zzxxyy

I got a silver rear rack, and I was thinking of going for a silver front rack to have a match, BUT so far, the ones that are on sale are BLACK. Tubus have silver ones, but they cost a bomb. Btw, I am not considering other racks. This is a colour question, not a rack suggestion question. Sorry! :-)

So, what do you guys think? Will a silver rear rack go with a black front lowrider rack? The headset, crankset, stem, and handlebar are all silver. The frame and fork are green. Apologies for this blonde-type question but I am undecided whether to pony up and pay for a silver front, or can I use a black one and not regret like hell later. ;-)

Pics or mismatched racks are of course much appreciated.

hillyman

If their strong and at a good price, it wouldn't matter to me what color they are. They are going to be covered by bags anyway. It just matters if you can sleep at night knowing your racks are two different colors. Some people couldn't.

Bikepacker67

hillyman

True, you could paint them, but some people would still go nuts if their racks were two different shades. So you will have to paint both

zzxxyy

yeah, sometimes i hate myself for being so anal. it is such a small thing, and we know being a cyclist is about riding right? right...... but i still care about how my bike looks! ;-)

Lolly Pop

I have a silver surly on the front and black tubus on the rear. It pains me mildly, but i can live with it.

sydney_b

c'est moi.

/s

Lolly Pop

I find the medication helps.

Lolly Pop

I just noticed the request for a pic. My mis-matched racks can be seen on the last page of the Loaded Rigs thread.

Erick L

It depends on personnality of your racks. They could compete with each and forget the real task of holding your luggage. On the other hand, competition can be good too, as they try to prove themselves and do a better job.

Or maybe they are just inanimate object of different colors.

I have mismatched racks, but they match my bike. My bike is silver except for the black fork and bar tape. When the cows do come home, I'll have my custom bike painted the same, but with a black head tube fading to silver on the top and down tube, black and silver fenders, and perhaps even rims and spokes of different colors.

super-douper

I just bought a black bottle cage to replace a silver one. The other two were already black. I felt pretty metro after doing that.

But I made it better by replacing a broken black spoke with a silver one. Now I feel more practical than metro.

zzxxyy

Fellas, fellas, I know it is superficial, shallow and absolutely detracting to the world of hardcore touring cyclists, and although it would not matter at all when all the panniers are loaded and that I am 4th day into a trip, it would still gnaw at me. ;-)

Thanks for the pic Lolly Pop - you just made me decide to grit my teeth and pony up for a matching pair. ;-)

Thanks people!

zzxxyy

super-douper, you are on to something there. i will have to co-ordinate my water bottle cages as well. hm.....

roadfix

I think I can live with mismatch racks, although I don't have front racks on my HLT......but mismatch water bottle cages would absolutely kill me.

Miles2go

Here's a good photo of a mismatched rack setup. The fourth bike over at the top of the page here The Fully Loaded Touring Bike - Photo Gallery Nancy's Schwinn, has a black Blackburn Lowrider on the front and a silver Tubus on the rear.

The only reason I know is because it's my wife's bike.

Cheers,

zzxxyy

.....but mismatch water bottle cages would absolutely kill me.

come to think of it, that is true.

Btw, my Tubus Cosmos came in today. My goodness, it is absolutely GORGEOUS.

It also came with nice warranty card,
"
This product is warranted for 10 years. Within the first 3 years we grant world wide delivery of all tubus spare parts for registered customers. We send by courier to any place in the world free of charge. For registration, please return this card by mail, or visit our www.tubus.net for registration.
"
Okay, silver Tubus lowrider, here I come!

tomn

Take both to a powder coater so they can match the finish. Powdercoating is suppose to be tougher than paint. I had a Nitto/Rivendell silver front & black Tubus rear. Now they are both black.

wsexson

Too funny! I wouldn't be able to stand that either, though.

grolby

Ah, heck. I've got the silver rear rack that came stock on my Miyata paired up with a black Jandd low-mount rack (not mounted right now, but I'll be reinstalling it in a couple of weeks in preparation for a week-long tour at the end of May). It doesn't bother me in the least - I toured and commuted with that rack installed, and didn't lose any sleep over it. Then again, I had my fork blades wrapped in electrical tape where the rack touched them, and I secured the rack to my bike and panniers to the rack with p-clips, so I might have low standards . If it'll really bother you to have mis-matched racks, go ahead and get a new one, but I don't see how it could possibly matter.

Besides, all that black paint will start to chip off your rack anyway. If you really want to, you could expedite the process, I guess...