, like shoes or pads, stacked beneath the item the roll is wrapped around. The only issue with the top area is when it’s used as a front rack. Because it doesn’t have a small, tombstone-like stop at either end, the distance between the platform and the headtube is anxiety-inducing when running something like the Swift Zeitgeist because the space between where a bar-mounted bag rests and the headtube is too large. Theoretically, the bag could be secured to the end rail with some zip ties or straps, but there’s limited clearance with a 29 x 2.2” tire as is, and it’d be preferable to either have it sit closer to the headtube or have a more pronounced, raised stop to rest on. The Nor’Easter’s fork rake might have contributed to this issue, but it seems consistent with other bikes I’ve seen the rack used with.

Just One Thing

To that end, my main critique of the rack is with its claimed versatility. It’s a nit-picky critique, but if I had to find some issue, it’s that the There and Back works better in the rear than it does off the front. Issues with running a large, top-loading bag aside, the load sits quite far in front of the bars, and even on a low-trail bike like the Nor’Easter, the rack’s load made handling noticeably more problematic in use. I got used to it, but I think the rack’s design and load capacity make it far more suitable for the rear. It’s nice that it can be mounted at the front, but I’d venture to say most people will use it as a rear rack.

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The long, slotted attachment points on the vertical struts also tend to collide with other portions of the bike, like the rear of the Primos Mono’s recessed dropouts, the UDH hoods of the Otso Fenrir, or just the pronounced front thru-axle of the Crust Nor’Easter. It’s hard to call this a con, though, as these are made to be clipped and trimmed. Obviously, it removes some versatility when cut. Still, it’s nice they’ve built that sense of customization into the system, and it would resolve the issue of colliding with protruding ends on most bikes.

• Model Tested: Velo Orange There and Back Rack, Black
• Actual Weight: 640 grams (22.57 ounces)
• Place of Manufacture: Taiwan
• Price: $165
• Manufacturer’s Details: Velo Orange

Further Reading

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