Adding a rear rack - bike has no eyelets
 

Hi,

I just picked up a used M2 Stumpjumper which I totally love and got for a great price. Problem is, I just realized that it doesn't have eyelets for the rear rack to mount on.

I know I can get a seatpost rack, but is there any creative way to mount a conventional rack on my mountain bike? I would like to carry heavy loads sometimes, and don't think a seatpost rack will cut it. Thanks!

How about http://www.rivbike.com/webalog/baggage_racks/20095.html?

That's a good link, thanks. Not that I really want to spend $80 on a mini rack that is designed to carry books, but I like the way it attached to the seat stay.

I guess if I had a good secure way to attach the rack directly to the seat stay (maybe steel straps or something like that), then it would work fine.

Steel straps wrapped around the seat stays ... do you think that would work? Can you think of an easier way? Thanks again.

I got a Performance TransIt rear rack a few days ago, for $19.98, to replace an old failing one. While my bike has eyelets, the rack came with rubberized clamps. It only comes with two clamps, so requires mounting holes either top or bottom. I also use the Performance grocery panniers (also $19.97 or whatever). All cheap and perfectly functional. This is on a 1998 Trek 7000.

Thanks.

I've gotten those rubber clamps with another rack, but my understanding was that they were for the upper part of the rack, just to connect to the frame and stabalize the rack against forward/backward motion. I don't think it would be strong enough to hold the rack from the bottom.

Maybe this isn't what you meant. Did I misunderstand? Thanks.

You can also drill & tap holes in the dropouts if you wish. If they're like my old S-Works M2 was, there should be plenty of material.

Check out the Tubus system that attaches to the rear dropout and clamps to the seatstays.I think they can be used with other racks as well.

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/imag...ellenpaar2.jpg
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/imag...ellspanner.jpg

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/imag...ellenpaar1.jpg
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/imag...ellenpaar3.jpg

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tubus_racks.asp

Ziemas,

Those look good.

I like the way the rack is set further back from the quick release, helping compensate for the shorter chainstays on most road bikes.

The Tubus setup requires a Tubus model that has the additional fender-mounting eyelet, unfortunately. So that means (as Peter mentions) the Logo or the Cosmo. But if you get a Logo or a Cosmo, then there you go :)

Yikes. I came in here thinking about my winter road warrior fix-it job and everyone has elegant solutions...
Anyways, I was going to suggest using those same clamps, or using hose clamps with some sort of rubber between the clamp and the frame. Then you just bolt the rack to the clamp. The complicated part to explain is that the rack support member is in compression, but most metals are stronger in tension, so you have to sort of 'flip' the clamp so that the rack pulls on it, instead of pushing on it.

Sorry. That was not clear at all.

Drill and tap dropouts? Won't that cause structural problems? Has anyone else out there done this?

Rivendell's stuff is innovative, but friggin expensive.. jeez.

I'm facing a similar question--to drill, or buy/create some fasteners for a Tubus or other rack.

I already own the Tubus Luna; until recently I had it installed with a Pinhead Components security rear skewer running through the bottom bolt holes on the rack--clamped down by the skewer nuts. The way I had it set up, in other words, was much like the photo above with the rack-plus-adapter-kit installed. But in use the axle would eventually move if you hit a good bump under load--almost certainly because stress on the rack tabs interferes with the "bite" of the nuts to the frame. So I'm pretty sure that kit wouldn't work for me, even if it supposedly works for the bike in the picture.

And my Carrerra Roll frame is aluminum, so I don't want to drill.

I'm sort of inclined to create a couple of trick bolt-on plates out of polycarbonite sheet that would sandwich the axle corner of the rear triangles.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

In the past I've seen and used little adapter dealybobs that fit in the little spaces in the dropouts. This was for a lugged road bike (Miyata 1400) so it may not apply to this application. the dealybob was a threaded aluminum disk with a bit of a concave shape to fit in the dropout space...I had to file a bit to get it to fit, but it worked well.

good luck