Can you use a low-rider front rack on carbon forks?

[John_S]

Hi All,

I hope that everyone is keeping safe & well at this time!

I was just wondering whether you can use a low-rider front rack on carbon forks if the forks have low mount rack eyelets?

The reason that I ask is parly because in this lockdown I've not used my car at all and I use my bike whenever I do need to go out for shopping. But there's a couple of things I'd like to do on it, routine maintenance wise, which would take the bike off the road for a few days. Therefore it's got me dreaming about an N+1 because even though it's a luxury it would be nice to have bike options becuase I could have them set up slightly diferently and even when back to daily commuting it would be handy if say you go to get on your bike in the morning only to find that you have a flat tyre after a slow puncture you can just jump on the other bike and not have to sort it there and then.

This process has taken me to looking at this bike:-

https://www.shandcycles.com/shop/bikes/leveret

However on my current bike I have a dynamo lighting setup and I'd want to have the same on any future bike that I get because I like the fact that in whenever I need lights they're just there ready with no need to worry about batteries/ charging etc.

But on my current bike which has steel forks that bike has a hole at the top of the forks at the fork crown and on my current bike the dynamo headlight is mounted there which I like. However the bike that I'm consdering above has carbon forks and there is no hole at the top of forks on the front of the fork at the crown to mount the dynamo headlight to. Therefore in order to have dynamo lights I'd have to consider something different and I'm not very keen on having a dynamo light mounted on the handlebars so I'm trying to think of a differnt option.

I've seen a front low-rider rack called the Tubus Tara and from what I can see in photos it has a mounting point on the front of the rack and therefore I'm hoping that you could fit a dynamo headlight to the front of the rack:-

https://www.tubus.com/en/products/front-carriers/tubus-product/tara/

In terms of the bike on the manufacturers website they state the following in a description of the forks saying that it has "eyelets for mudguards & low mount rack". So the website kind of gives me the impression that you can fit a low-rider rack to the forks.

But if I look at the diagram from the Tubus website of how to fit the Tara front rack it kind of looks like the bolts go all of the way through the forks making me wonder if you have to have threaded low mount eyelets on both the inside and outside of the fork blades:-

https://www.tubus.com/fileadmin/user_upload/tubus/downloads/montageanleitungen/vorderradtraeger/1720001_TU_Tara_MA_6.0_web.pdf

Now I can't tell from the photos of the bike but I'm assuming that the fork only has threaded low mount rack eyelets on the outside of the fork blade and not on both the outside and inside of the fork blade. If that is the case would it still be ok to use a front rack like the Tubus Tara on these forks?

I can't imagine that I'll ever make much use of actual cargo carrying ability of the front forks and so perhaps this is a case of a 'hammer to crack a nut' solution to the problem of getting a dynamo headlight onto this bike. Although if I had a front low ride rack, which I've never had before, maybe I would occaisionally use the load carrying option but only for very light loads.

Perhaps if people suggest that these forks aren't really suitable for the dynamo headlight plus front low ride rack option that I've deatiled above maybe I'll have to consider a different N+1 and maybe something like the Clandestine The Carrier might be better?

https://www.clandestine.cc/bikes/the-carrier/

Thank you for any thoughts and advice!

Best regards & take care,

John

[tooley92]

If the mounts are on the outside of the fork you will be fine with the Tara.

It’s the Duo that needs mounts on both sides.

[Brucey]

I'd probably not buy a bike which had such iffy provisions for items like racks and lights; it is hardly indicative of practicality being a high priority.

If the crown isn't drilled and you don't want to have the headlight on the handlebars, might I suggest a bracket on the steerer? Unbelievably no-one makes anything designed for the purpose, but unsurprisingly I don't think it is that difficult to adapt something either.

This bracket

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/brakes/254-tektro-alloy-cable-hanger-w-adjuster-black/

is meant as a cantilever brake hanger and clamps round the steerer but it has a 6mm thread in it for the barrel adjuster, so should easily accept a bolted crown mount lamp bracket (which might need to be reshaped for a really good fit). This ought to place the lamp only a few inches higher than it would be on a crown mount, and well clear of the handlebars.

If you want to go belt and braces, you could consider using a B&M IQ-X lamp; this is designed to be mounted either way up and comes with an articulated bracket. A standard bracket (cheap) will work with this lamp too, very easily if the lamp is used in inverted mode.

cheers

[531colin]

Fitting a front carrier just to take a light is "like using an atomic bomb to kill a mouse" ….as somebody says on here.
Talk to Shand....don't you think they will have come across this before?
eg...mount the light on the mudguard, using an extra set of mudguard stays from the low-rider bosses to support the light.
Mount the light on an "accessory bar" below the handlebar, or fitted in place of a headset spacer.
As for that "carrier bike" its front carrier alone will weigh more than a set of carbon forks.

[backnotes]

There was an earlier discussion on here about using a light with a bar bag that may be relevant. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=134143

Although the original question was about bar bags, some of the solutions used either bosses on the front forks or things that attach to the steerer to mount lights away from the handlebars, so may be worth a look for some ideas other than a rack. I remain of the opinion that these https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/minoura-spa ... rs-2670922 aren't very well designed though!

[backnotes]

I wonder if there is a non-atomic bomb answer? Looking at the photos of the Shand Leveret, there seems to be an option to fit full-length mudguards, so there must be a threaded hole for mounting these in the back of the front forks.

B+M do a light bracket that can be adapted to bridge from the back to the front of steel forks. It won't be big enough for these thicker carbon forks, but it might be possible to fashion something like this and attach it to the back of the forks? Pictures below of the bracket, and then the arrangement on some steel forks. The B+M bracket is U shaped in cross section so it would steal some tyre clearance, but you might be able to make something flatter that gives more clearance but is still solid.

