Touring - Stupid Question: Attaching lights to racks?

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fantom1
08-25-08, 10:20 PM
I can see that the racks (Surly) have places for lights to attach on the front and rear of teh respective racks, but I can't seem to find any lights that have the proper rigging to do this.

Can someone please direct me in the right direction? Thanks!


mijome07
08-25-08, 11:19 PM
This (http://www.flickr.com/photos/9320902@N04/2416671789/) was the setup I had on a bike I sold. Not exactly a Surly rack, but similiar to what you're talking about. It's a Planet Bike Sport Spot (http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3028.html) mounted to a Tail Light Bracket (http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3108.html). Believe it or not, that little Sport Spot put out good light for its' size and price. :)

Cave
08-25-08, 11:46 PM
Twofish lockblocks/bikeblocks (eg. from www.fenix-store.com) work for torch-type lights.

A blinkie mount will work if you use a small post clamp with extra padding eg. the planetbike superflash comes with everything you need.


uciflylow
08-26-08, 05:19 AM
I have the Surly Nice rack on the front with a light. I just ran a pice of 3/4 inch plastic pipe behind the front upper curve and used to two standard pipe clamps to secure it to the cross bar of the rack. This puts it a little lower than the platform mounted braze on, and the lamp just off to the right side of the rack. This allows stuff to protrude over the front a little bit without interfearing with the lamp mounting. I am using a Cat Eye EL530 to commute in the mornings and it works great. This setup will also allow any handle bar mount to be used. I could have made the pipe longer and had a light on each side of the rack. Sorry no pic.

fantom1
08-26-08, 12:31 PM
Thanks guys. Sounds like making your own setup is a good way to go.