rylhwk

Have a burley piccolo and would like to install a rear rack so we can carry extra food and drink. Does anyone make specific racks for kids bikes or do i need to modify a rack that fits on an adult bike? Has anyone modified a rack and how did you do it? Thank you

Diggie

Are you already running panniers on the moose rack on your bike? Many will fit even with the piccolo attached.

rylhwk

Do not own any panniers, but that has crossed my mind.

CliffordK

Perhaps look at some of the folding bikes and recumbent bikes.

But, personally I think I'd try to keep the weight on the main bike (or on your companion's bike)

When I was towing my nephew around on an Alley Cat Shadow, I found the wobbling from the rear end was quite annoying... and wouldn't want to ad to the feeling of instability.

rylhwk

Thats good advice. My daughter likes to talk alot and do 5 year old things. Looks like ill have to get some panniers. Thanks for the info.

dwmckee

We tour with our tandem and a Piccolo behind it. We use panniers on the sides of the Moose Rack and just keep them below the top of the rack. We also have a standard rack on the back of the Piccolo and put both panniers and sleeping bags on the Piccolo rack. No problems with this setup at all. If I can find a picture I will post later. My son uses the sleeping bags as a backrest on the Piccolo.

We had a welder add 2 steel stubs lower on the moose rack so we could mount panniers lower but we wound up not needing them.



This is riding across NY stare on the Erie Canal a few years ago. Piccolo with rack on the back of our tandem. We put most of the bulky but light stuff back there like sleeping bags, pads, etc.

fietsbob

like Bike FRiday the regular rack is tall in comparison to the 20" wheel , but It will take any pannier being made .

Bike Friday has a little bag to go under the rack over the tire, in that available space..

I assume you already have the Rack on the towing bike for the Piccolo.

dwmckee

We used a rack for a 700c wheel, which makes it a bit high, but basically all of the main rack makers also sell smaller racks for smaller wheel sizes, or as stated for recumbents. We also zip tied 2 water bottle mounts up on the boom because all of the normal places are too small to hold a water bottle mount. My son has now grown to a seat on the tandem and his older brother has cast off and is now on his own wheels when we tour so sadly the Piccolo has been hanging unused in the garage lately. It was a fine solution for several years however. It is plenty stout to handle a rack and a moderate load. I would not put more than about 20 pounds or so on it though as it will give your little one more weight to throw you around with if they are prone to that. The stout frame of our tandem and the weight of 2 riders helped us resist any wagging the little one caused, but you likely will be more influenced by that on a single bike.

dwmckee

Oh and I just remembered, the taller rack worked out well because if it were lower it interfered with the seat position. Also, we had to set the panniers way back and high to give the heel clearance needed. That 20 inch wheel & frame just did not leave much clearance back there like you would have on a 700c wheel and touring frame so the higher rack helped and fiddling with rack and pannier positioning helped more.

CliffordK

I was browsing. There are a few 20" racks.

https://www.bikebagshop.com/racktime...ck-p-1611.html
Portage? 20 Rack | BioLogic Bicycle Accessories and Bike Gear
Aluminum rear rack 20 - Silver

Short panniers may be a problem, but you could put the panniers on your Moose, and use the Piccolo for other stuff.

dwmckee

I know the 20 inch wheel rack makes logical sense but I think in actuality it will not give you the clearance you need (at least on the Piccolo) to clear a normal set of panniers. I recall we had to fiddle a lot even with them higher on a 700c rack. And the panners we had back there were not very big and had cutout corners for extra heel clearance. If you are just putting stuff on top no worries either way, but if you want side panniers, might be a significant issue.

With that 20 in frame, the back axle is a lot closer to the crank no matter how you slice it and that is something you have to compensate for.

timvan_78

my vote is for panniers on the moose rack. Just be careful...not all panniers fit on the moose rack. The pannier clip spacing, even when adjustable, might not work on the moose rack. Before you buy panniers, try them on the moose rack! I have 3 pairs of panniers, and only one pair fit the moose rack.

Piccolo is plenty sturdy: I used a chariot behind the piccolo (which was behind the tandem!).

rylhwk

thanks everyone for the info. next week my job is cutting us down to 30hrs. a week for 3 months. probably go with the smaller rack for now since we wont be carrying alot of extra items- extra water and few small snack items. we will be on a very tight budget for awhile. the positive is hopefully ill have more time to ride the bike with or without the kids. thanks again!