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April 3, 2024
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We’re seeing more and more e-bikes with dual-battery systems or single-battery systems with capacities over 900 Wh – enough to allow almost anyone to ride from sunup to sundown. Once an e-bike overcomes range anxiety, some of us start thinking about a bike ride. The Aeroe Spider Rack is one of the freshest ideas we’ve come across in cycling touring.
The Aeroe Spider Rack features a modular design that offers users a surprising level of flexibility when carrying loads. Let’s start with the basics in our Aeroe Spider Rack review.
This luggage rack attaches to the seat stays of a bicycle with four straps (two per side). The design should result in minimal wobbling of the luggage rack. This means that even if someone doesn’t have mounts for a luggage rack on their e-bike, they can use this luggage rack. All installation and adjustment is done with a single 5mm Allen key, making setup remarkably easy.
Each rack includes a holder with tension straps. Up to two additional brackets can be purchased for rack mounting. For a cradle, the top position makes the most sense; with two, one per side makes sense and with three, all three locations would be used. Each mount can be positioned to face different directions to accommodate the frame design and rider pedal travel, leaving room for the rider’s heels.
One of the challenges of a traditional bike rack is that while it has three attachment points like the Aeroe Spider rack, it typically doesn’t offer much adjustability in positioning the bags, and furthermore the fact that the rider has to use dedicated bike bags like buying a set of panniers or a luggage rack. If you already own a stuff sack or stuff sack (or two) with the Aeroe Spider Rack, you don’t need to purchase anything else.
However, we opted for two of their 8 liter dry bags as ours are quite large and are more suitable for carrying in a canoe or kayak.
The cradle mounts – the part that attaches to the rack itself, not the part that the bag is attached to – can be rotated 360 degrees in 15-degree increments, giving the user exceptional flexibility. The cradle mount can also be rotated to accommodate the angle of the seatstays, a feature difficult to achieve on most traditional racks.
The advantage of Aeroe dry bags is that they have a reinforced panel with two recesses through which the carrying straps can be passed. This ensures that the dry bags can slip out of the holder if the straps are not tight enough. This means that as long as the straps are fastened, no bag will go missing.
The rack plus a bracket is relatively light: 979 g (2.1 lbs.); A second strap holder adds 338g to the weight. The 8 liter dry bags each weigh 233 g.
The only weakness we found with the Aeroe Spider Rack is that its rated weight is 16 kg (35 lbs.). It’s not huge, but it’s enough for someone considering an inn-to-inn tour. We are concerned that the brackets and straps could damage the surface of the e-bike. We recommend wrapping the seatstays with tape where the brackets sit to avoid damaging the surface.
Bicycle touring traditionally requires a significant investment; The driver must purchase panniers, possibly a pannier case and a handlebar bag as an entry fee. What we love about the Aeroe Spider Rack is that a rider can purchase the rack on its own and try out touring before making a larger purchase.
Using an e-bike for loaded tours is brilliant. We’re fans of anything that lowers the barrier to entry.
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