Folding Bikes - (UK) Dahon Arclight 20" racks on sale

Previously at around £39.95, CH White has them for £19.95. (https://sslrelay.com/s75353868.oneandoneshop.co.uk/sess/utn;jsessionid=154be848870cca4/shopdata/0005_DAHON+SPARES+AND+ACCESSORIES/0210_Dahon+Luggage+Carriers+=26amp=3B+Carrying+Equipment/product_details.shopscript?article=0065_Dahon%2BArcLite%2BRear%2BRack%2B20%3D22%2BSilver%2BVery%2BSp ecial%2BPrice%2B%3D28DAHARCLITE20%3D29) And, they come with the bungee doo-dad, and stainless fixing screws.

Edit: part of the allocation of Dahon spares for 'older' Dahons to CH White. See post UK Dahon Spares Update

good for trunks and other such things to strap to the top, but not for panniers.

Not good for carrying much of anything with that stoopid spoiler blocking the rear. Looks good, though, especially on a Mu frame. Reminds me of the sissy bar on a bannana seat; great handgrip for a passenger.

This is cheap enough to consider sawing off the stoopid spoiler. Thanks Snafu. Especially if the Euro keeps dragging down the £. Looks like it's gonna be a good shoulder season for the Med. Go Greece.

There are better racks for not much more if you value function over looks.

The Arclite rack, is perfect for my intentions, and it fits the bike. Ya know, for carrying pies, newspapers, jackets, bottles of water, broken down Bike Fridays, that kinda thing. I have a handlebar bag clip on the rack, it takes a good sized pack for days out. The Mezzo (http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/10450/Mezzo_Commuter_Bag) briefcase/bag also seems to fit ok.

The 'sissy bar' flip thing at the back is a portability aid ('handle') for lugging the bike around, and it works well. You get a two-handed grip on the bike for tossing it in the trunk of your economy sedan.

Other racks I tried screw up the fold. And can be fugly. This is important. Who wants a fugly folding bike that doesn't fold.


Hmmm?

I'll have to try carrying the bike by the rack, thanks for the tip. Too bad Dahon didn't point that out. The perpetual probem seems to be that a good looking low-profile rack like the Arclite folds well but restricts what can be carried and avoid heel-strikes. My wife has the 16" version on her Curve, which is even more restrictive. She does OK with a Basil "Cesa Luxe" basket mounted. It spring-clamps right off and on, an works especially well with the Arclite strap which passes through the clamp handles easily with enough tension to provide secondary security. Next project is to find a matching front basket and attach a Klick-Fix plate. Better to move some weight forward on a 16"-er, eh?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41vnakjHcRL._SL500_AA300_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000YO9I6O/sr=1-1/qid=1274038101/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=3375251&s=sporting-goods&qid=1274038101&sr=1-1)
For my new Mu XL Sport I skipped the Arc/Arclite and am going with a generic Sunlite rack:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31V4PMIQHWL._SL500_AA300_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B002MKHRAC/sr=1-51/qid=1274039048/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=3375251&s=sporting-goods&qid=1274039048&sr=1-51)
It's long and flat and highly adjustable. Havn't decided whether to mount it high to carry panniers or low right on the fender. I'll try high first and see what that does to the fold. If I go high maybe I'll mount a toolbox underneath; low and I'll mount a riser/toolbox above. I agree many racks look awkward on folders.

Anybody have an opinion on the merits of the steel Arc rack over the Alu Arclite rack?

I use the arclight rack with great success to hold down the Topeak MTX DXP bag. It's like it's made for it. The yellow latch fits perfectly and the two rear velcro straps hold it down perfectly.
http://homepage.mac.com/hagensieker/.Public/iejima_dahon2.jpg

I think I had the steel rack on my 2006 Speed D7. Functionality was about the same, if my brain is working. I know the Dahon Arclite is a basically a commuters pie-rack, little more but it's ok for me.

Dahon make the Tour, for larger panniers, and other universal racks can be fitted. I did for a while have a "Ventura Alloy Adjustable Rack (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ventura-Adjustable-Alloy-Pannier-Black/dp/B000VT9PGA)' on the bike, it wasn't pretty, it stopped the bike folding fully, but it was ok with panniers.

There are more Dahon rack suggestions here:

http://www.gaerlan.com/dahon/rack.htm

http://www.thorusa.com/dahon/accessories/racks.htm

here couple of pics for 20 inch carriers from Dahon and Pletscher
( Pletscher this is a 20 inch custom carrier made for me)
if you click on the camera icon there are a couple pics mounted on several Dahons

Thor

That Pletscher is a sweet rack. I had the quick-removable one on my Montague for several years, made packing much easier. 20 incher...tempting...especially with the quick removable load mount and plate to make a custom box for the back.

personally, I like my arc touring rack. Since it mounts panniers low and I can stack things on top of it when the panniers give extra width.

handles a bit interestingly when the rear is loaded up with 15kg or so of costco groceries.