Touring - Pannier rack recomend?

I'm trying to build up this guy with pannier racks but the brake line is blocking the eyelet. Anyone have suggestions on workaround or rack that would fit?
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Bruce Gordon , Best, Tubus 2nd Best. both lifetime quality , steel tube.

I see seat stay brake bosses , and the struts can be modified
to go around the cable.

Tubus also makes a few center strut mounted types..
to use the bolt that holds the brake on,
maybe adding a Sheldon's nut, to a recessed nut type brake.

The rack strut fixes to the outside of the tube. If you need to move it further out, just add some washers or spacers. Most racks can fit to that kind of situation with no modification. Look for a rack where the 2 struts connect to the rack quite far apart.

Cool, thanks for advice. What are "seat-stay break bosses"?

I looked at this one: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tubus_racks.asp#Luna
.. looks like it can loop around the cable; I'm worried the mount will impede the cable.

The hole where your rear brake attaches to the frame is what I think fietsbob is calling the seat stay brake boss - some racks will mount to a single supporting strut that you can bolt in between the brake and the frame. Those racks will not be as sturdy or hold as much as a more traditional one that attaches directly to the rack mounts.

How much weight do you plan to carry? If you'll be touring with loaded panniers, the Gordon or Tubus racks would work (or any rack that has adjustable struts for both rack bosses, which is most racks). You just might need to bend the left strut around the brake cable, and possibly use spacers or washers as MichaelW said above to do the attachment to the seat stay. Bending flat aluminum struts (like the ones that come with a Gordon, Jandd, or most racks, really) is easiest (you can just do it by hand), but with a little bit of work you can put the right bend in a Tubus-style round steel strut too.

The hole where your rear brake attaches to the frame is what I think fietsbob is calling the seat stay brake boss - some racks will mount to a single supporting strut that you can bolt in between the brake and the frame. Those racks will not be as sturdy or hold as much as a more traditional one that attaches directly to the rack mounts.

How much weight do you plan to carry? If you'll be touring with loaded panniers, the Gordon or Tubus racks would work (or any rack that has adjustable struts for both rack bosses, which is most racks). You just might need to bend the left strut around the brake cable, and possibly use spacers or washers as MichaelW said above to do the attachment to the seat stay. Bending flat aluminum struts (like the ones that come with a Gordon, Jandd, or most racks, really) is easiest (you can just do it by hand), but with a little bit of work you can put the right bend in a Tubus-style round steel strut too.

That makes sense, thanks. Yeah, I do want to use the eyelet on the frame, I don't want to use clamps or other attach methods because I've found them troublesome in the past. I don't carry a ton of weight on regular basis but occasionally pack upwards of 40lbs. so want the rack to be stable. Those racks are like 200$, so I hate to jerry-rig, like bend attachments, but I guess I could bite lip and just do it. I'm just a little anal and like a clean look on everything!

Get a Tubus and use a bench vise and take your time with bending the strut, and you can make it look like the strut was made to fit your particular brake issue.

Okay, I put this on hold for a long time but trying again.
On the Tubus racks, there is rack hardware that is already molded in fashion that goes around the brake caliper.
See http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tubus_racks.asp#Luna

I contacted Tubus to see if they'd sell it seperately but no response. Went to Home Dep., to look for metal that I could fashion as such but nothing doing.

Anyone have suggestions on getting rack mounts for this rig?

Look for an older Blackburn Rack like this one.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy112/Doug64_photos/Misc/BlackburnRack1-1.jpg


http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy112/Doug64_photos/Misc/blackburnrack2-1.jpg
This one happens to be on a vintage bike I'm restoring. I have another I use on one of my road bikes that has the same issue as your bike. Stability is not a problem.

