Vanity, thy name is Tubus!
When I bought my Raven Tour, I got a Tubus rack with it - primarily for aesthetic reasons. They do look pretty damned cool! I really wanted all the trimmings to be a silvery finish, which ruled out the Thorn racks. I almost went for a Blackburn rack (which would have matched the rest of my bits better), but Blackburn was a little too pedestrian for me.
And I've really liked my Tubus rack for the most part, that is, until I bought an Altura rack-top bag. I was convinced that the design of the bag was flawed, since it's meant to be secured to the rack with two straps underneath and a couple velcro flaps on the front end. But because of the narrow top of the Tubus rack and lack of a "stop" at the front of the rack for the velcro to attach to, the bag cannot be secured properly without the ingenious use of bungee cords, which I have now mastered.
Only today, when I strapped the bag to the £15 Pletscher rack on my utility bike did I realise how it's supposed to work! With a nice wide rack surface and a flip-up bar at the front end, the bag is securely fastened.
It's too late to turn back now, and I do love the look of the rack (I also really like the lower bars for mounting panniers), so I'll have to make do with my bungee arrangement for the bag... Next time, though, I'll go with Thorn!
Andrew
