Carbon seems to do something to bicycle manufacturers’ brains. I don’t know if its off gassing or fiber weave induced hypnosis, but there is something about carbon that makes builders of perfectly good bikes and components do wacky things in the name of this aerospace material. Not that carbon does not have perfectly reasonable applications, but come on guys, get a grip.
This weeks nominee for Dumbest Product of the Week, the Axiom Streamliner Carbon rear rack, takes us to a silliness we’ve not seen since Bontrager graced us with a $250 rack capable of carrying nothing. Fortunately, the Streamliner Carbon does not fall into that level of uselessness with its marginally acceptable 55 pound weight limit. However, I think anyone who buys this is going to feel like a complete doofus when they realize they’ve paid a $167 premium over the aluminum version of this rack to which hauls twice the load. Plus, the carbon rack is actually heavier than the aluminum one! To paraphrase Meatloaf, “I’d do anything for carbon, but I won’t do that.”
Axoim: Another victim of the hypnotic siren song of carbon.
What’s also stupifyingly amusing about this product is that it is under the Axiom catagory of “rear low profile aero racks“. There are many adjectives I can come up with to describe rear racks (sturdy, useful, Fredish) but aero is not one of them. I’ve watched every minute of The Lance Chronicles, and not once did I hear Lance say, “You know what would really crush Jan Ulrich in the time trial, Johan? If we had a rear rack on my TT bike. Let’s get in the wind tunnel and test that thing!”
Wake up guys! You can’t make a bike rack cool by slapping some carbon on it. Racks, like floss and seat belts, should work well but never aspire to be cool. Attempts to do otherwise yield overpriced, under performing crap like this. Stop trying to hide the fact that racks are dorky, but useful. Embrace the Fred and know you can actually haul stuff on your bike.
All this talk of performance utility components getting me thinking about the commuter/time trial bike I designed last fall using online design program at Pedal Mafia.
Hmmm. If I could just make this in carbon, I might have something.
Enjoy your weekend, and get out and ride your bike.
Read the previous week’s Dumbest Product of the Week.
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on Feb 15th, 2009 at 10:08 am
It’s actually even dumber than you claim – their “Tracker” rack weighs even less, carries more, and is cheaper than the aluminum version of the “Streamliner.”
“Tracker” PR says “Stronger and lighter than competitors’ racks costing – twice as much…” What they don’t say is “Stronger and lighter than our OWN racks costing – SEVEN times as much!”
on Feb 15th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Good one, Steve A!