Old Man Mountain Axle Pack Review: Fork Cargo Reimagined
– Hey, everyone. Neil Beltchenko with BIKEPACKING.com. And today, we’re going to talk about these things. This is the Old Man Mountain Axle Pack, which is a clever solution to adding eyelets to your fork when your fork doesn’t have eyelets. I was able to test this system out on a recent Bike Packing trip in Arizona, and in this video, I’m gonna share my thoughts on how they worked. So let’s just get right into it. (upbeat music) All right, so before we dive into it, I just wanna take a quick moment to let you all know that
this video is supported in part by 1UP USA. 1UP combines superior materials and craftsmanship with a keen understanding for what you need to get your bike and gear to your next adventure. Whether you’re an enthusiast, weekend warrior, or pro cyclist, the result is simple, durable, no hassle racks and accessories that you can trust will last for the long haul. No matter where you ride, your bike deserves 1UP USA. So to learn a little bit more about their made in the USA range of bike racks and accessories, you can click on the card in the top
right corner. You can also find the link in the description below. All right, so the Axle Packs are made out of a 6061 aluminum. And as the name might
offers one less installation hurdle. All right, so the Axle Packs are slotted as you can see, and that definitely cuts down on weight, and they come with four different mounting positions on each side and also six bolts to mount bottle cages or cargo cages to the upright. So the lower part of the Axle Pack actually fits really nicely inside the fit kit axle and mounts using the provided hardware. So the Axle Pack also comes with the provided hardware to also fit into their axle fit kits, which is an additional part. So if you’re not familiar
with the Old Man Mountain fit kits, the fit kits are thru-axles with eyelets built into them so that you can mount a rack on a bike that isn’t made for racks or these Axle Packs. Each fit kit comes with a specific axle that fits to your fork. The fit kit also comes with pucks for bikes and forks that do not have upper eyelet mounts. It also comes with clear protective tape for those pucks to kinda sit on and protect the fork or the frame, and super strong zip ties to attach the pucks to the bike
or fork. Old Man Mountain has a super easy fit kit finder on their website, making searching for the right axle really seamless. Fit kits will run you in additional 80 USD and are not sold with the Axle Packs because, well, there are far too many axle types out there. All right, so the Axle Pack takes a unique approach to an issue that has been a topic of conversation among bikers for some time now. How can I add more cargo on my fork? The Axle Pack is mounted in two different spots, one via the axle and
one via two heavy duty zip ties that I was talking about attached to those pucks on the upper part of the fork’s lowers. This means that the weight mostly sits on the axle itself and is secured to the upper part of the fork. This certainly differs from fork or cargo cage mounts like this, which are often mounted on fork lowers where the bushings often sit, which does offer a risk of prematurely wearing of the fork bushings if tightened down too much. So you can find more about this in our findings in our Bike Packing with
Suspension Fork article, which is linked below. But the Axle Pack totally negates this issue as a whole, and with this design, there is no fear of the load slipping or spinning on a fork leg. That said, the Axle Pack is heavier than most clamp-on fork systems, especially once you kinda consider all the added weight of the fit kit as a whole. And in fact, the axle alone, it’s two times heavier than this axle right here that actually comes with the bike. And I even drew some blood trying to tighten down those heavy duty zip ties.
So some folks might not like the overall look of those pucks on the fit kit when the Axle Packs are not in use or those one-time use zip ties. But beyond the initial installation, I actually found the system to be super easy to install and uninstall and use overall. So I was using the Axle Pack on this Pivot Mach 4 SL that I’m testing and it worked really well. Now, I’m definitely not one to add a bunch of weight on my fork. Typically the most you’ll ever see up there is probably some water bottles, which
is what I used for this trip, but the Axle Pack proved to be very helpful and stable. And when I actually first got a hold of these things, I was like, wow, this thing is super solid, really stiff. That definitely translated to them being used. That being said, you could throw so much more weight on these Axle Packs instead of just the bottles I threw on there. You could throw cargo cages, whatever. The Axle Packs actually have a weight capacity of 10 kilograms or 22 pounds. So I ended up mounting the bottles in the upper
position. But if I had lots of weight or wanted to add Old Man Mountain’s kind of proprietary mounting system to these or Ortlieb fork-packs or something like that, I definitely would’ve moved the weight a little bit further down on the Axle Pack just to kinda help keep that weight a little lower to the ground. And while I do appreciate the mounting options, I do wish there was an angled option specifically for bottles as it would be easier to kinda reach down and grab the bottle and it just would definitely look a little bit cleaner. All
right, while there is no fear of having things spin, you do need to, of course, make sure everything is tightened down and not loosening up. But because they use the split ring locking washer to connect the system to the axle and a locking nut, it definitely remained tight and secure over some very rugged miles along the Arizona Trail. And while I only tested the Axle Packs with a suspension fork, it certainly is a great candidate for say a newer gravel suspension fork or another bike without eyelets like a bladed carbon fork. And it’s truly an
excellent solution, not only for the mounts, but it helps not put stress on a part of a fork that might not be built for it. So despite some initial installation frustration, I was really impressed with the Axle Packs and they worked out really well over my test period. And while I certainly didn’t use them to carry too much weight or even cargo cages for that matter, the versatility certainly does not go unnoticed. The Axle Pack is made in Taiwan, comes with a lifetime warranty and costs 60 USD for the pair. However, you do need the
$80 axle fit kit to work with it, so $140 for the whole kit. So what do you think about the Old Man Mountain Axle Packs? Let me know in the comment sections below. As always, thank you all so much for watching. If you like what you saw in this video and wanna see more like it, hit that subscribe button and notification bell. And if you wanna help support us a little bit more, you can do so by signing up for the Bike Packing Collective. The Bike Packing Collective has a lot of awesome perks, including industry
discounts, monthly giveaways, and the twice yearly Bike Packing Journal. So to learn a little bit more about the Bike Packing Collective, click on the card in the top right corner. You can also find a link in the description below. As always, thank you all so much for watching. Until next time, pedal further. (upbeat music)
