Hey, I just received the Ortlieb Quick-Rack L. My plan was to strap a 35L drybag to it on my upcoming bikepacking trip. However, now that I received the rack, I notice the top platform is really narrow.
Has anybody used this rack with a dry bag etc on top? What are you experience? Does the dry bag stay stable on top of the rack or should I opt for another rack?
by Philosofen
15 Comments
https://de.ortlieb.com/products/dry-pack
I guess strapping it like this doesn’t work?
I got this light weight wood that’s durable. Not incredibly strong but I liked it had some flex to it. Easy to cut to shape. I put some holes in it and zip tied it to my rack. I stacked two of them on top of each other. ratchet straps are a strong cheap option. The bungee straps allowed the cargo to move around to much.
https://preview.redd.it/y3ysph8vl35f1.jpeg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=72f7f6ccba7a8d1730610eb63152f93abf0dfe67
you got the normal version, the L and the XL version, they are bigger
You’ll have to test in real conditions before.
I did like u/jalapeno_hot_wheels , with thin marine plywood (not on a ortlieb rack – mine was not long enough).
How I did it:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/bikepacking/comments/1k8b5bk/comment/mp4w3wo/](https://www.reddit.com/r/bikepacking/comments/1k8b5bk/comment/mp4w3wo/)
In situation:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/bikepacking/comments/1et7xqe/straw_bales_strike_again/](https://www.reddit.com/r/bikepacking/comments/1et7xqe/straw_bales_strike_again/)
No problem, as long as you strap down the drybag tight enough. Ortlieb offer a drybag especially designed for rear racks. You could also close the rolltop around your seatpost for more stability maybe.
35l is a huge for a dry bag tho. Wouldn’t really go bigger then 20.
I think really big dry bags are intended to go sideways and be supported by large panniers on each side.
https://preview.redd.it/wz9k7ma3145f1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2294ec93f0a5219300e187f920730ecad9a75249
Worked really well for me with a lightweight hiking tent and two normal sized bags. I guess a bigger bag would still be possible even for me.
Biggest I’ve put on a rack thus far is 20L. A riding partner had a bigger S2S bag, maybe 30 or 35L. I have no experience with a quick rack but I wouldn’t go bigger than 20L personally. The thing is a 20L round bag is significantly more usable space than my 17L seat pack. If you need more panniers are an option
I didn’t put it lengthwise but I put it over small panniers. (Front rollers) Must’ve been about 10-15ish liters.
OP, i think you got input, and really i think you have to test it. but what are you bringing? if i add up liters of all my bags i would not get to 35L,
Youtuber/bikepacker Tristan Ridley used to use a tubus vegas rack with rok motorcycle straps. On top of that he used a backpack which was around 35 liters. If I am correct both Tubus Vega and Ortlieb quick rack have a platform which is 10cm wide. Is the L also 10 centimeters wide and is it longer than the standard version? Anyway that setup worked for him so I guess it could work with this rack too.
when i go bikepacking w my kids i put two small panniers on it and a 35l backpack on the top. it works well if i strap the backpack sideways on it, from left to right, so that it sits on the panniers. but jea, 35l is big
I just did my first Bikepacking trip with this rack and a 20 liter dry bag and it worked fine. But next time I will put a thin piece of plastic between the bag and the rack to keep it more contained and less wobbly on the rack. I used kayak straps that went all the way around and they were difficult to get really tight. So after my trip I just bought a pair of Voile rack straps that should work better. As others have suggested you can probably make it work fine, but try it out before your trip.
https://preview.redd.it/iiszbplp355f1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=050d0fb2223b98b3da4f95acab4d03de8a313a2b
https://preview.redd.it/34a16dr8955f1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c354b641c5d43e5bbfd2c2f50f9b95da68ca38e3
Here’s my Quick Rack (regular before they came out with the new L models) with a cot and tent poles in a bag on the trunk portion. No idea about volume but this was already a bit longer than the rack platform and diameter-wise I could have gone with a slightly bigger bag but not by much.