this rack is great! it exactly as advertised and delivered prompt delivery. I've used this rack on my gravel tours with great success. It's easy to install and fits disc breaks like a charm. I lined the horizontal supports with the rubber tubing to decrease the chatter for the panniers.
This rack is sturdy and well made, installed pretty easily (the screws lined up with the places they are supposed to on my bike), and works as advertised. I put some medium panniers on it to augment my larger ones on the back, for grocery shopping days. Now I can put all my groceries in the back, and put my clothing layers in the front when needed. That said, I thought I would like the low panniers, but now I think I would prefer them at least a bit higher. I haven't got into the rainy season yet, but when I do I think these are going to be subject to more splashing etc as low as they are. Anyway, it is a very good rack if you want this design. Also, it looks nice, and isn't overbearing.
The package arrived within a few days and was in great shape, all the bits were included and installation was pretty straight forward. I did read the directions (just for fun).
You just gotta love German engineering! The rack is stiff and the Ortlieb front roller panniers clip on easily and don't budge. I always like having my bags on the front, it makes the bike very stable on the road (be sure to balance the weight or steering pulls to the heavy side).
I tested on a 20-mile gravel ride and had no problems with about 8 pounds on each side. I can't wait for spring and a true bikepaking adventure!
Equipment - CoOp ADV2.1 with a rigid steel fork and disk brake and fenders. The rack doesn't interfere with the disk brake, fender mounts or access to the front QR.
Bought this front rake on sale. So glad I did. There are front rakes and then, there are TUBUS front rakes. Been using it since I bought them. ( few months) Paired them with the smaller Ortlieb panniers. Absolutely zero sway with the bags. The front actually seems more stable. I believe the front bar that loops over the tire really helps. Get this! I only use the front panniers in the city now. I feel more secure that I can look down and see my bags and NOT turn around every once in awhile to make the rear bags didn't fall off. The installation was a piece of cake on my Salsa Marrakesh.
Not cheap and may not come with exactly the right hardware for your bike, but it works, and it stands up to real front end loads.
I have an old Centurion 15 speed 27in that needed a front low rider. This rack is strong easy to install and is LEVEL on the fork! The light mount hole on the hoop is making me use some creative ingenuity to mount a handle bar light to it, but I will succeed!
Tubus makes great products. The Tara is well-made and sturdy, with enough mounting flexibility to work with a number of fender permutations. There is a mount at the apex of the rack for a light, which I was unaware of in prior versions. Works great with my Ortlieb Sport Rollers.
Great low profile, strong, easy installation
I bought this rack to replace an heavy expedition grade rack that was just too much too lug around and too hard to take on and off. The Tubus is light, strong, and easy to take on and off. It's just right gory old Trek 520.
Was easy to install. It's light and really sturdy. I like the way my bike handles with just lowrider panniers in the front and a smallish seat post bag when touring or on shorter bike camping trips. Kind of expensive but they seem really well built.
Installed the Tubus Tara Lowrider Front rack on my Salsa. Easy installation and fits well, although bars not perfectly level. Tilts about 12 inch from front to back but bags secure and dont move. With the disc brakes a bit tight fit, so I have to completely unscrew end of quick release to remove wheel. Not a big issue and I am very happy with the rack.
Ortlieb gravel panniers fit nicely. Also was able to mount a light on the top of the rack.
I'm very pleased with this rack. It's totally bombproof and handled a recent bike tour with no issues whatsoever. When I ordered it I had two major concerns 1. Will it fit my narrow 90s-vintage Trek 520 fork? 2. Will it be compatible with my Burley pannier set that I bought as an inexpensive front pannier set. Both issues turned out to be no problem at all. It mounted just fine on the fork even though the specs called for a wider spacing, only slightly flaring front-to-back with the upper rail parallel to the ground. The Burleys fit perfectly with just the right spacing between upper and lower bars. For me this was well worth the price!
I'm using this front rack on my gravel bike. It held up my Ortlieb panniers in rough trails securely with no issues.
My experience has been exceptional. The product arrived when it was supposed to, in perfect condition, and at a price significantly lower than Amazon Prime. I had a question of fit to a 2017 Specialized Carbon Diverge and your customer service provided with an accurate e-mail response to my Will it fit? question. Easy to install and remove. Stable when front gravel panniers are filled.
Installed this rack on my wife's new Trek 520 Disc, and it went on easy around the disc brake with no spacers or customization needed. That was not the case for the rack I put on my own 520 Disc a couple years ago. Frankly, it's hard to understand why these racks are so expensive, but even so I am considering getting another for my own bike now.
I am getting ready for bicycle touring this summer. The tubus tara lowrider front rack is perfect ... light but strong and a great value. I had used another front rack on a trip last year but this was too heavy and did not get my panniers low enough. I should have gone with the best on the first purchase
I replaced my Surly front rack with the Tara Lowrider, and so far am happy with the decision - the rack is less than half the weight than my Surly. The rack is solid, and I can easily fit my Ortlieb front roller panniers on it. I will clearly need to play around with the positioning of the bottom clips on the panniers (the angles to get them engaged with the rack are more limited than on the Surly racks).
I did have an issue with getting the rack plus fenders installed. In my case I ended up needing to get a new quick release lever that would fit with the hardware and still function - for someone forgoing quick release levers for the locking variety, this is not an issue).
Only other minor complaint was aesthetic... on my Disk Trucker, the horizontal bars are not quite parallel to the ground. I played around with all possible installation points and it's just not possible (gave up after reading that this is a common complaint with the rack).
The Tubus Tara Lowrider Front Rack fit my 2008 Fuji touring bike like a glove and it works great with my ortlieb panniers.
I highly recommend the front rack.
