Surly Racks are well-thought-out, durable, expedition-worthy racks that work with most panniers. While their racks aren't limited solely to heavy duty touring, that is what they were designed for.
When you're out on the road, the best option is to never ever have anything ever go wrong ever. Right? That's never a guarantee though; so having something that you can repair if it does brake can be pretty clutch. Thusly, the main bodies of Surly's front and rear racks are made from tubular CroMoly steel with stainless hardware. This means you can probably find someone out there that can torch it back into one piece in the rare instance things go south.
The front Rack is height adjustable and provides either a low or high pannier mounting position, which can be handy depending on terrain. When the ground gets rough, keep your gear high and dry. When the path is smooth and easy, you can load things low and keep everything balanced and stable, with the platform above the wheel providing yet more space for more stuff. It's worth mentioning the Front Rack hardware has been redesigned to be simpler to attach and more compatible with things like disc calipers and fenders. Surly have also made attachment plates specifically for our Uni-Crown forks for yet more fork compatibility. This simpler design has fewer moving parts and costs less to manufacture, ergo costs less for you to purchase.
The Surly front rack WILL work with disc brakes on our Troll, Ogre, and Disc Trucker frames. It may take a bit of work to get clearance around the front caliper since the many different calipers out there are many different shapes. The new attachment plates will limit any DIY ingenuity you might need, but if you need to throw a washer or three behind the lower left bolt where the plate attaches to the fork dropout, that's not a big deal.
Front Rack specifications:
- Tubing diameter: 10mm
- Platform dimensions: 230 x 170mm
- Weight: 1382g