Front luggage

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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Cowsham
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Re: Front luggage

Post by Cowsham »

I used this recently -- cheap and effective

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144352016031 ... media=MORE
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djb
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Re: Front luggage

Post by djb »

Slowroad wrote: 24 Jul 2022, 8:45pm
Slow rider, 9kg or a bit more really is a low amount, and your rack seems to be a good sturdy one.
I've toured and commuted since the 80s and find it surprising that you have wagging issues.

Could it be perception, if not used to riding bikes with rear loads? This is impossible to know as an outsider , but it does take some adapting to riding with a rear load.

Does it happen only when standing? My 1990 tourer was always like this--inherently more flexible frame of the era, again, impossible for internet people to assess this. My newer bikes and or different bikes are stiffer and don't do this.

Check or have someone check headset, etc for any mechanical issue that shows up with your rather light load.

My wife's xs tourer with 26in wheels initially had a rack that was too high. I got a two layer rack with lower rails to have panniers lower, so that as well as being physically lower, made a real difference in a less "tippy" bike, and she had more weight than you.

I didn't want to buy a tubus double rail rack like I have (Logo model) as they are quite dear, but found a perfectly good Trek Bontrager dual rail model for about 70 dollars Canadian, and it works great. Good solid rack.
I've toured and commuted with aluminum racks forever, and a good quality one works fine, never had an issue and I ride year round commuting.

Lastly, are you comfortable with the hoods set and angled so low down, or did the bike come that way. They really are set low and forward.

Cheers
Hi djb, I've been cycle-touring since July 1982! 40 years and still learning... :-) The rear-end wobble is pretty slight, but I think you may have identified an issue - I have noted a slight click in the headset, which I can have looked at. Also you mentioned the bars - yes, that's how they were when I got it second-hand - and I'm intending to have them tipped up a bit as I get aching shoulders. Would have done it myself but I can't undo the bolts. Thanks for pointing those out.
Everyone - thanks for the comments, I think I'll try some small adjustments and see how that goes. I'll carry on looking at other options for racks - but it really was very difficult to get anything small enough - and also possibly some new bags which are a bit wider at the top than the bottom so I can move them a bit further forward. I think I'll drop the idea of using front racks or bike-packing options, several of you have confirmed my misgivings.
Cheers,
Slowroad
All the best with adjusting etc, makes all the differences.

Re the Bontrager rack I got for my wife's bike.
I forgot to mention that it is a small version, made for smaller bikes, 24 in etc, and so lower a bit than the regular sized one. Also has longer attachment stays, that attach near under the seat--especially useful for xs bikes with a sloping top tube like my wife's where you really need longer rack stays or whatever they are called, so the rack won't be tilted forward.

Ps, I would have liked to have gotten the Rack time dual layer rear rack, aluminum also, made by tubus, but they are not sold here in Canada, and shipping for one odd sized item is a lot.
When I looked at dimension diagrams, the rack time one was a bit lower than the Bontrager, but not much.
My wife noticed right away having her panniers lower made the bike more stable and less tippy.
Slowroad
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Re: Front luggage

Post by Slowroad »

Re the Bontrager rack I got for my wife's bike.
I forgot to mention that it is a small version, made for smaller bikes, 24 in etc, and so lower a bit than the regular sized one. Also has longer attachment stays, that attach near under the seat--especially useful for xs bikes with a sloping top tube like my wife's where you really need longer rack stays or whatever they are called, so the rack won't be tilted forward.
Hi djb, was it one of these? Available at a bike shop a couple of miles from me, so I could go and check it out :-)
https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/equi ... Code=black
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SA_SA_SA
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Re: Front luggage

Post by SA_SA_SA »

Cowsham wrote: 24 Jul 2022, 11:08pm I used this recently -- cheap and effective

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144352016031 ... media=MORE
I dont think those will cope well with the sideways load from heavier panniers rather than a light top load (I had one which broke). Also, the Brucey seemed to think the brake points werent a good mounting point even if convenient
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djb
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Location: Canada eh

