Axiom Streamliner Disc DLX Review

About the Axiom Streamliner Disc DLX Rear Rack 

With its ultra-narrow, wedge-shaped profile and light weight, the Axiom Streamliner Disc rear rack promises to improve aerodynamics, keep loads better centered, and significantly reduce bag swing. 

Plus, the rack’s design allows it to work with the most popular wheel sizes and a wide variety of bike frame types (mountain, commuting, fitness, etc.). Is it necessarily the right rear rack for you, though? 

Here, I’ll discuss my experience with the Axiom Streamliner Disc and compare it with popular competitors to help you decide.

How the Streamliner Disc DLX Rear Rack Works 

Axiom constructs the Streamliner Disc DLX’s body from 10.2mm 6061 T6 aluminum tubes that are double hand-welded for strength and durability. Then, the company coats the aluminum with durable anti-scratch material and attaches high-strength steel modular feet, which allow you to mount the rack to a standard quick-release skewer or traditional eyelets. 

Compared to many other disc-compatible rear racks (more soon), the Streamliner Disc DLX features a unique wedge shape and modular sweepback design that minimizes wind resistance,  maximizes heel clearance, and allows the rack to accommodate the tight tolerances and short chainstays found on many modern road, cyclocross, and gravel bikes.  

This geometry also gives the Disc DLX exceptional torsional stiffness and helps maintain a centered weight load, improves handling, and minimizes sway. 

Up top, the Disc DLX’s extra-long adjustable Versalock® arms attach to your frame’s seat post eyelets, or you can use the included stainless-steel center bracket to secure the rack to your brake caliper or fender bridge with the included hex screws. If you don’t have upper eyelets or a brake caliper bridge (like me!), you’ll need to purchase Axiom’s Trekk Seat Collar, or a third-party alternative, which features built-in eyelets. 

To achieve an optimal fit, you can bend the rack’s Versalock® arms up to 30 degrees without reducing their strength. You can also mount them atop or below the rack’s platform to help overcome any mounting challenges. 

Once in place, you can use the included frame bolts to attach a light or reflector to the rear mount. You can even use the rear bolts on the modular feet as fender mounts! 

All Axiom racks, including the Streamliner DLX Disc, come with a lifetime guarantee that “covers manufacturer’s defects such as faulty welds, stitching, or materials present at time of purchase.” 

My Experience with the Axiom Streamliner Disc DLX Rack 

Why Did I Buy the Streamliner Disc DLX? 

My 2017 Canyon Inflite AL has zero eyelets for a rear rack, so I decided to give Axiom’s Streamliner Disc DLX a try. I based my decision on the rack’s extended sweep back to help maximize heel clearance (I wear size 11.5 Giro Cylinder shoes) and its mostly positive online customer feedback.

Since my bike doesn’t feature upper eyelets, I needed to purchase Axiom’s Trekk Seat Clamp Collar, which would have taken a couple of weeks to arrive. Instead, I bought the M-Wave Seatpost Mount with Rack Mounts (31.8mm), which features a very similar design that works perfectly, so far.

Is it Easy to Set Up the Streamliner Disc DLX? 

Overall, attaching the DLX rack to my bike was simple and straightforward. I started by removing my rear skewer, putting the rack’s modular feet into place, and replacing and tightening the skewer. This setup made my skewer’s lever harder to lock, but other than that, this part of the process was easy breezy. 

After attaching my M-Wave seat post collar, though, it took some trial and error attempting different Versalock® arm configurations to make them as straight as possible. Compared to how the rack arrived, in the end, I swapped the anchors so that the red eyelets now face outward.  

While this setup provides a super secure fit, it also moves the arms closer to my tires, so that they come relatively close to the sidewalls of my 38C Gravelking SKs. As such, there’s almost certainly no room for standard fenders at this point. The best I could hope for is attaching my SKS S-Blade fender to my seat post, although between my panniers and the rack’s upper platform, it probably wouldn’t offer much wet-weather protection at this point. 

So far, their proximity hasn’t caused any issues. If it does, I imagine I could shorten the Versalock® arms’ back end by 2–2.5” to maximize clearance. 

What’s My Verdict on the Axiom Streamliner Disc DLX Rack? 

So far, I’ve put about 150 commuting miles on my Streamliner Disc DLX rack across various paved and gravel roads, and I can say that I’m impressed. 

The rack delivers noticeably less swaying than other third-party racks I’ve used on different bikes. There’s still some sway and different handling characteristics caused by the extra weight and width, of course. But even over the rough stuff, there’s little-to-no jostling around, other than the inside of my usually-hastily-packed panniers. 

Attaching the Streamliner’s modular feet in between my quick-release skewer also changed my shifting slightly, which only required a couple of minutes to adjust. I haven’t taken it off yet, although I’d imagine that I’ll have to re-readjust my derailleur once the time comes. 

Overall, I’d strongly recommend the Axiom Streamliner Disc DLX rack if you have disc brakes and shorter chainstays, regardless of whether your frame features the appropriate eyelets.

Axiom Streamliner Disc DLX vs. Competing Disc-Compatible Rear Bike Racks 

If: 

• Your disc-equipped bike doesn’t have rear eyelets or a compatible hole in your brake bridge 
• You’re in the market for a complete rear rack (versus one that attaches only to your seat post and has much lower weight ratings) 
• You want a model that can accommodate most, if not all, popular frame and tire sizes, except for fat bikes 

…then, the Axiom Streamliner DLX is one of a handful of options available that can help you carry heavier loads.  

Important Note: Just keep in mind that without upper eyelets on your frame, any of these options will require an aftermarket seat post collar with built-in eyelets to accommodate the rack’s upper arms. 

Like the Streamliner DLX Disc, most competing racks are constructed from hollow aluminum tubing, feature upper platforms for carrying extra gear, and crossbars for reflectors and lights. Primarily, you’ll find they differ in their price, max capacity, and specific features. 

Here’s a quick table outlining some of the most popular competitors: 

Choosing between these options will largely depend on which factors you want to emphasize. 

For example, if the weight is your primary concern, then the Tubus Disco comes in the lightest at 1.45 lbs, with the Streamliner DLX and PDW Everyday rack falling close behind. On the other hand, if you need maximum carrying capacity, the Streamliner DLX offers nearly twice the weight limit of the Topeak MTX Super Tourist, the next closest option. 

However, you can’t add a solid platform to the Axiom, whereas you can with the Super Tourist, if you’d like something that might double as a rear fender. Along these same lines, PDW’s bamboo platform is especially eye-catching, if this is an essential aspect to you. 

Finally, the Montague Rackstand is the only model that doubles as a work stand/kickstand, but it’s also the heaviest by a long shot at 2.6 lbs. 

Let’s pull all of these details together and come to a conclusion in the next section.

My Bottom Line About the Axiom Streamliner Disc DLX 

Considering its widespread availability, ease of setup and use, much higher weight capacity than competitors, mostly positive online customer feedback, and exceptional firsthand experience, I highly recommend Axiom’s Streamliner Disc DLX rear rack. So far, it delivers on its claims and gets me where I need to go, hassle-free. 

Be sure to bookmark this page, and I’ll update as I log more miles! 

What’s your experience with the Axiom’s Streamliner Disc DLX rear rack? Leave your feedback above and comment below!