Which Front Rack

brianleach · Post by **brianleach** » 14 Dec 2008, 6:29am

Can anyone explain the difference between the Custom and Standard Blackburn Low Rider Front Racks please.

I prefer the look of the Custom but just wonder if I could carry my tent on it as there does not appear to be anything keeping the two sides apart other than the wheel.

Thanks

Brian

thirdcrank · Post by **thirdcrank** » 14 Dec 2008, 8:19am

Custom uses braze-ons on the fork blades, non-custom doesn't. (Braze-ons are the threaded bosses at the sides.)

random37 · Post by **random37** » 14 Dec 2008, 10:06am

You'd possibly do better with a rack that went over the front wheel if you need to carry something bulky like a tent.
I can't do my commute with a lowrider, I ride along rutted tracks and they ground if I ride inside them. Definitely an idea for road-only touring.

wallyone · Post by **wallyone** » 14 Dec 2008, 3:39pm

thirdcrank wrote:Custom uses braze-ons on the fork blades, non-custom doesn't. (Braze-ons are the threaded bosses at the sides.)

Sorry to dispute someone of Thirdcranks eminence but this is only part of the difference. Standard Blackburn racks have a hoop that provides rigidity and stops the racks twisting into the wheel. Custom racks mount on both sides of the forks and provide rigidity between these two mountings and the front of the carrier which is why they don't have the hoop over the wheel. Because of this custom racks from any manufacturers need threaded bosses either side of the forks and not all bikes have this: my Orbit only has a braze-on fitting on one side of the fork so I still need to use a standard Blackburn carrier.
As to whether it can carry a tent; the lightweight Thorn custom lowrider carries a maximum of 4kgs and the Tubus CroMo Custom carrier is rated at a maximum of 15kgs.
Another thing to consider is not all bags will fit on to custom lowriders because the mounting fittings will not go in the space between the two mounting rails. Thorn or Tubus should be ok as they have plenty of room between the rails. Modern fittings may not fit on standard Blackburn lowrider racks either, I needed to "sculpt" Carradice hooks to fit.
Hope this helps.

thirdcrank · Post by **thirdcrank** » 14 Dec 2008, 4:46pm

wallyone wrote:Sorry to dispute someone of Thirdcranks eminence.

I hope there's nobody on here who ever feels deterred from posting for whatever reason - particularly when they've got so much useful info to add.

I've had the occasional PM from somebody who has wanted info and has been timid about posting on the forum, perhaps because they thought they might get some unsympathetic comment in return. I always urge people to use the open forum, because that's the only way that any gaps or inaccuracies can be spotted. There also seems sometimes to be a reluctance to be the first to post a reply - once somebody breaks the ice there is often a sudden rush of info.

It seems pretty clear to me that the strength of this forum is the amount of combined knowledge - sometimes on subjects way beyond cycling - and the willingness of members to share that knowledge without being patronising.

brianleach · Post by **brianleach** » 15 Dec 2008, 5:59am

Many thanks for the comments.

The tent is only 2.4 kg so should be OK providing there is sufficient clearance.

The CB Regent has threaded bosses on both sides so I will probably go with the Customs.

Brian

PS I always post on the open forum because there may be others with the same question who didn't like to ask perhaps for fear of looking foolish. I'm too old to worry about that as I usually appear foolish most of the time!!

pete75 · Post by **pete75** » 15 Dec 2008, 7:44am

brianleach wrote:Can anyone explain the difference between the Custom and Standard Blackburn Low Rider Front Racks please.

I prefer the look of the Custom but just wonder if I could carry my tent on it as there does not appear to be anything keeping the two sides apart other than the wheel.

Thanks

Brian

Brian
I'm not quite sure what you mean by carrying your tent on it. You need panniers ttached to it and it's more a question of will your tent fit into a front pannier.

brianleach · Post by **brianleach** » 15 Dec 2008, 2:02pm

I was hoping my small tent could be carried on the top with the panniers on the side.

Looking now it seems that that won't happen with the Custom as the racks would be too low down or am I wrong.

The idea is to reduce the height on the back rack which caused problems last year.

Brian

Edwards · Post by **Edwards** » 15 Dec 2008, 2:41pm

If you have the low rider front rack. there is nothing over the top of the wheel (apart from the hoop on some). So you will need small paniers. The weight should be ok but take a bit of getting used to.
Try to load each side equally.

meic · Post by **meic** » 15 Dec 2008, 2:59pm

Blackburn also make a rack which fits above your front wheel , just like a rear rack. This rack is designed to be used with the low loader 'side' racks if wanted.
I think there may be a bit of terminology confusion here.

The beauty of low-riders is that position the weight of your load around the front axle. If you want to carry a tent on a rack they arent doing what they are meant for.

How about the tent on the back rack and some other bits in front panniers?

brianleach · Post by **brianleach** » 15 Dec 2008, 6:26pm

Thanks for that I think that's what I'm looking for.

I'll need to investigate the side racks.

Brian

mick skinner · Post by **mick skinner** » 27 Dec 2008, 11:00am

i'm going to attempt to convert a rear rack into a front rack. i'll let you know how it turns out.

drossall · Post by **drossall** » 27 Dec 2008, 10:32pm

As wallyone says, there are two versions of brazings for low rider racks. One version has a single brazing on the outside of each fork blade. The other (newer, I believe) adds a brazing on the inside as well.

Blackburn Custom racks fit double brazings. The Standard ones fit bikes with no brazings at all, making the single ones a bit superfluous. When I looked at this, I didn't want the ugly extra rack brackets damaging my paintwork, but I couldn't find a Blackburn rack for single brazings, even though Blackburn started the whole low rider thing.

In the end I bought a Tubus Ergo because it made proper use of my brazings.

However, this doesn't solve your tent-carrying problem. I'd think carefully about having too much weight on the front wheel however you carried it. Couldn't you put the tent in a rear pannier and move other stuff to the front ones to keep the rear pile lower?

rualexander · Post by **rualexander** » 27 Dec 2008, 11:05pm

I can't remember the make but I think there is a front rack which combines a low rider with a higher platform style, someone might be able to come up with a link for it. I will try and remember!

brianleach · Post by **brianleach** » 29 Dec 2008, 7:57am

Thanks again for the good advice.

I have now gone for the Blackburn rack and Ortlieb panniers which seem to fit OK.

I take the point about not overloading the front but feel that packing light stuff in the front panniers with just the small tent on top should be OK and will give more space at the back with less height.

The prove of the pudding... however as they say.

Might try a weekend in the UK in the spring before heading for the ferry,

Once again many thanks,

Brian

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Which Front Rack

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