Re: Front luggage

Post by djb »

Slowroad wrote: 25 Jul 2022, 5:41pm
Re the Bontrager rack I got for my wife's bike.
I forgot to mention that it is a small version, made for smaller bikes, 24 in etc, and so lower a bit than the regular sized one. Also has longer attachment stays, that attach near under the seat--especially useful for xs bikes with a sloping top tube like my wife's where you really need longer rack stays or whatever they are called, so the rack won't be tilted forward.
Hi djb, was it one of these? Available at a bike shop a couple of miles from me, so I could go and check it out :-)
https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/equi ... Code=black
Yes, that's it, but the xs-m one. They've slightly changed it, a friend got one last year and it is like the one you linked.
I guess I got my wife's a number of years ago, and it was either before the changed it or old stock.
The local bike shop guy who recommended it knows his stuff, I've known him for a long time, and he said they work well on 24 inch wheeled bikes, and or a xs frame like my wife's, which you can see has a very sloping top tube.

Note the two horizontal mounting rods come with that downward bend, great for a tiny frame like my wife's.

Your bike has a more traditional frame shape, but still 559 wheels like my wife's.
IMG_20220725_134440.jpg
djb
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Re: Front luggage

Post by djb »

It would probably be good for you to make some measurements of your existing rack, just to make sure this would really be that much lower.
SA_SA_SA
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Re: Front luggage

Post by SA_SA_SA »

CJ wrote: 21 Jul 2022, 6:48pm
SA_SA_SA wrote:.......tubus expedition ( https://www.tubus.com/en/products/front ... tion-front ).....
......Add a whole front carrier structure above the side <low rider> panels and....., but at what cost in extra weight? As for the old-fashioned above-wheel front carrier, three points in a triangle is pretty good and it's an easy structure to stiffen with bracing struts here and there,......
My idea was that many bikes don't have midfork eyelets, so such a hybrid 3 point rack ( but with option of also using mid-points when available) would be an easy/tidy way to fit low riders to such forks, rather than using, eg a tubus tara style rack with a tubus Lm-1 midfork clamp adapter*, which is a lump and what if the fork is tapered?

*https://www.tubus.com/en/products/acces ... ut-eyelets
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Cowsham
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Re: Front luggage

Post by Cowsham »

SA_SA_SA wrote: 25 Jul 2022, 5:47pm
Cowsham wrote: 24 Jul 2022, 11:08pm I used this recently -- cheap and effective

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144352016031 ... media=MORE
I dont think those will cope well with the sideways load from heavier panniers rather than a light top load (I had one which broke). Also, the Brucey seemed to think the brake points werent a good mounting point even if convenient
I needed it to fit suspension forks with no mudguard, caliper or pannier fixing points.

I used pipe clamps to fix to the lower fork my bike has disc brakes. This method worked very well.

I screwed the top bracket of rack to the fork brace ( very solid arrangement -- rack moves up and down along with front wheel so you have to bear that in mind when mounting your gear on it )

I only fitted very small triangular ( they're actually top tube frame bags ) side panniers for my cooking stuff and just used the top platform for my tent and sleeping bag.

My brother bought same rack and we fitted his similarly to mine using pipe clamps though he had caliper brakes. Like Brucey we thought the same about mounting to caliper mounts.

He modified his with two extra struts down to his mudguard mounts since he took standard front side panniers which worked well apart from the fact the steering was a bit unwieldy simply due to overloading the front end but the little rack did a great job.
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CJ
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Re: Front luggage

Post by CJ »

hoogerbooger wrote: 23 Jul 2022, 6:37pm As an illustration, even with non-flapping bags/items on the front:
P3270122.JPG
My Blackburn alloy low riders failed in Tibet, shaken to death on bumpy roads...
hoogerbooger wrote: 23 Jul 2022, 6:37pm As further illustration, I have previously posted the bodge I ended up with to get me to Katmandu:
P4100021.JPG
That's not a Blackburn low rider. I can't be certain what brand it is, but I had one like it (may still have it in storage) with those distinctive brackets (that Blackburn never had anything like) crimped onto the top rail. The rear rack in your first picture looks like a Tortec Expedition, (NOT a great design, lacking the structural triangulation of the legs that made Blackburn so much better than anything before) so maybe the front is an old Tortec model.
Chris Juden
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CJ
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Re: Front luggage

Post by CJ »

Cowsham wrote: 24 Jul 2022, 11:08pm I used this recently -- cheap and effective

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144352016031 ... media=MORE

I needed it to fit suspension forks with no mudguard, caliper or pannier fixing points.