OR

This is the twin of the above rack that I modified to use on my mountain bike. I welded in the plates so I could use the seat stay eyelets. You could take the Blackburn EX-1 or EX 2 rack @ $45 and have a good welder put a plate in the middle ($10). http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=45608&category=3536Drill a couple of mounting holes and bend the included hardware to form a bracket. It will look good and be functional. I left the center mount just in case I wanted to use it in another configuration on my road bike. If you don't want to weld, use the existing mounting holes to bolt an 1/8 or 3/16 piece of aluminum plate on and drill mounting holes in the center. Paint it flat black, and no one but you will ever know that it was not made that way.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy112/Doug64_photos/TREK%20820/DSC_0048-1.jpg

PS There is not a real good way to bend the mounting rods to clear the brake cable. On my bike it was actually the brake arm. On the Tubus racks you are trying to bend aluminum (the racks are chrome-moly, but the mounting struts are alu) rod into some pretty tight angles. A really well thought out design!

Wallingford bicycles, wallbike.com is having a 30% off sale (this code might work: COCG) on the closeout Ortiebs, tubus and racktime panniers/racks. May be worth yr. while to check them out. Nice guys too.

Move the brake to the other side.

Take a look at the Jannd "Expedition"

Move the brake to the other side.

A la frame builder Harry Havnoonian. His signature was to put the rear brake on backwards.

I have a frame I built in the 70's, the cantilever bosses are brazed on the front
of the seat stays.

on the bike in #1 the creative bending of the rack struts
with the aide of a bench vise. and a pair of pliers , can do much
that is not immediately obvious..

Move the brake to the other side.
except crazy madagascar primate dude, the other side is different,
counter sunk for the brake fixing sleeve nut..

Ive got a grippy toothy washer to keep my sidepulls centered ..
it works best with a surface adequate to chew on.

For the OP, center strut on the rack, then a Sheldon's brake nut on the frame,
they are double-threaded, 1st you hold the brake on, tightening it.
second bolt will hold the rack strut on .

except crazy madagascar primate dude, the other side is different,
counter sunk for the brake fixing sleeve nut..

For the OP, center strut on the rack, then a Sheldon's brake nut on the frame,
they are double-threaded, 1st you hold the brake on, tightening it.
second bolt will hold the rack strut on .

:] I am crazy about lemurs!

Anyways, it looked like the brake boss was an older style that has the symmetrical hole and nutted retention. It is still possible to flip it even with the newer style brake bosses. To me, that would be the simplest workaround. I did the same thing to my friends Masi Commuter frame.

Problem Solvers solves problems. This might work if your frame uses a clamp instead of a binder bolt.

Problem Solvers seat clamp with rack mounts (http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=23925&category=168)

http://www.universalcycles.com/images//products/medium/23925.jpg

Move the brake to the other side.


Hey, cool, thanks ... this is why I like BF, everyone comes up with something different!

Moving brake to opposite side is clever notion ... have you tried this? I'm no engineer but I presume there's no change in performance?

Hey, cool, thanks ... this is why I like BF, everyone comes up with something different!

Moving brake to opposite side is clever notion ... have you tried this? I'm no engineer but I presume there's no change in performance?

If it is any comfort, I am an engineer! You will need to flip the pads around, but your front brake is mounted in the exact same way, relatively speaking. You will notice no difference.

If it is any comfort, I am an engineer! You will need to flip the pads around, but your front brake is mounted in the exact same way, relatively speaking. You will notice no difference.

most likely this is the best solution. you might have difficulty routing the housing and/or mounting the caliper, but it is definitely worth looking at and it don't cost 'nuthin.

afterall, my late '80's Stumpjumper (granted, an evil MTB) has a U-brake, mounted underneath the CHAINSTAYS, for crying out loud. :lol:

Here is a rack from Tubus that uses a single strut, that will mount to the brake bridge bolt : http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tubus-fly-lightweight-rear-rack-for-26-(559)-and-700c-(622)-wheels-black-prod12968/

Well, I ended up taking the easy road, mounted to the brake, it's not as strong or stable as I'd have liked, but seems like it'll hold.
I was a little worried about the brake caliper "moving" - there was a grooved washer that I removed, so there's potential to slip. I'll ride this for a while and if it doesn't work, I'm going to turn the caliper around to other side, as discussed above. Thanks all for great input!

