Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
Designed by Thorbin Atwell-Donaghey in Colorado, the Orbiter Rack is an interesting steerer tube-mounted handlebar cradle that rotates on two sealed cartridge bearings beneath the stem in order to remain stationary relative to the handlebars. Check it out here…
Photos by Mikaela Nichols-Lionetti
Inspired by his time on the Grande Traversées du Jura (GTJ) in France and the European Divide Trail, Thorbin Atwell-Donaghey set out to design a handlebar cradle that would reduce the amount of front-end flop while navigating technical trails. His solution was to make a system that doesn’t rotate with the bars. The patent-pending Orbiter Rack is a unique steerer-tube-mounted cradle that sits on its own set of bearings between your stem and headset, allowing the handlebars to rotate independently from the rack—similar to how most cargo bikes are designed. With the load fixed relative to the handlebar, Thorbin claims the Orbiter Rack improves handling, frees up space on your bars for lights and other gadgets, and cleans up cable routing.
The Orbiter Rack appears to be universal, which should make it compatible with most bikes. All you need is a standard 1.125″/28.6mm steerer, a threadless headset, and at least 1″ of clearance between the bottom of your stem and the top of your headset. The Orbiter then takes the place of standard headset spacers and is fastened to the frame (to stop rotation) with a Voile strap alongside an integrated rubber foot. Alongside a machined aluminum T-brace, this disperses the load off the Orbiter bearings and onto the frame, prolonging their life and use. Two mounting arms accept an interesting tool-less detachment mechanism designed specifically to accept a machined 4×6″ PALS panel, offering 29 different potential bolt-on points for any type of accessory or bag, and should easily adapt into an existing setup. The slots on the PALS panel are positioned for MOLLE-equipped gear—an attachment standard that has been in use for decades in military, overland auto, and hunting applications.
The Orbiter and all of its components are machined in Colorado from 6061 T6 Aluminum sourced from a Colorado metal supplier. The entire setup weighs just 288 grams and costs $215 USD. Learn more at PedalStoke.com.
Further Reading
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