I used pipe clamps to fix to the lower fork my bike has disc brakes. This method worked very well.
Pipe clamps for a front rack...?

Yeugh-h-h-h-h

And on a suspension fork, where the rack is unsuspended mass so gets shaken even worse than on a non-suspension fork (that forces the tyre to do all the suspending)...?

I'd say you were very lucky.
Chris Juden
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Cowsham
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Re: Front luggage

Post by Cowsham »

CJ wrote: 16 Aug 2022, 5:30pm
Cowsham wrote: 24 Jul 2022, 11:08pm I used this recently -- cheap and effective

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144352016031 ... media=MORE

I needed it to fit suspension forks with no mudguard, caliper or pannier fixing points.

I used pipe clamps to fix to the lower fork my bike has disc brakes. This method worked very well.
Pipe clamps for a front rack...?

Yeugh-h-h-h-h

And on a suspension fork, where the rack is unsuspended mass so gets shaken even worse than on a non-suspension fork (that forces the tyre to do all the suspending)...?

I'd say you were very lucky.
It wasn't pretty especially on his bike with extra struts but worked well for the miles we done ( see up thread ). I had a 4.7kg tent plus sleeping bag and some cooking utensils strapped to mine.
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andrew_s
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Re: Front luggage

Post by andrew_s »

Other options for those without fork attachment points are these handlebar racks:

https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/speci ... k/p/220837

https://off.road.cc/content/review/rack ... eview-9117
https://wholegraincycles.com/

The first (about £90) is aluminium, and attaches to the handlebar in much the same way as R&K Klickfix handlebar bag mounts do.

The latter was about £60 on kickstarter, steel, hook over/strap on, and not yet available, but should be for a tour next year.
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Cowsham
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Re: Front luggage

Post by Cowsham »

andrew_s wrote: 17 Aug 2022, 10:30am Other options for those without fork attachment points are these handlebar racks:

https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/speci ... k/p/220837

https://off.road.cc/content/review/rack ... eview-9117
https://wholegraincycles.com/

The first (about £90) is aluminium, and attaches to the handlebar in much the same way as R&K Klickfix handlebar bag mounts do.

The latter was about £60 on kickstarter, steel, hook over/strap on, and not yet available, but should be for a tour next year.
I looked at those handlebar mount racks but apart from being very expensive they didn't seem strong enough for what I wanted to carry ( about 7 kg of stuff ) so I built one of my own -- it was strong enough just not practical for the shear volume of stuff I had to put on. The front rack with pipe clips as described above was the answer. I'll post some pictures.
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andrew_s
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Re: Front luggage

Post by andrew_s »

Jack the bike rack says a 5 kg weight limit, but that's mostly from a bike handling point of view.

It will be strong enough to cope with a good bit more, provided you can put up with the effect on handling of the extra weight on the bars, and you've the clearance between rack and tyre for any extra bounce you may get (I've had a Bagman QR bounce by a good 4-5 inches at the rear)
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Cowsham
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Re: Front luggage

Post by Cowsham »

There's no way on God's green earth you'll find me spending 60 quid on a handlebar rack. £90 is utter madness.

My home made one was made from a bit of solid 8mm round steel twisted to shape but there's just not enough room for the luggage at that height. --

I have strapped the tent across the bars before the cheap alloy rack but that's too much hassle and I can get tent, sleeping bag ( which is heavy and bulky cos I like to be warm ), my 3 leg stool then various accoutrements stuffed in the small side panniers ( frame bags ) on the rack.
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