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anyone mount lights on front rack?

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Old 02-08-09 | 03:14 PM
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anyone mount lights on front rack?

I recently installed an oldmountain man sherpa front rack to hold gear in panniers while transporting my son from daycare in his seat at the back of my bike. Now that I have a front rack, I am wondering about the feasibility/wisdom of mounting lights on the rack. My current front light system is a pair of fenix L2D Q5 flashlights mounted on lockblocks (not sure if that is the correct name?) on the handlebars and a simple helmet mounted LED light.

If I mounted the fenix lights on the rack, I would gain space on the handlebar that I could use for other gadgets! Of greater importance, I wonder whether lights mounted on the platform of a front rack would be better or worse than handlebar mounted lights for seeing/beeing seen? I suppose I will experiment with this soon, but I thought I'd throw the question out in case there are others who have already explored this option.
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Old 02-08-09 | 03:53 PM
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Mount them under the bars with this.
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Old 02-08-09 | 06:04 PM
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The Minoura LH-100 is designed to mount on a wire basket, but I don't see why you couldn't use it on your Sherpa, if you don't mind drilling the platform...that is if you don't put anything on top of it...
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Old 02-08-09 | 06:43 PM
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I have one bike with the head light mounted on the rack and I like where it throws the beam, you don't have the glare off of things like the fender and you don't have the wheel putting a shadow in the center of your pattern. This one does have a bit of block to the right but I can live with it. If you go dual lights you will loose that problem. In reality the lower you get the lights the better the beam you get.

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Old 02-08-09 | 08:51 PM
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Here is one way...
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Old 02-09-09 | 05:47 AM
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I have my lights mounted to a pice of 1 inch PVC pipe that is held to the rack by 2 pipe clamps. The lights are then clamped to the length of pipe just as if it where the handle bar.
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Old 02-09-09 | 06:11 AM
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This reminds me...

Does anyone know where one can get the details on the double-flashlight setup that you can find pictures of on Velo-Orange? I'd LOVe that setup...
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Old 02-09-09 | 10:14 AM
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Originally Posted by uciflylow
I have my lights mounted to a pice of 1 inch PVC pipe that is held to the rack by 2 pipe clamps. The lights are then clamped to the length of pipe just as if it where the handle bar.
+1 for this. I've found this to be the easiest way to mount lights with a handlebar-type mount anywhere other than the handlebars.

For lights with screw-type mounts (usually generator lights) you can use a p-clip, a long screw, and some spacers to mount the lights off the rack.
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