Review on Ibera PakRak Commuter Bicycle Carrier by Ken Reed

I recently bought myself and my wife two Mongoose mountain bikes for city trips. She has the smaller 24 inch model and I have the larger 26 inch model. Since the idea was to be able to use them for commuting, local markets, and general recreation in and around Minneapolis, the idea was always to get a rack to add the bikes. This review is for my wife's bike. I also posted a review of my bike using the larger (but similar) IB-RA1. The problem, however, is that like many mountain bikes, the Mongoose has independent rear suspension. While it's great for potholes, cobblestones, curbs and ridges; Its presence rules out any possibility of installing a more classic style bike rack with bars attached to a real wheel hub. These Ibera single-post units perfectly solve the problem by only mounting to the frame of the seatpost (or the downtube of the seatpost itself). Mounting the device on my wife's bike was easy, but since she has height issues the main consideration was finding a way to mount the device with minimal lifting of her seat. For me this was solved by removing the seatpost clamp and using an Ibera post clamp that served as both a support for itself and a seatpost clamp. The added benefit of this approach was that the Ibera yoke is actually much stronger/sturdy than the original "quick-release" yoke that came with Mongoose, and since it uses a hex bolt to secure the assembly there is none Chance that someone- It will use the quick hitch to use the seat and rack while the bike is parked at the local market. For those who are concerned, the rack clamp easily accommodates the bike's larger 31.8mm downtube (and likely fits a little more). Once installed and used as a combination seat/post clamp, the post is exceptionally stiff with little to no flex. Despite being rated at 22 pounds I have no doubt it could hold a little more if secured in this way. And since it's only attached to the seatpost/downtube, it doesn't interfere with the actual wheel's independent suspension (provided the post is mounted high enough to not interfere with rear wheel travel, which in this case was about 4 inches). between horizontal strut tube and tire) The strut itself is made almost entirely of high-strength aluminum and looks as if a motorcycle could outlive it. Clips on the post itself. Although the plastic appears to be of relatively high quality, I'd be curious to see how well they hold up to life with an Ibera Mini Pannier (IB-BA6) being regularly snapped in and out. One thing I've come across is that this rack really is best used for smaller bikes. In this case, while the rack fit my wife's 24" Mongoose, it was a bit small, as intended. /short for my 26" Mongoose unit. For larger bikes, I would consider the IB-RA1 model instead, which offers more adjustability and looks more balanced on a large bike frame. Overall, this is a great solution for our needs, and me would recommend anyone with similar issues to check out this rack.