Another "What is this thing?" thread
 

What are these round things at the top of the chainstays?

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6140/...5427da66e9.jpg

This is on an early-90's Giant Acapulco. They're threaded, but because of the brake cable routing they don't seem to be in the right place for a rack mount.

Rear rack mounts.

yup, rack mounts. pretty common on mtb's.

And on lots of touring bikes and sport tourers.

Neal

... and very commonly located such that they don't fit any known rack or interfere with the brake... as you've noticed.

If not used for rack then they are used for screw in reflectors...

http://www.chinapartsdepot.com/shopp..._reflector.JPG

i used them on my mtb with a cheap performance blackburn ripoff rack.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P...720/rincon.jpg


but i didnt say it was pretty.

I'm glad you covered your couch with a sheet before you let your bike sleep on it.

Neal

...and seeing how the frame has massive braze-ons for canti brakes, it's not like they aren't going to route a cable that way.

Remember, red on the starboard, green on the port.

This bike looks almost the same (including the "Classic Hi-Ten" logos) but it's a short women's frame which puts these mounts well below the top of the tires.

True, but the arms on the racks are usually pretty thin at this point. It should be possible to run the cantilever bridge in such a way that they don't interfere. Should be. There's the problem.

I have small knob on the inside of one of the chain stays on my road bike. It's only on the one side - what's that for?

thinking about what i used to do with my gf on my parents couch when i was a teenager i thought it was best.

btw, eventually i rode through this with that bike:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3...0/DSCF1711.JPG

then it died when the rear mech went into the spokes

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6...0/DSCF1712.JPG

then i upgraded it a few times and eventually turned it into this

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-U...282%252529.JPG

next time i ride a century with you Neal you have to ride this so I can keep up with you.

It's generally not a problem to bend the rack stays to fit these mounts.

Chainstay or seatstay?

On the seatstay it would be a chain hanger to hold the chain when you remove the wheel.

Oops, you're right - seat stay. Chain hanger, eh? Who'da thunk it. Thanks!

Only if I get to ride in the kid's seat.

Neal

I'm confused, these are clearly above the tires. Is your image not of the bike you're dealing with?

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6140/...5427da66e9.jpg

I have seen mid-seatstay braze ons, but wouldn't expect to find those on a Giant Acapulco.

Yes. Here's a better shot to see what I'm talking about:
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6020/...2f9eb49df2.jpg
You'd have to have rack mounts that bend downward considerably to reach the braze-ons.

its cause it's a small frame i guess

uh .. no. red is the color of a nice port wine (or almost)

Scott

Most racks are not one-size-fits-all. They inevitably require some manipulating to make them fit. This seems all the more problematic with anything but wire racks.

Wire frame racks will allow you to bend them where you need them. Unless I was setting up a bike for randonneuring, or heavy hauling, that is the kind of rack I would lean towards.

The hefty, rock-crusher racks seen so much today are nice and strong. Tres useful when loads get really big - and they impress the heck outta other cyclitsts.

But for a lot of towning uses, they aren't really necessary. You gotta balance your needs.

Ah, I see. I had a similar configuration on this Univega. It looked odd, but worked fine.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M...ega_606-11.jpg