Originally Posted by
Charlie_R
With my rack, I have to remove the skewer to remove the wheel. A minor inconvenience, to me.
Ahh agreed, but is it a case of flip the bike on its side/over or is there some way of getting it out by removing a section from the back?
Originally Posted by
Charlie_R
There is another problem that has cropped up recently. I've had to replace the pop rivets with screws, and change out all the sheet metal screws I used for longer machine screws. I used
#8-32 screws, about equivalent to 4mm fine thread, with self locking nuts. For you, a 30mm would work for the 25.4mm box section. Yes, I used 1" (25.4mm) for my rack.
Another gotcha is room for the rear shift cable. A longer bottom section where I dropped down under the cassette/derailleur would have been better, leaving more room for the cable.
Ahh okay, so I'll have to pay careful attention to that.
Originally Posted by
Charlie_R
Heim joint is a must, My swivel wore out the rear crosspiece in only 1000 miles. Turned the round hole oval.
Ouch, okay. My father and I have been bouncing ideas off each-other, including the idea of using a castor (mentioned in another thread here), using U-bolts, crude approximations of the block and pin style hitches used on camper trailers, various other ideas.
I suppose part of this is the softness of the aluminium, versus something harder like steel. I take it the heim joint has been more reliable?
Originally Posted by
Charlie_R
Good luck with your build, however you do it!
Many thanks… I'll post back on the updates.
Originally Posted by
wphamilton
My attempt with that kind of materials - something on the front of the bike, not a rear rack - turned out to be really heavy with all of the hardware needed to bolt it together and onto the bike. If I were you, I'd estimate the weights of everything and add it all up beforehand.
Yes, this is a consideration too. Looking at some of the corner joints I saw mentioned, they mention weights in the order of ~300g for the solid aluminium ones… probably a bit on the heavy side, but we'll see. I know what I build will be heavier than what I have now.