Tubus Fly - Classic vs Evo?

[vimtoboy]

Hi all, it's my first post here, please be gentle

So, I'm looking to buy my first rack, for light weekend touring, as well as commuting... The Tubus Fly seems to fit the bill, carries 18-20kg, shouldn't look too out of place on my 'Cross bike when not in use, etc. etc... however, it comes in two different variants, Classic and Evo. I've tried to search for it, I can't seem to see the real differences between them - the Evo seems to take an extra 2kg, & have '3D Feet' - but not really sure what this means? I have a Kinesis Crosslight FiveT (2012, non-disc - this one http://road.cc/content/review/60850-kinesis-crosslight-fivet) set up with Mini-Vs, & planning on getting a set of Altura Dryline 32s to use with it, if this makes any difference... can anyone shed any light on which I should be going for? Incidentally, they're both available from Rose bikes for around £36 plus postage right now, bit of a bargain

Many thank in advance for assistance!

 

[Pale Rider]

There's a Tubus Evo rack on my Rose bike.

Excellent piece of kit, sturdy, well up to heavyweight touring as well as lightweight.

Not sure of the exact model I have, but you won't go wrong with a Tubus rack specced for the job.

 

[Bodhbh]

I've used both the Tubus Logo and the Tubus Logo Evo. They're nearly identical, although the Evo is a slight improvement (lower bottom rail for lower centre of gravity, and a stop prevent the pannier shifting about on the rail). Looking at the Fly / Fly Evo, there's even less difference between the two - they are identical bar the "3D feet".

All the "3D feet" means - and it seems a bit like a mistranslation from German tbh - is that the rack has some spacing in-built to where the rack screws into the dropouts so it clears any other clutter down there, i.e. mudguard mounts. At least that's what I assume the reason for them is. The disadvantage with the 3D feet is that they rule out using the racks with the Tubus disc brake adaptor (the one that lets you mount via the axle quick release). If you have no intention of using with discs, you may as well go with the Evo model. If you have a look at the dimensional drawings on the Tubus website it's probably easier to see what I mean:

Fly
Fly Evo

Either way, they're great racks: bombproof and look good. The only problem I can see, is the Flys are really designed to be used with small "front" panniers, and I'm not sure how they'd take to the 32l Alturas.

 

[MichaelW2]

Fly also has a narrow top (for better aerodynamics) which reduces overloading capacity a bit, if you need to carry tent/mat/bag outside your panniers, or you want to haul a12-pack of Andrex.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

The 3D feet on the Evo look to be improvement on the "2D" feet on my unevolved Fly. Tubus make excellently engineered products and are not know for hyperbole or BS.

And my unevolved Fly is a thing of beauty which demonstrates that form can very elegantly follow function. At the prices shown grab one while they are hot.

EDIT: A word on panniers. I use(d) my Fly with Ortleib backrollers classic. Proper rear panniers. They work perfectly with a Fly rack. As does an ortlieb dry sack strapped atop them. But not for camping no.

 

[vimtoboy]

Wow, thanks all for the swift responses & useful input! Sounds like the Fly Evo is the way to go then (cheers Bod), as I have no plans to switch it to another bike. Heel clearance had been a bit of a concern, but if they'll take Ortleib BR Classics (thanks Greg) I can hopefully make it work with the Dryline 32s as well.

Re. carrying things on top of the rack, I realise it's not really designed for it, but I do have a lightweight Tarptent I'd planned on carrying there... it's 46cm long, so there'll be some overhang - but only 10cm in diameter, & 1.3kg, so hoping I'll find a way to bungee it on there! Everything else should fit in the panniers

 

[willem]

This is a three point rack. Does your frame have a brake bridge you can fit the front strut to? If not, there is also the Vega rack, that is marginally heavier, marginally wider and has four connecting points. Other than this, Tubus racks are excellent.

 

[MichaelW2]

If your bike has 4-point mounting with frame eyelets, you should use them.

 

[TommyM]

I've used both the Tubus Logo and the Tubus Logo Evo. They're nearly identical, although the Evo is a slight improvement (lower bottom rail for lower centre of gravity, and a stop prevent the pannier shifting about on the rail). Looking at the Fly / Fly Evo, there's even less difference between the two - they are identical bar the "3D feet".

All the "3D feet" means - and it seems a bit like a mistranslation from German tbh - is that the rack has some spacing in-built to where the rack screws into the dropouts so it clears any other clutter down there, i.e. mudguard mounts. At least that's what I assume the reason for them is. The disadvantage with the 3D feet is that they rule out using the racks with the Tubus disc brake adaptor (the one that lets you mount via the axle quick release). If you have no intention of using with discs, you may as well go with the Evo model. If you have a look at the dimensional drawings on the Tubus website it's probably easier to see what I mean:

Fly
Fly Evo

Either way, they're great racks: bombproof and look good. The only problem I can see, is the Flys are really designed to be used with small "front" panniers, and I'm not sure how they'd take to the 32l Alturas.

Hi! I'm in the process myself of choosing between the Tubus Logo classic and Logo evo for a custom built surly troll with disc brakes. From what I can see the Logo classic also has the low bar to lower the centre of gravity. Will this rack, as opposed to the evo work on this set-up?

 

[Bodhbh]

Hi! I'm in the process myself of choosing between the Tubus Logo classic and Logo evo for a custom built surly troll with disc brakes. From what I can see the Logo classic also has the low bar to lower the centre of gravity. Will this rack, as opposed to the evo work on this set-up?

I don't have a Troll, so not particularly qualified to comment - however, the whole point of them is they have braze-ons galore for every event and the disc mounts are on the chainstay to allow you to run racks without fouling the brake caliper. A Logo classic should fit no problem. I'm slightly less sure about how the 3D feet on the Evo would work with their funky dropouts (which have changed on their latest model). I would maybe ping Surly an email if you wanted to use the Evo.

 

[Profpointy]

I have their titanium airy rack and it's great. For your purposes the slightly heavier and a lot cheaper steel one would be excellent as the ti one is bling appeal really, not that I regret the extravegance. I was initially put off by the talk of it inly being for small front type panniers etc but it it holds my ortlieb (i think) classic panniers without a problem even with rather more weight in them than they recommend. eg 3 PCs and a load of books across two panniers.

I'd definitely get one that attatches seperately to each seat stay rather than a single stay as it'll wobble less. You can use p'-clips for this even if you don't have the drillings on the frame.

 

[Profpointy]

If only they had made provision for a light.

well I've got a light on the back of mine

 

[Bodhbh]

I have their titanium airy rack and it's great. For your purposes the slightly heavier and a lot cheaper steel one would be excellent as the ti one is bling appeal really, not that I regret the extravegance. I was initially put off by the talk of it inly being for small front type panniers etc but it it holds my ortlieb (i think) classic panniers without a problem even with rather more weight in them than they recommend. eg 3 PCs and a load of books across two panniers.

I've put full size panniers on one of those and loaded em up without flex, but it's not really ideal. The rails aren't long enough to space out the holding clips much and you can forget about lashing gear to the top. Then again it's not really for that so it's all a bonus.

 

[Profpointy]

Does yours have a plate for a light? Mine doesn't.

no, but the light came with a little bracket which clamps onto the rack

 

[Profpointy]

I've put full size panniers on one of those and loaded em up without flex, but it's not really ideal. The rails aren't long enough to space out the holding clips much and you can forget about lashing gear to the top. Then again it's not really for that so it's all a bonus.

Agree. Whilst it was fine, even carrying full panniers, I-d have bought the full sized one if I'd envisaged touring proper