jfrench

Does anyone know if the Racktime Topit will fit on a Surly Cross Check without interfering with the stock canti's? I'm looking for a small front rack to support a rando-style bag and the Topit seems to be the only small rack of that style that comes in black. (If I can't match my components, plan B is a Nitto M12 or something similar.)

no1mad 

Call or email Tree Fort Bikes- their site claims they stock the Cross Check and the Top-it rack.

xenologer

looking at the photo; it appears that the upper support is a single stay that bolts to the fork crown. So i would say; yes this interferes with canti brakes; the brake cable needs a clear straight line through that area. I suppose you could drill a perfectly positioned hole in the stay to pass the cable through it..... depends on your brake adjustment though; you dont want the straddle wire to top out against it

EDIT; no... looking at my own croscheck, that's not likely to work either.... straddle wire yoke is right at crown level more or less

just get a different rack, you can always paint it black

jfrench

Update for future googlers: the Racktime Topit will not fit a Cross Check with canti's. The arm that bridges the rack and the fork collides with the cable straddle jimjam.

fietsbob

Perhaps you need to change the transverse cable length, after you fit the rack. did that occur to you?

xenologer

Occurred and immediatly dismissed.
Brake power vs modulation is a high priority on my bikes, I set the straddle/transverse cable angle and length to my exacting tastes.
I don't compromise this to make room for accessories.

OP may have a different opinion/needs.
jfrench;
it is possible that additional clearance can be made for the rack support stay; for example a longer straddle wire that arches above it. *However braking performance will change.*

jfrench

Looking at it again, I suppose I could get a longer transverse and run the yoke above the support -- although just getting a rack meant for canti's and spray-painting it black sounds like a perfectly sensible solution.

Out of curiosity, how would braking change if I did move the yoke much higher? (I read Sheldon Brown on canti geometry but it got into angles and math and I had to breathe into a paper bag for a while.)

fietsbob

My touring Bike and racks are not those .. low profile Canti * cross-over hanger is
just above the mudguard when Im not squeezing the lever.. under/between the rack struts.

Wide profile types benefit from longer cross over cables, according to Sheldon's Math
(his Wife/widow is a Professor of Mathematics.)

* Scott Petersen SE .. both wheels..

and noticeable or not, is dependent on your festering OCD needing treatment.


A rack with 2 struts rather than one may work better .

Often, those are better suited for a bolt on caliper brake, as the strut goes under the nut
on the front side of the rear brake Bolt.

[if the brake uses a countersunk sleeve nut, the 'Sheldon's Nut' is sold by QBP]



[NB: Bike in front of me, in person, I can do much better than typing words.