I'll add a data point here, being an owner of Tubus, Nitto, Velo-Orange and Racktime (Tubus' low-end) racks.
I have a broken Tubus Fly. It's a black chrome-moly version and it broke at the weld. Yes, I was trying to bend it to fit it to a wider dropout but still, it wasn't a tandem 145mm. It cracked at the weld and Tubus did not answer any of my emails. So that tells me two things: Tubus customer service is non-existent, and Tubus racks are not terribly lenient of manhandling. Perhaps it's a weld/HAZ defect or perhaps it was me being a klutz. I guess we'll never know. What I *did* expect was that it would bend rather than crack, as with all my Nitto and Velo-Orange racks. Those did not crack at the weld or anywhere else when subjected to the same or even higher displacement adjustments. Sample size is one though. All my rear racks are strong enough, even when I occasionally piled onto the racks heavy iron/steel discs (used car disc brakes) to deliver for recycling. Even my (intact) stainless Fly was pretty solid. I only have Nitto and Velo-Orange front racks and these aren't really stressed, with the heaviest cargo being my "randonneur" type front bag loaded with food and supplies. The Velo-Orange racks appear to weather usage the best likely because they are polished stainless steel. There appears to be minimal markings even at the pannier clamp areas. The painted Tubus and Racktime racks have "bald spots" as the supplied protective tape peeled off (useless adhesive) and usage resulted in beausage. No rust though, but then I live in California. The stainless Tubus and Nitto racks look fine (I have both chrome and satin versions of the Nitto) but they show more beausage than the VOs even though they probably see less use. Overall and in summary, I hesitate to buy Tubus racks again, simply because of the crack of my one rack and the non-responsiveness of Tubus. This despite the rack's light weight and (to me) attractive minimalist design. The Nitto racks are very *very* attractive and well-made, but expensive and relatively heavy. (I swear I'm not a weight weenie!) They're also as functional as any other rack. I'll buy them if they are the appropriate purchase, if for nothing else than their beauty. The VOs are probably my best buy for racks, at least for my usage pattern. They're cheapish, light but unfortunately also have small platforms. So they're not terribly appropriate for big panniers. For example, my Ortlieb Office bag isn't the most stable on the VO constructor rear rack. However, when used with the appropriate bags, they're tough to beat for value even if they're not the prettiest. Cheers, Benz Sunnyvale, CA On Saturday, April 20, 2013 7:05:47 PM UTC-7, Patrick Moore wrote: > > On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 7:54 PM, Mike Schiller > <mikey...@rocketmail.com<javascript:> > > wrote: > >> The Nitto racks are stronger > > > Again and again, I am not trying to be annoying. Can you give the > particulars of the evidence that show that Nitto racks are stronger than > Tubus racks? > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