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Tortek Expedition rack has curved stays that can be rotated and mounted in either direction. They might work. Here's a photo.
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Tortek Expedition rack has curved stays that can be rotated and mounted in either direction. They might work. Here's a photo.
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Hey, yes, that was exactly what I was looking for, but couldn't find. The Tortec models online are all out of Europe and I live in US (didn't want to mess with overseas ordering). I was hoping to just buy the curved stays somewhere nearby, but couldn't find them anywhere. I even tried to make some, but after plunking around with sheet metal, they looked really ugly and I'm a fashion slave.

If you know a place to just order those, let me know. Or if you want to sell me yours ... ;)

Well I did order mine from Great Britain. I ordered two at the time and shipping for both was just $15. I don't remember if this is where I ordered from, but they have the silver ones like mine on sale here (http://www.evanscycles.com/products/tortec/expedition-rear-rack-ec006628) for $40. The racks have 35 kgs load capacity and they have been serving me well for three or four years now. When I ordered mine, I just called the store in GB using Skype and ordered with a credit card, but the store I linked to takes PayPal as well. The platform is 5.25" wide and 15" long. Hope this helps. They are very nice racks for the price.

Well I did order mine from Great Britain. I ordered two at the time and shipping for both was just $15. I don't remember if this is where I ordered from, but they have the silver ones like mine on sale here (http://www.evanscycles.com/products/tortec/expedition-rear-rack-ec006628) for $40. The racks have 35 kgs load capacity and they have been serving me well for three or four years now. When I ordered mine, I just called the store in GB using Skype and ordered with a credit card, but the store I linked to takes PayPal as well. The platform is 5.25" wide and 15" long. Hope this helps. They are very nice racks for the price.

Well, took your advice, ordered two of those from the UK. 35 USD each plus 30 shipping. So, worst case, if they don't work, I'm only out 100 bucks. Plus, then I'll have more parts in the garage which wife loves to see.
Thanks again!

Ha Ha .. thought I'd share this: went to the web site to order, tried to use credit card, was rejected, tried another card, it was okay.
Then, I get fraud division call from 1st card, they recorded multiple charges! This is why I avoid overseas orders. Oh well, I'm sure it'll be fine, I just get to call the credit card company.

Tubus struts bend too, they are aluminum Rod.. I suppose bending metal is old ,

and Digital technology is new.

so ordering, online, another rack overseas, for it's pre bent struts , makes sense..

Wow, sorry to hear about the deal with your credit card. Guess that is why i called and spoke with the guy at the store I ordered from. It also looks like shipping has doubled, but still the price is right. The attachment struts can also be switched from one side to the other in case you need the up/down angle of the bend to go one direction or the other. Hope it works out for you. But if not, I am sure you could sell the racks for what you paid, since I haven't met anyone else who has these racks here in the US. Let us know how it works out.

Re: bending aluminum rods. I believe the struts that attach both my Tubus rack and the Tortek racks are tubing rather than rods. I think one would need to own a tube bender to make the modifications.

Ciufalon, yeah, it happens, I'm not worried, the place seems legit (they responded with itemized receipt) so might have just been honest error. Hopefully, they'll come soon so I can play around with them.


Fietsbob, I'm product of public education, so a little slow, is comment meant to be spiky?

just survey of what I read ..

tubus racks are tube.. the struts are not.. i own a Logo /ergo set.

:crash:
have to type in smilies now .. that function was 'upgraded' away.

I actually checked out Tubus, they offer the bent struts as well but were a little bit more pricey at $200, and wasn't quite what I wanted (i.e. a more simple form). And, they are shipped from Europe (Tubus is German company, I believe).

I tried to do some metal bending as well with the rack I have, but it didn't come out well, my skills with the vise weren't impressive.
I contacted a couple resellers of Tubus to see if they'd sell me the Tubus bent struts, but they never got back.

Well, it's always fun to experiment! Maybe try out the Tubus in the future (as soon as I "upgrade" my ride). ;)