If you are going to use mudguards and plan to have these on all the time, you could consider simply bolting a suitable bracket for a light to the mudguard just in front of the fork crown. Lights on mudguards tend to wobble about, but if the mudguard is anchored just behind the fork crown, and the light is fixed just in front, it might be fairly stable.

I think either of these solutions would involve some bodging rather than buying something that's available off the shelf, and it will depend on if you want permanent mudguards, and then what the clearance is between tyre and fork crown. It would need a bit of experimentation so it may be hard to solve for sure pre-purchase, so as above, maybe try talking to Shand as they may have been asked before?

[backnotes]

PS these are steel forks, but I can't see how the bracket is fixed to the forks. There isn't a hole in the front of the forks, and I can't see how bracket is fixed, but maybe there's an expanding "bung" in the bottom of the steerer tube?

Snipped from this site: http://cyclemonkeylab.blogspot.com/2016 ... ycles.html

[backnotes]

PPS Talk to Shand!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/shandcycles/15486929502/

[peetee]

Some front reflectors are fitted to metal brackets that mount to the back of the fork. They are designed to reach beyond cantilever brake cables so should be long enough to clear carbon forks. Either way they can be easily bent to suit in a vice.
Most LBS should have these in a bits bin somewhere. Here’s one, albeit fitted at the front.

[John_S]

Hi All,

Many thaanks for the replies and advice below, it's much appreciated!

Hi tooley92, thanks for the advice that it would be fine to mount the Tara rack.

Hi Brucey, thanks for the ideas and advice and the tips are helpful plus I'll look at the B&M IQ-X headlight with the felxibility that offers.

Hi 531colin, thanks for your note and yes I do completely understand that fitting a rack just to miunt a light is overkill. I didn't start off wanting a rack just a neat way of mounting a dynamo light but if I did have a front rack I might make some other use of it once it's there. I have seen some accessory mounts underneath the handlebars but on some of the examples I've seen (and I've queried this with manufacturers) mounts the headlight upside down which isn't always helpful if the beam is shaped in a certain way. However this is just with some of the mojnts that I've seen and I'm sure that it wouldn't be the case with all of them. That is another idea about an extra set of mudguard stays but just of the top of my head I wondered how sturdy this would be because I wouldn't want the light getting loose or bounding about but if the stays and the engineering were right then this could work.

Hi backnotes, thanks for the advice and link to another topic and I'll have a read through that. Also thanks for sending the info about the light brackets to bridge from the back to the front of the fork and I'll look into that. Also following the photo you sent I think that's the Shand Stoater model and that has a steel fork and the forks on the Stoater have a hole at the top of the fork crown on the front and so if I were looking at buying a Stoater I'd be absolutely fine. Unfortunately for me the Stoater, which is a lovely looking bike and I'd be happy to have one, starts at a price of £3,995 and is beyond my budget. Also I have sent a message to Shand asking for advice and I'm just awaiting a reply but I appreciate that everyone has lots on their plate right now so I'll wait to see what they say. In the meantime I thought I'd also ask for thoughts here because I know that there's lots of useful advice out there and so thanks to you and everyone above for helping.

Hi peetee, that does look like a pretty useful bracket and might work in this instance and when my LBS is back open I could ask them about something like this.


I'll wait to see what Shand say and take it from there. Maybe I'll find a solution but if not maybe I'll look instead with bikes that have a hole at the top of the fork crown on the front of the fork so I can mount a dynamo headlight in my preferred position. I might also take a look at the Fairlight Cycles Secan because that's a lovely looking bike as well and does have a hole on the front of the fork at the crown.

https://fairlightcycles.com/product/secan-deposit/?v=79cba1185463

Thanks to all for all of your help & advice!

Cheers,

John

[Jdsk]

Sorry if I've missed it. But what bosses or fittings do you have on your forks to which you'd attach the rack? And are they too low to use for the headlamp without a rack?

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

PS: I've had some B + M headlamps fitted at the crown. They come with a chrome bent rod fitting to clear the brakes.
But I've changed them to this much nicer Jtek bracket from SJS.
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/lighting-spares/jtek-alloy-dynamo-headlamp-bracket-m5-fork-crown-mounting-black/



Jonathan

[backnotes]

I think that's the Shand Stoater model and that has a steel fork and the forks on the Stoater have a hole at the top of the fork crown on the front

Sorry - my point was that the "PPS" link with the Flickr image (which is a metal fork green Stoater) shows that Shand apparently have a way to fit a front light without there being a hole at the front of the fork crown. It looks as if it goes in the hole at the bottom of the steerer tube rather than a hole at the front of the fork crown.

Even if the steerer on the forks on the Leveret isn't open, it shows that Shand understand the problem and may have a work around, so worth asking....

[The utility cyclist]

I've had circa 10kg on the front of my specialized Globe Expert's carbon forks using the low rider mounts, they don't go all the way through the fork.

I don't understand why you can't just put whichever fork mount that your light of choice needs and affix it directly to the fork and the light sticks a bit proud to the right or left of the fork but you can still angle the light left or right or up down as you need.
This is a BBB fork crown mount as an example, I only ever use battery lamps on the bars so haven't used this in practice but not seeing why it can't work with other mounts.

[RickH]

If you didn't want to use a lowrider rack* you could alway fit an Origin8 mount to the rack mount one side of the fork & use a handlebar mount for the light.



(*Although, personally, I prefer to use a front lowrider over a rear rack for carrying light loads.)