Cycling UK Forum

Hi, I've come by a pair of Blackburn FL1 lo-rider front pannier racks. They're pretty basic. The top consists of two tubes that split to fit on either side of the fork at the threaded boss.
Can anyone suggest a pannier that will mount in the narrow space available (between the point where the two tubes meet and the fixing point)?

Just buy a proper rack - Tortec do a nice one quite cheap that won't twist into your wheel in use and will take pretty much any front bags.

Of course you could spend a lot on something from Tubus thats bombproof.

I used to use one of those racks. In those days I had panniers with metal hooks, much thinner than plastic ones. I subsequently moved to Tubus and plastic pannier hooks (Karrimore then Ortlieb). I do recall my (old, 1990's) Karrimor Iberians did work on the Blackburn rack.
I suspect the only thin hooked panniers you will find is either nice but old ones, or something fairly modest/cheap.

I never had the Blackburn flop into the wheel as they basically can't. I did have some issues with the "P" clip slipping on the rack strut near the front dropout, this resulted in the rack/pannier drooping down (as viewed from the side), but never sideways across towards the wheel. The original (in 1990's at least) Blackburn "P" clips are strong things (hard to bend) compared the the standard "P" clips used for seat stay mounting.

We have two or three of these racks still in use on the family fleet. (Including one, original spec on our custom Longstaff tandem.) I have never encountered them twisting in towards the wheel, even with overly heavy front panniers and at speeds up to 50mph.
Although probably designed to work with thin, metal hooks on older panniers they will accommodate others. I use Carradice Kendals usually but we have regularly fitted Ortliebs as well. As the hooks on most modern panniers are moveable you can bring them closer together to fit in the available space. This does compromise the stability of the bag a little but hardly noticeable unless the bags are overloaded for most bikes. If you intend to do serious expedition touring you should probably consider an alternative rack.

|Kalaharis will fit. The Blackburn is good and has retro appeal.

Garry Booth wrote: ↑5 Apr 2022, 3:23pm Hi, I've come by a pair of Blackburn FL1 lo-rider front pannier racks. They're pretty basic. The top consists of two tubes that split to fit on either side of the fork at the threaded boss.
Can anyone suggest a pannier that will mount in the narrow space available (between the point where the two tubes meet and the fixing point)?

AFAIK all the old Karrimors fit (all ours do and I have several of these racks). The fact that the struts narrow together isn't brilliant but it just means that you move your clips slightly to accommodate this and then keep then tightened. As others have said, AFAIK (and have experienced) these are safe racks and don't (cannot) twist sideways.

mumbojumbo wrote: ↑5 Apr 2022, 8:38pm |Kalaharis will fit. The Blackburn is good and has retro appeal.

I remember doing OK with that rack over many, many miles.

Crosso panniers have old-style steel hooks, and will fit.
https://www.cyclesense.co.uk/m60b0s734p ... -Universal

Thanks a lot everyone - really helpful!