bclc4life

So what I gather is that when touring the weight on the bike should be split either 50/50 or 60/40. So I have been looking around the web for some ideas. Rear rack weight capacity seems to be roughly 40 lbs. and up. Most of the front racks I have seen is rated only 25 lbs. So what kind of front racks do you use and what is the weight that you put on them? It just seems that 25 lbs. is not much capacity for a tour. Thanks for the help.

maidenvoyage

I have the cheap performance rack, paid 15 bucks or so. It's a good rack but I am not a fan of the design. However, it is very cheap compared to other racks. I have no idea how much weight I put in, I try to do the 60/40 thing though. I have used the rack for self supported tours and it has held up very well.

raybo

I have an Old Man Mountain Sherpa front rack that has a "shelf" that holds an equivalent of a handlebar bag. The rack requires a skewer on the front tire that precludes a quick release. This is a real pain if you get a flat on the front tire as you have to unscrew the end of the skewer to take the wheel off. Also, the connection to the front brakes is a drag.

I bought it because it was the only front rack I could find when I needed one. I still use it because I own it. I would never buy it again and don't recommend it, if you can get another one that fits your needs.

Ray

arctos

I have used the Bruce Gordon Front High Mountain Rack for almost twenty years. Stiff durable and very strong no matter how much weight I put on it and I use it mostly off road touring like the Divide Ride.

Years ago I broke a supposedly well made and designed Blackburn Mtn. rack and research led me to the Gordon rack and I could not be happier.

gerv 

You can buy this Delta low-rider for between $31 and 55 (REI has it for $45..)


I bought one and it seems to be adequate, although I've only carried 20 pounds with it.

One good thing is that it doesn't weigh a ton, like the Surly front rack.

bwgride

I use a rear rack on the front of my bike. See posts 5 and 7:

https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/278537-front-rack-shelf.html

lighthorse

Rear rack only.

paul2

I use a Blackburn lowrider. I have no idea what my weight distribution is, but my total weight is 37 lbs, so that's easily within the capacity of the racks.

cyccommute 

Tubus Tara. Capacity is 33 lbs.

cyberpep

JANDD EXTREME FRONT RACK
Don,t know the weight spec's but I have never been able to overload it to the point where I was worried.

Booger1

I use a 30 year old Blackburn Lowrider in the front and Blackburn Expedition in the back.No trouble with either one.Got my moneys worth.....

HardyWeinberg

eh... 25# is 60% of 40# if you are loading up that way. That's a nontrivial amount.

I wonder how the rationale for weight distribution changes as the wheelbase of the bike increases (I the long chainstays of my bike 'cause it lets me put the weight of the rear panniers pretty comfortably in front of the rear axle, but obviously it is still nothing compared to a big dummy or extracycle where you can come close to centering the load between the axles with care)

staehpj1

With a 50/50 split that would be 50 pounds total and if you went 60%rear and 40% front it would be more than I could veer foresee carrying on a tour unless riding somewhere that you need to carry several days worth of water. Even 50 lbs is a lot, it wouldn't take much effort to stay below that in most conditions. I doubt I ever had that much on the bike even on a coast to coast trip. Not sure what I got up to when we couldn't get water for a long stretch and had to carry a lot of extra though. If carrying extra water put me over that limit the extra weight would have been on the back though.

In any case the Nashbar and Performance brand Blackburn low rider clones we were using seemed like they would carry way more than we would ever need to carry on them. I'm not sure how much we ever had in the front or even what they are rated at though.

Jaron

pass & stow. you can attach panniers to the rails underneath the flat top part.

markf

I use a Nitto Campee steel rack with a top shelf. Expensive, heavy, but very sturdy, very well made and very pretty. I would consider passing on the top shelf option and getting a Bruce Gordon front rack if I were shopping for another steel rack, just to save a little weight.

bclc4life

Bruce Gordon items seem to be good but out of my price range. The pass and stow, I'm not sure of the price on those. The idea of putting a rear rack on the front looks interesting a possibly cheap as people seem to throw rear racks away all the time. But what I have gathered so far is that most people don't carry as much weight around when they do long tours so 25# is adequate.

robow

I have to disagree on this one. First of all the Sherpa is rated for 40 lbs. It's rock solid, light weight, and yes it might take me an extra 20 seconds (if that) in order to get my front wheel off in case of a flat, but since I'm not looking for NASCAR speed tire changes, I feel the advantages more than offset that. IMHO, the only real drawback is the price.

ggriffinslo

The old Blackburn Lowriders are still out there. I just bought another set on eBay. I've used them for years and put a LOT of weight up front. All my food, cooking, fuel, tools
and misc goes there.

Al Downie

Tubus Swing, which mounts load above the suspension and isolates it from bumps - takes a lot of stress off the anchor points.

mkauffman

I used the cheapo nashbar rack on my last tour, worked like a charm over the 3600 miles.

brotherdan

+1 on the Jandd extreme. It's a very solid rack. The only other front rack that I would ever consider using is the Old Man Mountain Sherpa.

gregstandt

*****, where did you get that rack? Is pass and stow the brand?

screenwasher

Very nice rack, but it seems to run around three Ben Franklins ($300)! Outside my budget in any case.

Jaron

pass and stow is the brand. the website is passstow.com. and yes the racks cost $250.

Booger1

$250.00!!!! for a rack!!!!! LOL!!!! Not unless he coming to my house and building it to fit my bike!!