Originally Posted by
masculinfeminin
hey all,
....
i was so in love i even looked into buying one there (they were around $60) and having it shipped, but shipping was to the US was some crazy amount. i've heard that actually welding a rack to your frame would work, but i could swear the bikes in vietnam just had normal-looking racks attached. ...
I never had much luck trying to carry loads over 25 lbs or so on regular bike racks, the puny bottom screws (that the load was carried on) would always strip and fall out. Some of the European city bikes have frames with integral/welded-on racks, but those bikes usually aren't cheap, and you may have the shipping-cost problem again.
Probably (in the US) the easiest thing to do is buy an Extracycle, or have someone who can weld make you a longtail frame with rack from a junk frame and some tubing.
~