Originally Posted by
MalcolmH
Thanks for your comments Ron, Duragrouch and Jipe - will look into the 50/11 and 46/11 setups, maybe also the extra FD that Duragrouch has talked about elsewhere, if 1x does end up too tight. The frame tubes are not big diameter so FD may be possible. But then I have the schlumpf on hand ...
The SKS mudguards and titanium tubus rack look great but don't seem to be readily available here and the latter looks to be more expensive than I had in mind - nice tho! Interesting that the BF rack is very heavy, though most things from USA are pretty expensive by the time they get here anyway
Many rear racks will work, but in my experience, the key with a 20" folder with shorter chainstays than a 700c touring bike, is a rack that fits far enough aft for heel clearance with panniers (gold standard for 20" wheel is front of panniers even with rear axle center), and high enough for curb clearance with full-size panniers. (The rack that came with my bike was centered and low over rear tire.)
I got lucky when I first set up mine, a former discount seller had Blackburn TRX-2 commuter racks designed for bigger wheels for dirt cheap clearance price, they only had disc version available which I didn't need but bought anyway. (These had a clever storage feature for a U-lock but which was notorious for breaking, but the rest of the rack is strong and solid.) Heavy, but the well-aft position I needed.
TRX-2 no longer made, but last I looked, Axiom made a rack with interchangeable lower attachments, so you could achieve centered or well-aft of wheel if needed, in narrow or wide top deck for trunk bag. But with rack well-aft and lower chainstays on a 20" bike, I needed extra-super-long front attachment stays, much longer than came with the rack; Available aftermarket from Jandd, or I think also Topeak, $USD10-12, both were available at my local bike shop. They were wider than the slots for them on the rack, but I left them straight and attached to the rack at a deck crossbar using rubber-covered stainless steel P-clamps (various sizes available cheap at marine (boating) supply stores), which was also at a better angle to secure the rack fore and aft, perfect.
Never any stability issues at all with a heavy load that far back, and, the rack acts as landing gear with my bike folded and tilted back, as in the normal folded position, the aero bar on my handlebars was dragging on the ground.
Here's my bike with the Blackburn rack on its first mini-tour to meet someone for a week, no camping involved:
Here's a good shot of the bike folded on the train, with the P-clamps clearly visible. Those are Jandd stays, wider, I later went to Topeak(IIRC?) which are narrower but thicker:
