Tiny front racks?
 

Over the years I’ve come to like those tiny French front racks. They weigh next to nothing, look cool and, even better, they can support a front bag, if so desired, as long as it’s not too heavy. Their biggest virtue, however, is that they bolt onto pretty much any bike.

I am familiar with the ones made by Spécialités T.A., as they came on a few bikes I’ve bought in the past, mounted to MAFAC calipers. But there are more, from different brands. As the asking prices for T.A. racks on eBay tend to border on the ridiculous, I look for them at swap meets and parts markets and, somewhat to my surprise, I find other models.

This is what I’ve found so far. Number 2 is the venerable T.A.-rack, but the others? Any idea who made those?

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8e2b2b39f0.jpg


Number 3 is probably Japanese. I have found one before on a Shimano Tourney caliper, which is currently on my Ronnie Hearse:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...df36f8e067.jpg


Number 4 sits out way in front, which could be an advantage when using a long bar stem, but I don’t know what brake caliper would fit. Number 1 is my favorite. It is really tiny and is the only one I have that seems to work with side-pull calipers.

If you have any information on who made these, or other brands that I’m not aware of, I’d be much obliged if you posted them here.

There's the Dia Compe Ene rack, still available new and quite affordable. It's designed for the Dia Compe center pull brakes but fits my Weinmanns after some bending. Here with the VO decaleur.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...de58d8a972.jpg

I'm with you- I think these little racks are fantastic. Though I think a decaleur is a wise idea if the bar/rando bag one of these is supporting will be carrying anything significant! Dia-Compe make one (left in the photo below)- it's somehow slightly less elegant than the TA/French ones, but it does have the advantage of the center support going over-and-above the brake caliper, rather than underneath it (I had to do some subtle dimpling to get the rack/fender/fork-crown arrangement to work when I put a TA rack on my fendered PX-10).
No idea what the brand of the rack on the right in the photo below is- it was on eBay labeled as a TA rack, and it was cheap, so I snapped it up. The proportions are a little deceptive in the photo- the Dia-Compe rack is actually pretty small- the square-ish one is more or less the size of the classic TA racks- maybe just a tad bigger.
I always keep my eye out for the occasional bargain on these racks.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...358eb96099.jpg

Does #1 have attachment point(s) other than behind the caliper? ..... actually, looking closer, do any of those pictured besides the TA version have attachment points other than behind the caliper?

For the heck of it, here's the TA on my PX. I think I may put the square-shaped one I posted above on the PX and this one will go on another build I'm finishing up....

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2fbad03f5c.jpg

For a light bag on centerpull brakes, they're the bees knees.

For a full handlebar bag with 8-10 lbs, I've found them to be pretty bouncy unless you use a solid decaleur.

That is a nice rack, and the only one, it seems, that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Have a couple of those, also on Weinmann calipers:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e7e845a7ec.jpg

It is quite robust (pun intended) and if your bag is big enough it can be attached to the bars. Works better than I expected:

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...36fda9e893.jpg

Nope. But in the with all of them the weight is on that single brake bolt, whether the rack is attached to the pivot bolts or not.

I’ve broken the mounting tabs on several of those tiny front racks, including the DiaCompe, by putting too much of a load on them (namely a front basket). They are delicate.

Ah, that's a good point... I'm working on an 80s Trek build, but I'm using Tektro 559s on it and have been playing with the idea of using a simple 'diving board', maybe with a cross-piece or two to support the bottom of a rando bag (with a decaleur, of course).

