Old-time Triangular rack support
 

For my 1974 Falcon grocery bike, looking for something I have not seen in a long time (1970's?); tried doing an on-line search but do not know what it's called. Basically a triangular plate a few inches long, with three holes "at the corners". One goes through the rear brake mounting bolt, the other two through the forward most part of a rear rack; this prevents the rack from sliding down the seat stays. Any ideas on what it was called, and/or where to get one?

I am about ready for a first test shopping for groceries, I have the rubber-isolated "P" shaped straps holding the front end of the double baskets and tightened down until "no more", and it might hold.

Thanks to another thread here, I was reminded of the Blackburn adapters for Campy dropouts w/out fender eyes. I just got and installed a set, nice but the lower end of the baskets' struts are wide, intended to have the axle pass through, are a bit wide and foul the QR skewer. As the struts are a bit short causing the baskets to slope down from the horizontal, I'd like to figure out how to fabricate extensions to them or altogether all new struts to level them out.

Sorry, still getting upload-failed message so no pics of the bike.

I know the Pletscher mounting plate you mean. Greenfield racks came with them as well. But it's one of those parts that gets lost when someone removes the rack and puts it all in the bin. They are sometimes available NOS (but not now: this is marked "out of stock"):

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/XlYAA...Bhj/s-l500.jpg

NEW Pletscher Mounting Hardware Kit Model C S Rear Carrier Rack J3 Double Clamp | eBay

I would just make one out of aluminum bar or scrap aluminum.

That looks like it would work but the one I recall was a stand-alone aftermarket item that would do the same thing. I'd settle for one of those, certainly.

Yeah, I was at Big Orange recently looking at the various bits of aluminum they offer, didn't see one the right size. And didn't want to go through the work either. :cry:

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The tee shaped support seen in rhm's posted illustration is the late type support. There was also an earlier model which was more vee shaped/triangular. Just spent a few minutes poking about online thinking it would be easy to find an illustration. Alas, no go. Perhaps another reader has one of these in their holdings which they can ask to pose for portraiture...

Later edit -

Found this not-so-great image:

https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/p...cher-Swiss.jpg

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Any bike store or co-op probably has a few of the mounting plates sitting around in a box. I know our co-op does; I keep them in a drawer full of rack hardware.

I'll have to see if Photobucket pic will work or not...

I've had this triangular rack support on my Fuji since 1976/77. Probably sourced from Bike Warehouse (now Nashbar). Also of note are the old-school tire savers from the same era! Please pardon the grunge...

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/u...pslqxfekft.jpg

Do you need the spring type rack?

That mounting block would not be necessary for Blackburn style racks with the triangular side supports.

Good idea! :thumb:

Actually, for grocery shopping I got a set of old-style Wald chrome newsboy baskets; not sure what my "peak load" will be, which is why I'm concerned.

Why would the p-clamps not hold? Why would the rack slide down stays? The brace made sense on a Pletscher, which effectively had a hinge. With a rigid rack various physical impossibilities prevent the rack from moving down the stays.
Pletschers were very light duty. Marginal for groceries.

Well, here's a data point. This AM I did my first grocery run, the bike itself did well, but the last mile home is mostly a long grade and I thought I would explode. Yeah, I'm still not back in great shape but... really? An examination when I got home disclosed the rear wheel almost wouldn't turn... yup, those seat-stay clamps did not hold, the basket assembly slid down until a cross brace was jammed against the tire.

And, see above, I'm not using a Pletscher.

Not possible the rack moved at only one point. So it does have a pivot. Like a Pletscher. And likely pivoted at the dropout as well. And maybe more places. Why would you own a rack that wants to be a deformable parallelogram? Did you think of immobilizing one or more hinges? And you rode up the hill without noticing anything amiss? Still would have stayed put if the p clamps were secure. You are making a compelling case for having your mechanical work done at LBS>

Correct; the Wald double newsboy baskets are supported at the rear by two struts that indeed can pivot. A design compromise but my alternative is a better rack with add-on baskets and all of those baskets I read about got a down-check on durability in the reviews I read.

Well, I'm admittedly out of shape, just getting back into riding, plus my first ride with that much weight on the bike - so I presumed "a problem with the operator"; no noises or other such indicators.

I'm going to presume you intended that to include a: ;)

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Fine job putting a kaput inner tube to work! :thumb:

I never throw them away. Their elasticity makes them great for tying down/together things you don't want rattling.

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...the Wald double wire baskets are bombproof once you get them secured correctly. They take a licking and keep on ticking.

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You must have had no end of phun phiggerin' oot this arrangement! :thumb:

Always knew them disused reflector brackets wuz gude fer sumpthin'...

The Spirit Of Rube Goldberg be alive and well. :D

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+1

I do see something in the photos I may also run into. Adding anything to "the stack" on the brake mounting bolt can mean the Nylock feature on the mounting nut is not engaging the threads... or am I not seeing it right?

You could always substitute the longer front brake mounting bolt. ;)

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I've had mixed results with the rubberized P-clamps. The ones with the thin plasti-dip type rubber fall apart pretty easily, and you loose the grip pretty fast (as well as some paint on the seat stay, if you don't catch it soon enough.) The ones with the heavier molded rubber wrap are very solid, but to get them to really hold, I had to go a size smaller than I originally thought would work. This took quite a bit of rebending the P-clamp and some muscle to get in the retaining screw where connects to the rack.

At the time I was installing that rack, I wasn't clever enough to have thought of making or finding a T-bracket to mount to the brake nut, but that looks like the way to go to me.

The Pletscher is about the worst POS ever invented. With any load at all they sway like crazy. Do yourself a favor and get a Blackburn. The older ones mount straight to the brake bolt, the newer ones mount on the stays with P-clamps.

I've been carrying loads on my Pletscher rack for years, and even used it to hold my old-school Cannondale panniers -- but always under 25 pounds. It has never failed me. Then again, I have ALWAYS had that triangular rack support on mine.

I obtained one of those triangular rac supports from Community Bike Shop in Boston, Ma about 5 years ago. Hadn't seen one before that for at least 20 years.

Community Bike Supply | Bikes | Contact Us

Perhaps they have another........

...pfffft. Nylock is fer people with no collection of lock washers.:)

Plan B, or maybe Plan J because I'd really like to avoid this, is get a Blackburn or other good rack, then cut away the mounting struts on the Wald baskets and mount the baskets to the Blackburn somehow.

Going by a bike shop tomorrow in my travels, perhaps I can report back that I found a triangular brace.

My visit to an LBC, my first in years, wasn't TOO strained but I now remember why LBC visits rank right after root canals and prostate exams. As you might guess, I came home empty-handed.

Looking more likely. The Wald structure allows for 4-7/8" left to right so a new rack needs to be no wider than that, looking at Amazon (the easy way out) showed no racks meeting that criterion, or at least stating so (one rack said dimensions were 4"x4"x4"???) Maybe I'll go to REI (which recently closed near here so I have to drive further), taking a tape measure along. Or I could cut the two baskets apart and fab up some new connection to hang them off a rack... ugh.