First Look: Old Man Mountain Axle Pack puts Bikepacking Anything Cages on Any Fork

We already got a sneak peek at Old Man Mountain’s new carry-anything Axle Pack back at the MADE show last fall – giving any fork more accessory mounts. But now they are available to buy. And we’ve strapped a couple onto a Mastodon fat bike fork to carry more and take our winter adventures further…

Old Man Mountain Axle Pack bolt-on fork accessory mounts

Two-position 3-pack mounts that fit any fork, no eyelets needed.

The Old Man Mountain (OMM) Axle Pack easily bolts directly to the end of your axle (requiring OMM’s own thru-axle Fit Kit ). That means they are strong and have nowhere to slide down or spin around your fork legs as you ride. The direct mount also means they get rated for a full 10kg in total 5kg/11lb per side. More than the 3-4.5kg per side that eyelet mounting is able to deliver.

The super-secure off-road-rated setup is relatively light, and gives you 4 mounting bolts to get that weight low. Two position options for a 3-pack Anything cage OR the ability to install two separate 2-bolt mounts. For ex. a regular water bottle cage up top, and a tool cage down below.

What you carry is really up to your imagination. I’ve bolted a couple up to a Manitou Mastodon fork with a couple of cages. And strapped on a tent & sleeping bag. Or a couple of 1l Nalgene bottles. The most I’ve attached so far has been about 1.6kg per side. So, I’ll have to get more creative with packing to push up close to that 10kg weight limit.

Anyone have any ideas what I should carry in the snow?

Tech details & Actual weights

The core of the Old Man Mountain Axle Pack are the two brackets that extend up the side of each fork leg. CNC-machined from 6061 aluminum in Taiwan. They then mount directly to a custom thru-axle made in the US by The Robert Axle Project with threads to bolt onto from either end. Up top, a pair of plastic fork Pucks get strapped around your fork leg with “ultra-strong” UV-stable Panduit zip-ties, providing a set of upper eyelets to attach the brackets.

All that, and an Old Man Mountain Axle Pack setup adds 265g to my fork, including all steel mounting hardware and the 3-pack bolts. OMM claims a weight of just 73g per side, which is just a single bracket without all the necessary hardware and special axle. Still, 265g is likely as light as other clamp-on mounting solutions. And the axle mounting is rock solid, with huge carrying capacity.

Figuring in a complete weigh-in… A couple of titanium King Manything Cages would be 68g a piece. Or a pair of the adjustable length aluminum Apidura Cargo Cages at 85g a piece. My Old Man Mountain 25″ Voile straps weigh 28g a piece.

All in my setup with 4 straps & one of each cage totals 531g, less than the weight of the water in my smallest bottles.

Easy mounting & setup

Installing the Old Man Mountain Axle Pack was pretty much as easy as replacing any bolt-on thru-axle. Then bolting on a 3-pack mount Anything Cage. With that said, between the Axle Pack & Fit Kit – it came with 12 bolts of 3 different sizes, 6 washer/spacers of 3 different sizes, a couple of Axle Pack brackets, 8 heavy-duty Panduit zip-ties, and a replacement axle.

What it didn’t include were installation instructions, just a couple of QR codes that link to the OMM support page. Part of the adventure of testing things before they officially launch… Of course, I ignored those QR thingamabobbers, and plowed ahead.

Of note, the Axle Pack instructions are now online (here) – even though persinally, I still prefer the trial-and-error method.

Sure, I switched up a couple of the longer bolts/spacers from top to bottom, at first. But it all fit and worked pretty well.

Then, I realized that installing the longer bolts and the spacer up top between the bracket & plastic fork Puck better aligns everything. So, I sorted that out before my next ride. It’s all steel bolts and sturdy aluminum brackets, and I’m hauling much less than the max weight. So, it wasn’t a big deal.

But, correcting my install mistake meant I could drop the King Manything Cage to the lower position and get the 1kg weight of my 1L Nalgene bottle a bit lower.

So, I would recommend looking at the install photos on the Old Man Mountain Axle Pack product page. Or this double Nalgene photo – here only – to get it right on the first try.

Unlike me.

Old Man Mountain Axle Pack – Pricing, options & availability

The new Old Man Mountain Axle Pack is available starting today and ready to ship for $60 for the 2-leg mount kit. They also come with a lifetime warranty for use on- or off-road.

To install it on your bike you will need an OMM front Fit Kit with its custom The Robert Axle Project thru-axle. Our Fit Kit for a Manitou Mastodon fatbike fork sells for $82 or $80 for our Fox 36 kit. Old Man Mountain also makes classic quick-release kits, but the new Axle Pack was only designed to use with thru-axles and their special Robert axles.

Old Man Mountain says the new Axle Pack makes any bike a bikepacking bike. Whether it has a carbon, aluminum, steel, or suspension fork. It’s already helping us load up some fat bikes for bigger winter adventures!

Axle Packs and Fit Kits to fit virtually any fork in existence are available now, direct from Old Man Mountain.

OldManMountain.com