The Old Man Mountain Impala Lowrider Rack may well be the last word in fork-specific bike load lugging. It can be fitted to (almost) any bike, and will carry almost any pannier, bag, crate or box. With a 25kg load limit, this is a continent-crossing bit of kit – with a price to match.
US brand Old Man Mountain knows a thing or nine about carrying stuff on bikes. Headquartered in Bend, Oregon, in certain circles of bikepacking it holds a position similar to that of Le Creuset amongst foodies.
The similarities with robust, expensive French cookware don’t end with reputation. Old Man Mountain kit is built tough, and comes with a lifetime warranty – which really matters, when it may well be subject to being battered over many tens of thousands of miles of awful terrain, carrying the equivalent weight of a small-ish child.
The Impala Lowrider is – by definition – not the ideal rack for twisty singletrack. Carrying panniers low down, centered on your axle, means they are perfectly lined up to catch trailside rocks or plants, so the Impala is better-suited to routes comprising cycle paths, gravel roads and wider singletrack.
Without getting deep down a rabbit-hole of bicycle geometry and handling: the lower you put a load on a bike, the better – especially on the front wheel. We’ve all experienced wheel ‘flop’ – the tendency for your bars to turn by themselves to the left or right when not moving. Add weight and it gets worse. Shift that weight higher than the axle or further forward, and the effect is even more pronounced. So low and centred on the axle is best. That’s what the Impala Lowrider rack promises.
The Impala Lowrider is designed to fit over 26-29in wheels and up to 2.3in tyres, including mudguards. Old Man Mountain has been generous with the sizings, so depending on where you want to place the dropouts, you could go over an even fatter tyre without mudguards.
Arriving flatpacked in a lovely box bedecked with instructions, the Impala is every bit a premium product. Old Man Mountain specialises in fitment to any bike, so a veritable plethora of options are available when you order, from different through-axle options to a quick release mount – whatever.
For axle mounting, you need an Old Man Mountain through-axle by sister company, The Robert Axle Project. This is built with protruding studs that the rack’s ‘dropouts’ fit over, and are then bolted to. This is why it can reliably hold 25kg – because the weight is supported by the axle.
A Robert Axle Project axle will set you back roughly £55-75, depending on size and spec. That needs factoring into the overall price, meaning you’ll be looking at between £250-£270 for the Impala Lowrider axle-mount system, depending on what you need.
If you don’t want to use an axle mount, the Impala can be mounted on fork dropout eyelets. But beware: the dropouts need to be rated to support the weight. Be sure to check with your manufacturer – especially if your fork is carbon.
You have a number of options to get the perfect position for the Impala – up/down, fore/aft, and as the top deck is slightly asymmetric, flipped (or not) front-to-back to clear cables and other stuff. Suffice to say, this is an enjoyable process, experimenting to get the best possible fit. All the nuts are nyloc self-locking ones, with plenty of washers provided. Nothing is skimped on here.
Once you get the rack centered over the wheel and bolted to the axle or dropout eyelets, it’s time to secure it in place. That’s by way of two ‘extenders’ that bolt to your fork’s cargo-cage eyelets. The extenders are simple pressed metal arms with a hole at one end and a slot at the other. Because your fork will be inboard of where the extender bolts to the Impala rack, you need to spend a bit of time judiciously bending each end into a very mild ‘Z’ shape using a vice or some large grips, to ensure the ends sit flush with your fork and the rack. In practice, this takes longer to type than to do.
Should your fork not have cage eyelets, Old Man Mountain sells ‘puck’ fit kits, which are blocks that you zip-tie to the fork (after first installing protective tape) to which you then affix the extenders. This is not overly tidy, but it’s perfectly serviceable.
Suffice to say, once properly fitted, you can pick your bike up by the rack – it’s that solidly fixed in place. Which brings us to mounting stuff.
The ‘Lowrider’ part of the name directly refers to how low down you can mount panniers. The lower horizontal rail in the middle of the rack is a standard 10mm, meaning it will fit almost any pannier you can think of, including quick-release ones from the likes of Tailfin. The vertical centre bar the dropouts bolt to serves as the retainer for the lower half of your pannier. If you need to loop straps under the bottom of the rack, there are two downward-facing prongs to prevent straps from sliding fore or aft.
