Ortlieb Rack 3 pannier rack

Ortlieb's Rack Three is a great option if you own (or you're looking at) the company's QL3 system bags, but it's a good all-round option even if you're not. Albeit a pretty expensive one.

Ortlieb trumpets this as 'The ultimate bike rack!' and although I wouldn't go that far, it's a well-thought-out and solidly made bit of kit. Constructed from 10mm aluminium tubing it's reassuringly heavy, and is suitable for bikes with any size of touring wheel.

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Ortlieb has designed the Rack Three in conjunction with its bags and as such it has three protruding stubs on each side designed to be used with the company's excellent QL3 system, which offers simple quick-release bag mounting with no protruding hooks on the bag itself. Ortlieb makes a range of bags with QL3 mounts; they're more city-orientated as the QL3 system majors on its ease of use and neatness, but the weight they can carry isn't as much as a traditional hook-based system.

If you're using a more standard pannier with hooks then you can remove the QL3 mounts, and the rack offers two mounting rails, with the lower one dropping the bags so you can fit a tray or basket to the rack top. The Rack Three is compatible with the MIK system: you can drop in an adaptor to accept any MIK-equipped bag, tray or basket. That makes it pretty versatile for the weekly shop. 

There's also a light mounting plate on the back that'll accept most standard dynamo lights.

Mounting the rack is easy enough, with a bottom mounting hole for the dropout and two adjustable arms to reach the seastay bosses. The arms are a sturdy tubular design rather than a pressed steel strut, and I found the rack easy enough to fit on a range of sizes of frame, although on one bike with a small frame it wasn't possible to get the rack level, as the seatstay mounts were too far for the struts to reach.

One thing to note is that the bottom mount hole is recessed in a cylinder, which means that if you're fitting both a mudguard and the rack to a single mounting point then the mudguard has to go between the rack and the frame; this isn't ideal because it places more stress on the bolt. I didn't have any issues during testing, but I wouldn't trust that arrangement on a heavily laden tour, for example. It's rated at 30kg so it's more than capable of handling expedition loads.

Some other racks (the Blackburn Central, for example) have a secondary threaded hole on the rack to attach a mudguard to, which is a great idea.

It's also a bit odd that Ortlieb has chosen to extend the mount out from the rack instead of moving the rack arms outward a bit and having the mount inside them, to give more clearance for disc brake mounts and the like. That being said, I fitted it to two disc-equipped bikes – one with a seatstay mount and one inside the rear triangle – with no issues.

> Beginner’s guide to carrying stuff on your bike

In use I couldn't really fault the rack: it's easy to fit, it's very solid and it doesn't rattle at all. If you're going down the QL3 route with Ortlieb bags – and that system is very good – then it's an obvious choice. If you're going to fit standard bags then there are other racks – the Blackburn I've already mentioned, and the Tortec Epic, as another example, that'll offer similar carrying capacity for a smaller outlay.

If you're not fussed about top bag compatibility so much, the Madison Summit – now rebranded as the M-Part Summit – is probably the best value for bigger loads.

> Buyer’s Guide: 17 of the best racks and panniers

The Ortlieb is very versatile, though, and well worth a look even if you're not getting the dedicated bags for it.

Verdict

High-quality rear carrier that's especially good when used with Ortlieb's QL3 bags