We’re testing out the spanking brand new Bindle Rack from Portland Design works. I’m a big fan of the Dave’s Mud Shovel fenders from PDW and I have a set for all my fat bikes. I personally think they’ve got another hit product in the Bindle Rack.
The rack itself is solid and simple. The packaging includes a rubber strip to go in between the rack, a patch, a set of stickers and an extra set of longer screws in case you have some sort of freakishly girthy seat post. I was able to get by with the shorter set :-(. The screws to adjust are easily adjustable with your 5mm trail tool.
Sing it to yourself “Patches & Stickers, Patches & Stickers…”
The straps are rather lengthy and have little square rings that loop around themselves so they aren’t loose and getting tangled up in your wheels and such. I really like the buckles because they have a little cam type level that allows you to easily tighten the strap after it’s already been buckled. I was a little concerned that these might pop open while riding on the trail but after about 20 minutes of single track, the straps were still tight.
Cam Buckles
Strap Keepers
Two of the straps are designed to go through the saddle rails so you have 2 points of contact holding your gear between the seat post and the seat and the third is at the top/back most edge of the rack. I only put on strap through the saddle rails and the thing didn’t budge. I don’t (yet) have the recommended Terrapin Dry-bag by Revelate Designs, so I pulled out a growler and headed over to Karben4 to fill ‘er up before hitting the trails. It was very easy to strap the growler down tight enough that there was no side to side sway. What’s even better is how easy it was to get the growler off of the rack. Some times when you really secure a load it takes a little time to untie and unstrap and un-mingle all the tie down crap that you tied off. Not the case here, just three clicks and I was inside to pick out a post ride refreshment.
All in all… I give the PDW Bindle Rack 5 Gnomes. Its simple, its solid and it helps you get beer to the trail. I recommend you roll down to your LBS and have them get you one. If you’re still not allowed in there for making bad choices on group rides and wearing spandex on the poker run, you can get one here: https://www.ridepdw.com/goods/cargo/the-bindle-rack or you can get it with the revelate design bag here: https://www.ridepdw.com/bindle-rack-with-terrapin-drybag
Nice solution for those of us tight for space between wheel and saddle – I can’t use a large seatpack for this reason. Also provides a good place to mount a SPOT tracker