Originally Posted by wingnut
I bought this rack from Performace.
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/....cfm?SKU=19331
It didn't come with any instructions. I'm having a serious brain cramp here...I'm putting this on a old Fuji mountain bike. The bottom part that is bolted to the frame near the axle connection is a no brainer. The problem is that the portion that should attach to the top part of the frame near the seat post.
There are 3 brackets included. Two identical flat pieces that have a twist at one end. The other bracket is bent in several right angles.
Try as I may to see how this attaches...I can't seem to figure it out.
I could "kludge" something together I guess, but would rather not.
What the heck am I missing here?
Thanks
The reason you have three mounting brackets is that there are 2 different ways of mounting the rack. The first one is to use both of the identical flat pieces. Attach them to the underside of the rack (loosely for now). On the seat stay of the frame there may be threaded attachments (if you are lucky) that you can bolt them straight into. It might require some bending to get the rack stays to go where they need to be. If there are not braze-ons, you could use a P-clamp that wraps around the seat stay and then is bolted to the rack stays. While not as elegant as braze-ons, the P-clamps work well. Now level the rack and tighten everything.
The other way of mounting (primarily for road bikes but it can be done on mountain bikes as well) is to use the single stay and attach it to the seat stay bridge (that little tube just above the wheel). It's only one point of attachment which might not be as rigid as the two stay mount but it's not too bad. I've had many bikes with this kind of attachment and never had a failure.
Hope this helps.