Unlike most pannier racks, the Impala has a solid top deck, allowing you to mount and carry baskets, crates, bags or drybags. The 14mm side rails allow straps to be looped under and over the deck, so you can easily strap things down and have the straps stay put with the load removed. The deck also has holes drilled at each end, allowing lights to be mounted. The solid nature of the deck makes for a good anti-spray mudguard as well.
Keeping heavy panniers low around the axle greatly improves handling and stability to the extent of taming skitterish steering at high speed over rough surfaces. The loaded Impala rack made my bike feel planted and sure, even when doing 50km/h down sketchy fire roads. On twisty singletrack, steering didn’t feel overly heavy either, as a result of the mass being close to the wheel’s steering axis.
Once the Impala was set up, removing and refitting took a few minutes with a hex key and four bolts – two on the axle and two on the fork eyelets. The nyloc nature of every nut meant nothing budged, and not a squeak or rattle was to be heard. The Impala with matching through-axle fit kit may well cost over £250, but it’s an investment in your bikepacking future that grandchildren will likely still be enjoying long after you’ve pedalled off to the great bothy in the sky.
There are many low-rider front pannier racks – notably the likes of the Tubus Tara, Salsa Down Under or Blackburn Outpost – but they all rely on strong eyelets for mounting.
Ortlieb’s Quick Racks are closer in function in that you can opt to fit them over a dedicated axle – but they are rear-only and therefore aren’t that low anyhow. Old Man Mountain’s Impala Lowrider therefore finds itself in a class of one in that you can fit it to pretty much any mountain, gravel or road bike, QR or through axle; with or without dropout or cargo eyelets; and it’s quickly removable, rock solid and capable of carrying 25kg.
Yes, it costs a wee fortune – but as they say up hereabouts: “Pay once, greet* once” – then you’re golden.
*Weep, cry, express fluid from one’s eye in remorse, happiness or whilst chopping odorous vegetables.
Test Report
What does the manufacturer say about this product?:
The Impala Lowrider is an ultra-stable rack designed to carry heavy loads on gravel, paved roads, and wide trails where navigating through large rocks and tight bushes is not a concern. The extended side frames with extra low pannier rails carry the weight of panniers on the wheel centre instead of 6” above it like a standard rack, such as the Divide. This dramatically lowers the bike’s centre of gravity and provides ultra-stable handling. Unlike most other lowrider racks on the market, the Impala has a cargo platform above the wheel, keeping your gear easy to access without cluttering up your handlebars
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of this product:
The Impala Lowrider fits up to 29 x 2.3 inch tyres.
Front specific.
Carries panniers over the wheel centre.
Height adjustable to fit a wide range of tire and wheel sizes.
25kg load capacity. (18kg on pannier rails, 7kg on the deck)
Weight: 1124g
Made from 6061 aluminium, the racks are lightweight, stiff, and strong.
The main rack frame is made of 1/2″ (13 mm) diameter tubing for durability, and the pannier rails are 3/8″ (10 mm) diameter to fit all panniers.
The deck measures 6.3″ x 10.5″ (161 mm x 266 mm)
The deck includes slots for easily lashing gear in place and holes for mounting a light.
The Impala Lowrider comes eyelet mount ready, with optional fit kits available for thru axle or QR mounting.
Powder coated in a sleek and refined shade of black
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested?:
No comparison really, as there’s no other front-mounted rack that can sit on a through-axle. If you include the plethora of eyelet-only pannier mounts, it’s rather expensive in comparison.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Possibly
Would you recommend the product to a friend?
With caveats
Use this box to explain your overall score
Only marking down on price – and that’s a biggie, no mistake.
About the tester
Age: Height: 183cmWeight: 80kg
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1 thought on “Old Man Mountain Impala Lowrider Rack”
“Old Man Mountain kit is built tough, and comes with a lifetime warranty – which really matters, when it may well be subject to being battered over many tens of thousands of miles of awful terrain, carrying the equivalent weight of a small-ish child.”
Obviously it depends how the manufacturer applies its warranty, and OMM might be great – but worth noting that “lifetime warranty” is often less generous than it initially sounds – it’s the reasonable lifetime of the product, and only warrants against manufacturing defects. So being battered over tens of thousands of miles is not necessarily going to be covered.