Thule Pack 'n Pedal Side Frames, Obsidian

Lightweight and very strong, excellent human engineering! Excellent product!!!

I bought these because they can be clamp led on and easily remove. I was afraid they might not be strong enough to hold the weight of large panier bags, but I decided to try them because they were made by Thule. After two weeks of daily commuting they’ve worked fantastic. No shifting or sagging and the quick attachment works great.

When paired with the Thule rack, these keep my side bags from getting into my spokes. One thing to consider before buying however it the total amount of weight you plan to carry. I exceeded the weight limit one time and the rack just rolled over and laid on my wheel. I had to remove some weight, and then check the tightness on the straps when I got home. I still have the Thule rack and might use it again on another bike when I plan to carry a lighter load.

So, I have been running full steam ahead into the e-biking world at full speed, and I'm having a ton of fun, but I am still pretty new. The first problem that I need to overcome was where to put my battery. After one failed experiment with a product that was never going to stand the test of time, I ended up getting the Thule Tour Rack, and while I think that rack is over priced, it does what I need it to do. Then, I found myself with this rack that could the battery, and a set of panniers. Seemed silly not to take advantage of that, so I got a pair, and I thought I was going to be fine without the side frames.... Well.... I wasn't. the first time I went to the grocery store for some groceries, the panniers fell into my wheel, if I had taken a second to think about it, I would have seen that coming. So, I'm not all that smart, fine, whatever. So I looked into this product and I saw the reviews saying it was flimsy and light and thought, you know, the rack is not supposed to be holding more that 20 pounds to begin with, and it's not really holding that weight itself, it's just keeping the bags from hitting the tires, shouldn't need a ton of strength to get that done, so I bought it. They're perfect. They aren't a military grade titanium alloy, they're aluminum and plastic, they're plenty sturdy enough to do what needs to be done. If you've already spend the outrageous amount of money on the Tour Rack (which mind you is the best option for a rear rack of a full suspension mountain bike) then the last twenty bucks for the side frames is a no brainer if you're going to use panniers.

The instructions were not totally clear, so it took me a little while to realize I had to loosen all the bolts in order to slide the top ones into place on my rack, but once I did, it connected securely and solidly.This went onto a full-suspension mountain bike, easily and quickly.No complaints at all.

These are absolutely necessary with the Thule rack. I prefer the side panniers, and this keeps stuff from hitting the wheels. They weigh almost nothing, so I strongly encourage you to grab these to go with the actual pack'n pedal rack.

The direction were extremely bare and did not show how to loop the straps to the brackets causing much unneeded frustration. After finally getting it on my bike and putting about 15 pounds of camping gear on the Thule pannier bag I was off... at least for a few blocks. Then the cheap plastic bracket cracked. Determined to not return it since I had spend about 2 hours getting it onto my bike I put a zip tie over it which held up well enough.I was off for a second time, getting several more blocks until the weight of the 15 pound pannier pulled the flimsy and flexible frame into the side of my tire which started rubbing rubber off it and destroying the frame and my tire. This thing is junk as much as I want to work.

Seems very well build, I have it 3 stars because It seems it will work on other bikes but not ebikes or at least not mine, which is pretty sad so I'm returning this and the panniers I ordered from thule