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4b6c8405d.jpeg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...854029f0c.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3157fd882.jpeg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...771008dfc.jpeg


I love the small front racks. I really can’t stand clutter on the bars interfering with hand positions, and these small racks keep the handlebar bag convenient, get it out of the way, and hold it securely so it doesn’t bounce around. The first two pictures show the rack on my Meral campeur, but they are obstructed by the bag, etc. They do show that it has mounting fixtures for the battery powered torch style light as well as a mount for the dynamo light. The positioning gets the lights out of the way of shadows that might be caused by the bar bag or low rider front panniers. The second two photos show the smallest of several styles of these racks offered by Alex Singer. In the ordering process, I recall it being referred to as type a. There is not a real clear shot, but also visible is the light mount that can be used to mount a modern style battery handle bar mount type light. The rack is surprisingly stiff and nicely overbuilt for the anticipated maximum load of 2 kg.

I like this one -- made by some American guy with an Italian sounding name who likes French stuff.

https://live.staticflickr.com/4862/3...52696584_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...293d1a96_b.jpg

Thanks for the warning. And you're right. When taking the picture in the first post I noticed that #3 is already missing one of its stays. So that one will be for decoration purposes only, I'm afraid. :(

Absolutely; I overloaded mine immediately (big Abus chain, 3 hardcover books) and it bounced on the tire even though I was using the decaleur. The canti tab mounted versions are a lot more sturdy. These are just for supporting a light rando bag, not for carrying loads.

Nice! Any thread containing an Alex Singer gets upgraded to level A automatically. :)

And thank you for bringing in the Méral as well. I like those, and yours provides some much-needed inspiration for the refurbishment of the Peugeot I recently acquired.

With one or two possible exceptions, decaleurs are not designed to take much weight. They are useful, though, if not indispensable. A bag toppling forward or sideways is a quick way to tear the tabs off any mini rack, methinks.

They are expensive, especially if you have multiple bikes and bags in different sizes. I have been looking for an affordable solution, and so far this is the best I've come up with. Cobbled together from a Minoura Swinggrip and a length of aluminum tubing. About $15 worth of material and a few hours of my time.

Not the prettiest solution (maybe a bigger bell will help), but it has been on my test mule for a few hundred miles and so far it has held up quite well:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...77e09b5f09.jpg

No commercial rack, here are my Gugificazion racks
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...770a22eec6.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d8c4ad3955.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b835962c12.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b25ed8b37c.jpg

I wanted one of those little wire French racks, so I bought the Dia Compe version only to find I really didn't like it. Too bendy and way too heavy for how tiny it was!

So I tig welded something similar. Like the Dia Compe and TA racks, it only attaches to the brake.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...608035f969.jpg

I've carried upwards of 5kg on it, but only for a few miles. My usual bag weighs maybe 2-3kg at its heaviest and that's fine for this. Yes, there's no "strap" to tie into the center mounting bolt. I didn't think it was necessary after seeing how much the Dia Compe rack's strap flexed. I put all the strength in the two brake pivot bolts. The rack itself along with the brake booster plate I made weighs 130g. The brake is heavy, at 190g. I made a whole thread about it - you can find it here.

Don’t forget the “Velveeta Rack”! LOL. it mounts directly to the fork crown


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3c190f3fb.jpeg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0e6408b7f.jpeg

Those midfork mounts really improve the ability to handle a load.

Do you have a jug Miracle Whip that fits in the bottle cage?

I've always been attracted to these classic racks but felt a handlebar bag would be more practical for me. Thanks for starting the thread and for all who have posted photos.

Nice! The T.A. and other racks use solid rod, I believe, where you're most likely using tubing, no?

Ooh, the fun we could have with that thread title...

Yeah, and extra light tubing at that! It is 1/4" diameter and I think the walls are 0.035". It was a rush build. I was being sent to Ann Arbor to collect some data for my PhD and needed/wanted to not be dependent on public transit and ride hailing apps. Found out I couldn't take my Trek because it was too heavy for the airline when in the Iron Case, so this and a decaleur went on the Vitus. Heaviest load was when I did a trip to the Kroger and came back with 3 quarts of cottage cheese, a bunch of peaches, salad greens, sausages, and two frozen pizzas all filling up/bungeed to the Berthoud bag. The rack didn't even bend. Which probably means if it ever does fail, it'll fail by cracking, not bending!