Front Rack hardware (McGuyver questions)
 

Thanks all for the suggestions regarding the Wald 137/139 rack. I'm going to try it since it was only 15 bucks including shipping. However, I have a similar rack on my daughter's cruiser bike and the rails going to the axle don't seem very strong.

I have a front fork with a hole in the middle for a front lowrider rack. Was thinking of beefing up the rack with "something" to go from basket to that hole. I have a Dremel and I'm not afraid to use it!!

Anything? Tubing from Home Depot? But how to attach to the rack?

Ooops, should this be in Mechanic section?

The rails on the 137/139 are the same as the rails on the 157 Giant Basket, and I've had 3 gallons of antifreeze, 2 gallons of motor oil, an upper radiator hose, a Haynes manual, and an oil filter in my 157GB.

Unless you're planning to load that 137 with 45 pound plates for your weight set, you should be OK.

Oh sweet!! Now I can't wait. BTW, ordering from Amazon via a Niagara Cycles prodnuct is cheaper to ship than going directly to Niagara. Now I feel like putting my own wood on it and make it look like a 139Woodie. Hmmm

I ordered my 157GB with the cordura liner straight from Wald. True to old-school machine shop form, there was also a Wald pen and pocket sized notebook with their company info in the box. I've got nothing but good things to say about Wald.
The toughest part of the install was swapping the QR axle for a solid nutted one.

Hmmm, swapping axles. I *think* I may move the bars from axle to the mounting hole on the fork. It'll require some measuring and dremel'ing. But I think it might work! The 157 does look pretty cool though.

Either the mid fork or lower eyelets would be useful to mount to.

Hello Barturtle, someone just told me that the bar fitting on the basket *might* not be bendable to make it go to the fork mid eyelet. Meaning that it was just designed to go straight down. I may look around Home Depot for a piece of metal, "pclamps" to fit in the rack.
Just some ideas....

The mid-fork or fender eyelets won't work for mounting a Wald basket. At least not without some serious modifications.

The struts have limited movement capability at the basket side connetions. They're meant (as someone stated) to go straight down from the basket to the axle.
Additionally, the mounting holes at the axle side of the strut are huge. Big enough to fit a standard 9mm axle bolt, which is almost twice the size of a standard 5mm rack/fender mounting bolt. Even the head of that bolt would slip right through.

Swapping the axle is really not a difficult job, it's just tedious. Slide the QR skewer out, and unscrew the cone assembly on one side of the axle. The entire axle will slip out with the cone assembly still fixed on the opposite side. Be careful not to lose any bearings.
Take the new solid axle and screw the cone assembly on, using the still assembled one as a guide for how far to thread it on there. Replace it into the hub, and transfer the remaining cone assembly from the QR axle onto the solid one. Adjust the pre-load tension (see Park Tools website) and tighten your locknuts. Done.
Or give your LBS $5.00 and they'll do it for ya. The reason for the nutted axle is to remove the possibility that the QR cam clamps the strut improperly leading to injury. There's no wrong way it's going on there with a solid axle.

Thanks Clifton. I think I may have some solid axle hubs but I just gave away a bunch of wheels. Dang it! I may just have to go with some big washers for now to keep it in. I do have locking front skewers so maybe those w/ large washers will hold them in until I figure out how to mount it to the lowrider rack holes or finding a solid axle. Next time I order something from Niagara Cycles, I'll grab an axle.

While it would take a bit of cutting to attach to the mid eyelets, the instructions do state that they have a fork eyelet mounting hole. The 198GB adjustable legs could definately be cut to fit mid eyelets.

Ohhhhh, I see!
http://waldsports.com/index.cfm/198g...asketlegs.html

Oh cool, I just downloaded the instructions and these racks have holes for quick release!
http://waldsports.com/files/WaldSpor...structions.pdf

thin steel or aluminum bars from hardware store are easy to cut and drill. go see what they have!

attach with P-clips!

Rumrunn, that's nice! Don't need Pclamps, I have eyelet holes for a front lowrider. But I want to beef up the part that attaches to the rack. I like your idea! I'll have to put it in stock for now and think about it for a while, get all the parts and McGuyver it all during a rainy day.