Well, I think it's all done. The last things I needed to do to put the finishing touches on our Calfee Tetra Tandem before doing a final first year wrap up were:

a. Installing the rear disc and making sure it worked properly; it's been magnificent: check!
b. Customize and install full coverage mudguards for "use as required"; they've worked out just fine: check!
c. Finish trimming it out for tours with a rack and luggage: as of tonight, check!

The rack and luggage arrived today from the UK and I couldn't be more pleased. I started doing my homework on racks and luggage in mid-November and after checking out the usual sources here in the states I decided to see how the pricing was at some of the European Etailers. I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled onto the Wiggle site and found the Tubus racks and Ortlieb panniers I'd been looking at priced well below anything I'd found thus far even in light of the strong British Pound.

So, on November 26th I decided to pull the trigger with Wiggle and ordered up a Tubus Fly rack for £37.58 ($56.01), a Tubus QR Kit for £16.47 ($24.54) as I knew I'd have to monkey around with the rack installation to accommodate our short rear stays and the rear disc and set of Ortlieb Back Roller Plus panniers for £79.65 ($118.72). The icing on the cake was "free shipping" and, as it turned out, no sales tax or duty. My order arrived yesterday, December 1st, which is really amazing.

Although the photos are pretty awful, you can see the rack and panniers installed on our Calfee in the images attached to this posting. Like most things that I do, the Tubus Fly rack installation is a bit of a customization. In addition to cold-setting the rack to fit around the stays on our tandem, I modified the Tubus QR mounting brackets so that I could use them to position the rack whereby my rear disc would fall into the rack's "crotch". I also had to install a set of fairly wide nylon spacers (they came with the QR kit) to get some extra clearance between the rack and the disc. Finally, I carried over a trick from our Erickson travel tandem for mounting the front rack stay to the tandem whereby an extra seat post clamp is shimmed and trimmed so that it can sit on the seat post and function as an anchor for the rack.

All said and done, I'm really happy with the installation. I'd thought about buying the Tubus Disco rack that's designed to work with disc-equipped bicycles; however, Wiggle didn't carry that particular model and I just wasn't sure it would work as designed given where the rack mounts are on our Calfee. Therefore, I rolled the dice and hoped that with a little farm-boy engineering I'd be able to get the Fly to work and, well, mission accomplished.

The Tubus racks and Ortlieb bags are really pricey, even when they're deeply discounted as they were at Wiggle; however, the engineering, materials, fit, and finish are superb.

Once the weekend rolls around I'll try to take some better photos out doors; however, until then these indoor shots will have to suffice.
Attached Thumbnails

I will, but let me note that under normal circumstances I would have opted to go with and would probably recommend anyone with a rear disc consult with a Tubus dealer before buying their rack. I suspect a dealer would likely recommend using the Tubus Disco rack which is designed to accommodate rear disc installations, with or without one of the [URL="http://www.tubus.com/index/lang/en/rubrik/Spares%20and%20Accessories/"]additional rack mounting kits[/URL]. The following is the Fly side-by-side with the Disco:

[IMG]http://www.biketrailershop.com/catalog/images/fly.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://www.biketrailershop.com/catalog/images/tubus_disco.jpg[/IMG]

I opted to play around with the [URL="http://www.tubus.com/pics/600/2008_05_20_15_36_11_4.jpg"]product drawing for the Fly [/URL]and made some assumptions on the size and bolt-hole placement on the QR mount kit relative to where the rack mounts are located on our Calfee (see attached photo at bottom of page) before rolling the dice with the Fly rack. For a tandem like a Co-Motion Speedster, I suspect the rack mounts are in a more traditional location which would lend itself better to the Disco's design. Frankly, if I thought the Disco would have bolted up to the frame that's probably the rack I would have used; however, I suspect I would have had to use the QR skewer mount kit and that's why I went with the fly.

Moreover, to make the Fly rack work I'm not using the QR mount kit the way it was intended (photo at left, below) and, in doing so, have given up a little bit of the QR kit's robust design (i.e., that bracket is at least as strong as any rear drop-out I've ever seen; I burned up a drill bit just enlarging two holes). Note how in the following photo I've got the QR mounting bracket flipped 180* and that I'm using the extension bracket's QR skewer hole as the attachment point for the rack, with one of the two rack attachment points being used to attach the bracket/rack to our tandem's rack mounts.

[IMG]http://www.tubus.com/pics/600/2007_08_09_12_06_36_5.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=88182&d=1228283106[/IMG]

Final Note on the Ortliebs: At first I really didn't light up when I saw the Ortlieb panniers. The roll-top design wasn't what I'd expected and they aren't as "tidy" as what I'm used to. However, the more I worked with them the more I began to appreciate how purpose-built they are. The attachment system is very slick and they're definitely built to be waterproof vs. water resistant. Anyway, all said and done, I may pick up a second set of panniers that are a bit smaller and have more access points / pockets for use on day trips and/or make a platform for the Fly rack that will allow me to use our Highlands trunkbag on it for the same purpose. I'm definitely keeping the Ortliebs for future touring, but I'd recommend anyone who hasn't put their hands on a set before attempt to do so before dropping some big coin on them, particularly the ones like ours with the roll-top design and what they're really looking for is an alternative to a trunk bag for day trips. Again, it's a great design once you take time to appreciate it; however, it's really a different approach... at least to me.

[IMG]http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/images/products/7154ortleibrollerplusblue_l.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/images/products/7154ortlieb_alt1.jpg[/IMG]

Something like the Ortlieb Sport Packer Plus would have probably been a better choice for my primary use.

Yeah, I was blown away and then doubly shocked when everything arrived on my doorstep in no more time than it normally takes for a domestic Etailer to fulfill an order. I keep waiting for a second bill from customs or some such; however, if memory serves I didn't pay duty when I purchased my HAC4 from another firm in the UK either. We'll see: guys in black suits may still show up at my door demanding some type of tariff or duty.

I should probably note, Wiggle seems to offer all kinds of discounts for all kinds of different reasons. There was a basic discount on their already low pricing for the rack and the panniers of something like 10%, and then I passed some magic threshold that made me an instant 'Gold' member which garnered another 5% discount plus free shipping. So, there's a huge incentive to be loyal since there's a lot of instant gratification going on vs. some of the 'clubs' that US etailers are using. I'll probably pick up another set of bags... either the Ortlieb Sport Packer Plus or the smaller 'front' roll-up bags. The Arkel stuff has a lot of nice features, but the Ortlieb retention systems and other technical details really add a lot of value to their products. We'll see. Still more homework to do before I pull the trigger again.

[QUOTE=swc7916]All of the Ortlieb bags that I see around here are the Classics rather than the Plus - Why did you go for the Plus bags?[/QUOTE]

It was a combination of things moreso than just one compelling reason: I like the ligher weight, more pliable nature, non-gloss and non-PVC characteristics of the Cordura outer shell and the QR2 system seemed to be a little more refined / user-friendly than the QR1. That and the "classic" bags just reminded me too much of the roll-up bags we used for paddling and sailing.

Just a final, parting shot. I've purchased a lot of bicycle stuff over the years from Blackburn, Topeak, and a variety of other manufacturers. However, it's really amazing to see how these German firms have designed, engineered, and fabricated these products. The hollow tubing that makes a Tubus a tubus and the use of watersports technology in the design of the Ortlieb bags is just brilliant in it's simplicty. Nice stuff... but again, not cheap even when you do find it deeply discounted. Of course, the good stuff is expensive for a reason: you buy it once.

[IMG]http://www.therandonneeshop.com/media/13/medium/Sport_Packer_Plus-Black.jpg[/IMG]