ScootermanBob

Does anyone have fenders and a rear rack installed on their hybrid? My wife bought me a Giant (Topeak) rear rack for my Giant Cypress. I already had the shop that I purchased the bike from install full fenders on it last fall. They too are Giant brand and fit like a glove. I'm looking for some pix as to how the installation may look with a close up of how both the fenders and the rack are attached near the rear axle. The shop told my wife that they will install it for free if I want to take the bike in to them. I may end up doing that but, if it is as easy as I think it may be I will just pop it on myself. I want to be sure which mounting holes are for what. Any brand of bike with fenders and a rear rack will help.

The season is almost upon us here and I'm ready to stop riding in the basement and get out on the road!

Any pix or thoughts are welcomed.

Bob

Altair 4

Bob, I took a couple of photos for you, but they're not worth much. So let me go with a written description of how I mounted my SKS Chromoplastic fender with a Racktime Tourit rack.

While the rear dropout on my Novara bike is drilled and tapped with two sets of holes, I chose to mount both the rack and fender using only one hole. So from frame outward, I have a thin white plastic washer which I hope is protecting the paint. Then you would find the loop of the rear fender stays. Next, you see the frame of the rack. Finally you would find the mounting bolt; there might be a washer there, too.

IIRC (I did the install about 5 years ago), I think I had to buy longer bolts at a local hardware store (Ace Hardware has stainless steel metric bolts). I could be wrong, the supplied pieces may have been long enough. I do recall using a dremel cut-off blade to trim the end of one of the bolts when I installed everything, to prevent interference.

This photo is taken looking downward, through the rack towards the hub:




The install was easy-peasy!

ScootermanBob

Thanks for the pix! I noticed that on my bike the shop put the fender braces to the hole closer to the front. It probably would be better in the rear-most hole but if I would try to move it to the rear-most hole the fender brace would then be too short. There are "dial type" adjusters- at least that is what I think they are- on the fender braces near to the actual fenders. The adjusters look like a barrel type of set up. If I knew for sure that is what they are- adjusters- I would wind them out and put the fenders in the rear holes and the rack in the holes closer to the front of the bike since that looks like the best mounting holes for the rack. If those are not adjusters then I would have to go the way you did and have them both share the front hole. I don't want to eff up my fenders so I'm hesitant to take them off to see if they adjust. I plan to see if I can find out about them online tonight. The weather is supposed to be nice on Friday so I want to get that sucker on the road- with or without the rack installed.

Thanks for the idea- I may end up going that route.

Bob

Craptacular8

If you expand this one, should be able to tell. I usually let the chop do it, they have less trouble getting the racks level, lol.

TomWinKC

The rack bolted directly to the frame and I purchased a Giant brand seat post clamp that had an additional attachment point to screw on the braces to the seat post. It is very stable. Road the Katy trail last fall and attached panniers and trunk with no issues.
[/IMG]

rumrunn6

that is some nice front fender

TomWinKC

The fenders are SKS Longboards

rumrunn6

get the rack on?

ScootermanBob

Haven't pursued it yet. I am going to have the shop do the installation since there are a couple of ways that it can be installed. They really know their stuff so I trust them to do it the best way. We had a decent snow storm here last night so the weather hasn't turned yet to get out on the road. I plan on riding it there since the bike rack I have for my car- Thule- will smash the three cables that run under the top tube. I don't want to mess with the bike's operation this close to riding season. I really wish that Giant would have run those cable on the side of the top tube. I will look into a way to use that rack without disturbing those cables as the season progresses. I have some big rides planned that will require me to get the bike to a distant starting point. In the meantime I have been riding my stationary bike in the basement 10 miles each day to stay in shape. I am thinking of adding a rowing machine into the mix. I've been doing a bit of research on them the past few days.


Bob

rumrunn6

sounds like a plan

ScootermanBob

Rack is installed. I had the shop do it. Kinda glad I did since I personally wouldn't have done it the same way they did. They ended up using the same front mounting hole that was used for the fenders. They also switched out my seat post clamp with one that has a long "tail" that they then used to attach the end of the rack. They did NOT use the bosses that are built into the bike. They only thing that concerns me a little is that the bottom of the rack touches the top of the rear fender in one spot. The rack is almost perfectly level but I could make it perfect if I want to try to mess with the now zillion adjusting points. I may end up screwing it up big time if I start loosening things. The fact that the rack touches the fender doesn't bother me IF it doesn't rattle. Rattles and squeaks drive me crazy! I rode the bike in my basement from one end to the other (not far of course) and no noise. Of course there are no bumps down there.... I'll think about it a bit more tomorrow. With that longer seat post clamp now my seat bag doesn't fit. I should have left it on when I took the bike in. Lesson learned. It is 22 years old off my old Gary Fisher mountain bike so I guess I will check into something new fits. I like this old one for the fact that it clips onto the seat bottom vs. a strap. I'll see what he has at the shop next week.


I'll post some pics of this magnificent machine once I figure out how.


Bob