Utility Cycling - Homemade rear racks - long bike setups

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fiataccompli
11-21-09, 10:03 AM
I've built a home-made xtracycle and easy logic let me to mount two rear racks back to back to build a rear cargo carrier. I'm not thrilled with the height of what I have (right now sits about 3" above the rear wheel, which is a 26" mtb setup) and I could re-do the same setup making it a bit lower...maybe 2" off the wheel. I'd like something that was similar to the rear rack setups the Big Dummy/XtraCycle use...maybe heartier...and preferably no heavier than it has to be. So, if you've made your own rear rack for a long bike, with the ability to mount standard panniers or custom bags, baskets and even a board on top, I'd like to see pictures. I'm not looking to haul anything in particular, but more wanting to see how hearty I can make the thing. Thanks in advance.

Here's a pretty lousy photos showing what I'm working on/with...
http://www.fiataccompli.com/bike/photos/rack_testfit.jpg

roughrider504
11-26-09, 11:44 PM
If you put a spacer between the board and the rack, you can still probably mount normal panniers. I'm not completely sure since I've only used homemade panniers, but they are basically the same.
Jubal
11-27-09, 10:54 PM
What type of rack did you use? Is it possible those are road bike racks for 700c tires?

fiataccompli
11-27-09, 11:09 PM
yes, very possible...well, the rear one is adjustable in height, but the front one is not...need to compare. Anyone got a rack they know is for a 26" wheel bike to get a height measurement from? THese were ones I had in the workshop, which means they were ones that probably were on sale for some ridiculously low price somewhere at some point, so I snagged them & hung them on the pegboard waiting for a project to come along. It wouldn't be a big deal to get shorter ones if I needed them. I'll try to get by a bike shop & measure some racks tomorrow.

On the spacers - yes. I thought of that & may go that route. My thinking was that a custom rack could be stouter than the two racks and I could still use standard panniers if I ran a small rod or edge along the top. In truth, I don't know if it needs to be any stronger than the two racks tied together with a board on top & maybe some extra bracing that may look like it's needed as I start to try things out on it.