Velo Orange Utility Rack & Bar

Wildfire affected Sunset

 The Utility Bar and Utility Rack combination from Velo Orange I have been given to test and review (Standard Disclaimer) has been ridden plenty so far, even with a load, and this short post will be an update on my first impressions so far.

Oh, and I replaced the tires with Maxxis Ardents. So if this looks weird compared to what you remember, that may be why. 

The water bottle mounts got a mention in the comments from the last post about these parts. So, even out of the saddle pedaling is fine. I have no issues with knees hitting anything. I think everything is mounted high enough that this is not an issue. That's with 180mm cranks too which would send my knees in a larger arc than 175's would. 

Full water bottles kind of threw me for a little bit of a loop until my mind adjusted for them and now I have no problems with the weight there. I also strapped on my Pelican case for my Rodecaster Pro unit and took that a couple of times over to N.Y. Roll's home and back for recording podcasts. It was great to slap on a couple bungees to hold the case and just haul it over there. I thought that the weight up so high might prove to be a handful but with the Utility Bar's wide span I had an easy time adjusting to that and I think that a handlebar bag with a sleep system or food would weigh similarly, so I see no issues with bikepacking with this rack and bar. 

Obviously having the water bottles there is nice. So all in all? Yeah, I think I like this set up. Sure, the handlebar is pretty heavy, but it rides great, and well, I should not have any issues with the rack being bolted to it in terms of failures or being too flexy. I maybe could see a bolt failing at some point, due to corrosion, but that would be a negligence issue, I think, not a fault of the design. Otherwise, this seems to me to be a solid set up. 

I have a line on a bag for the rack, but it may take a little time as it is a local, private seller and he is busy and it has to be taken off a bike before I can get my mitts on it. In the meantime, I may have something else to use for a bit. Stay tuned.....