Lightweight pannier racks

[Daviddavieboy]

 Is anyone making a carbon rear rack for carrying bags like the tailfin ?  I did a bit of searching but found none and the prices for the OG are close to $1000 CDN shipped.

[Sebastian]

I’ve been looking for something like this too. The only thing I found is this guy on YT who build a custom carbon rack from generic carbon tubing and aluminium lugs from Aliexpress: https://youtu.be/sLK4O2Unjhk?si=iatf4-5MGEQP6NVW

[mirphak]

I have asked several sellers over AliExpress extensively about this. They don't seem interested. Pity because I think there is a market... They can produce them in carbon very cheap and there is basically no competition in western economies except for the pricey tailfin (which I am not going to buy among other things because I live in the Canary islands with special tax system and they refuse to remove the VAT, and not going to pay taxes twice...).

[Wet Noodle]

The only thing I found is this guy on YT who build a custom carbon rack from generic carbon tubing

Just adding: If anyone wants to go DIY with cf, keep in mind that cf is about as abrasion resistant as a cookie. With conventional panniers which will inevitable move around and jump while you ride, you'd want to consider some kind of barrier between the hooks and the cf.

I use thin-walled PA12 tubing on my aluminium rack, slit lengthwise and clipped onto the rack where the hooks go (especially the lower contact point(s) and hook on ortlieb type mounting systems can be nasty). If the rack's tube ends remain accessible (as could be done with the method shown in the video), one could just "open" the rack whenever the plastic tubing needs replacing (but from what I can tell so far, on my rack, it'll last for a loong time). On another forum someone suggested tightly wound spiral cable wrap. Whichever way, there will be a weight penalty, but you can still get a really lightweight rack compared to metal.

Another option might be a conventional more minimalist rack like the tubus vega or fly (still at least half a kilo, though).

[Sebastian]

Even Tubus steel racks will look awful over time if you don’t wrap them. I use a bit of butyl inner tube and wrap the rack specifically where the panniers go so the contact points don’t rattle and move at all. Works fine.

[kbernstein]

Have also been looking for something similar.. The only non outrageously expensive or heavy is from zefal, but it's still 80 euros and 750 grams. Surely someone could do a LOT better. Crazy how tailfin doesn't really have competition

[Takiyaki]

A lot of Chinese brands are still making 440mm handlebars. The low cost brands seem stuck in a time warp

[Tijoe]

I've been looking as well for a lightweight rear rack that doesn't brake the bank.    I haven't found any carbon or ultralight racks being sold on Aliexpress.   
I gave up and decided to modify an existing inexpensive aluminum rack.  (Purchased a $12 USD one from Aliexpress)  I took an aluminum rack and lightened it up some by milling out some of the center section.  I have the rack down to about 8oz.  Then I made/machined  my own side supports out of Aluminum and was able to get each support down to about 3 oz each.   Total weight is just under a pound.
I plan to cut off the center and front side rail supports

The most expensive part to date was purchasing an "Old Man Mountain" thru axle with rack eyelets on it.  this added a couple more ounces to the bike.  (The price is silly for such a simple design, but I didn't want to machine my own version.  (Time is money scenario)

Now that I viewed the video of the carbon rack that was posted here, I will start planning to fabricate a similar one.

[Sebastian]

That’s what I did, too. I modded a cheap aluminium front rack for canti brakes to fit my disc fork. I cut off half of it. It was originally L-shaped with a part sitting in front of the headtube. I don’t really need that and structurally it does nothing. I never weighed it but it was around 250g originally. So this one should probably be somewhere around 200g or less. I usually have a custom rando bag on top of it.