Aeroe Spider Rear Bikepacking Rack – Review

Sarah’s a self-dubbed ‘minimal faff gal’, so she grabbed herself the simple looking Aeroe Spider Bike Rack for bikepacking adventures and we got the lowdown on how it held up.

 

Supporting our friends across the ditch, I was curious to try out Kiwi brand Aeroe’s Spider Rear Rack on my most recent bikepacking adventure.

The lure of the easy set up and removal, plus the ability to flip this rack from one bike to another and use this on frames without mounts (like my dual suspension mountain bike) called to me.

I’m not one to simply buy into marketing hype, but Aeroe’s line: ‘The world’s most friendly bike rack and carrying system’, really does live up to its name in my experience so far.

Design & Size

I’m a minimal faff kinda gal, and having previously run a rack on a gravel bike which was a permanent feature because of the time it took to install, I was really interested to try this easy on/off solution. 

As someone who is a little challenged when it comes to leg length, as much as I’d honestly rather not run a rack because of (arguably) shallow aesthetic reasons, the reality is, I can barely squeeze a saddle bag onto my bikes because of the lack of room between the saddle and my chunky tyres.

Likewise, I’m super limited on my dual suspension mountain bike (a Cannondale Habit carbon 1), which isn’t designed for racks and doesn’t have any mounting points. 

The Spider Rack seemed like an obvious fit.

Ease of Use

I’ll admit when I first opened the package, I was amazed at the simplicity of this rack.

It’s essentially a case of adjusting four bolts and Bob’s your uncle — the rack is mounted on your frame.

I did have an issue with the cradle attachment initially being super stiff to remove, and not wanting to damage it, I slid into the DM’s of Aeroe via Instagram, only to receive a really quick and friendly response and my issue was sorted.

There’s something heartwarming about purchasing from a brand who can offer such a personable service. 

You can also pick the angle and orientation of the rack shelf. Tilt it. Keep it straight. Run it at 90 degrees to your saddle or keep it in line.

Simply strap on your tent or a dry bag of your gear and you’re ready to roll.

Likewise, once your trip is done, loosen the four bolts and the rack is off — so simple.

Aeroe do also offer the option to add mounts/cradles to each side of the rack so you can extend its carrying capacity to bags across the top and on either side of the rack if you really want to load it up (they say it’ll carry up to 16kg of gear).

The cradles come with nylon straps so you can easily buckle in your dry bags or gear and all told it weighs in at 979g (or 641g for just the rack). 

Price & Portability

I bought this online for $190AUD, which places it in a very reasonable middle ground of what I’d expect to pay for a rear rack.

The diversity of it being able to be used across any of my bike frames certainly adds to its value. 

I can see this solution working really well for similarly vertically challenged people; families or friends looking to share a rack easily between bikes and also mountain bikers looking to push their bikes a little further on overnighters, while still being confident they can shred single track with a secure rack system. Once it’s on, it’s solid.

Final Take

In a nutshell, I’m stoked with the simplicity and effectiveness of the Aeroe Spider Rear Rack and will also happily be loaning it to my friends who reckon they can’t join me bikepacking until they have all the bikepacking gear they need.

Read: A Beginners Guide To Bikepacking Bags

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High-fives all round and one for the Aeroe rack too. @mattiejgould

Sarah purchased the Aeroe Spider Rear Rack at full price and produced this review voluntarily. Why? Because she loves quality gear and helping others find it! You can follow Sarah’s bikepacking adventures here: @allthegearnaeidea