Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Sunnyvale, California
Posts: 1,180
Bikes: Bridgestone RB-1, 600, T700, MB-6 w/ Dirt Drops, MB-Zip, Bianchi Limited, Nashbar Hounder
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I sort of feel for you. Without experience, you wouldn't know that the Schwinn Voyageur 7 and all modern hybrids with funky sloping top tubes have challenges with rack mounts, especially with 700c tire clearance. Why? Because if they have a braze on mount, it's too damn low for a 700/27 inch wheel clearance rack. Yes, you can jury rig it to fit, but that involves maximum cantilevered support tabs resulting in weak front end rack stability. Hate it. So if you're lucky, go with a 26 inch mtb rack. Might fit, but then it's just barely clears the tire on a 700x35c tire, with possibly insufficient room for fenders. Starting to visualize this?
So my daughters Schwinn frame is a Sierra GS for 26 inch tires and the mtb rack, although a little over stretched to reach the super-low braze ons, is still okay. She's not doing fully loaded touring and descending down the switchbacks of the French Alps. But I can see immediately, where my install with std hardware would fail on a 700c bike. My wife's hybrid is 700c, and she has no rack installed yet for this reason. I do have a fall back and that is to attach at the seat stay bridge using a single, central strut. But instead of the standard hardware, I find myself jury-rigging a far stiffer piece of flat steel and drilling it and machining it to make the tab stiff. But that's the only way to preserve stability of the rack and allow for fenders still.
But you don't find a lot of commuter-type Scattante's at PB, do you? They're more into selling bikes to the fast/recreation crowd. I have friends and colleagues that wander into those shops, blow like $1000 on a bike and accessories and then it collects dust. Commuting is a journey into utilitarianism. It's about a lifestyle choice that dictates the major mode of your transportation, which is huge. And PB may not get it, although I'm sure quite a few employees do commute there by bike. They just may not be working the sales floor, which is a shame. Sounds like you need to talk to an employee that eats his shop's own dog food... or umm, rides his shop's own bikes.