Hi all. I am searching for a rack for my odd mountain bike. It has super short chain stays that make it impossible to mount a normal rack. Looking for a rack that places panniers or bags mounted on it much further back than normal.

It would also help if it was center stay compatible. It has no standard upper braze-ons but has a center one. It has a removable seat collar so I could use a collar with the braze-on mounting holes if nec.

Any ideas or help would be great. Posted here because I figure the commuting crown has the most pannier and bag experience. Thanks.

Heel strike can be eliminated by using a pannier with a heel cutout profile, by placing the pannier further back on the rack (ie moving the position of the hooks) and placing the rack as high as possible.
I think Tubus make brackets to move the rack further back.
A 4 point fixing, even to a seapost collar, is more rigid than 3-point fixing.

I'm trying to figure out what you mean by "center stay". Maybe either state make/model of your bike or a link to it?

Old Man Mountain has some pretty versatile racks, although they are more expensive.

https://www.oldmanmountain.com/

aka "wishbone"

https://www.axiomgear.com/products/ge...pro-tour-inox/

I changed my pannier's bottom hold down strap location from the bottom of the rear rack to the rear support bar. This location pulled the panniers further back and further away from my heels, reducing heel strike considerably. The only thing I had to due was shorten the pannier bottom strap, and to install a clamp half way up of both rear support bars to keep the pannier hooks from sliding down and becoming unhooked.

I should have looked at axiom racks, some good options there. By center stay I mean like this: https://www.axiomgear.com/products/ge...iner-road-dlx/

Obviously not the most secure, but canti mounted racks are expensive and I might not be able to use one of the new fangled seat collars with the mounting holes due to frame size. I really only want it to mount grocery bags on, not full time panniers.

Just get some help Mounting the rack, there are work arounds ,
to make the needed clearance , in the way it is mounted.

some people can fabricate alternatives, others just won't try.

You may also be able to move the mounting mechanism on the panniers a little bit so they'll go further back.

Some panniers (like Ortleib) allow you to angle the bag to eliminate heel strike

I use this Jandd, and as the ad copy says you can get it the bags some 3 inches further back than most racks https://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FREXP

I use it on a converted mountain bike.

As far as attaching it, can't help you; I know from experience some imagination and a trip to the hardware store can yield a work-around.

Topeak makes a rack/trunk bag with drop down panniers. The panniers are not very large and probably wouldn't cause heel strike. Other suggestions are OMM racks, which use the brake pivots/QR and mount back pretty far. You don't want the panniers so far back your front wheel pops up or causes shimmy.

I bent the mounting leg forward till it matched the angle of the hooks on the front support. This did two things for me. It lowered the rack to just above the fender eliminating that wasted space between fender and rack and also moved the rack back I’m guessing 1.5 inches. That was all I needed in my case to get enough heal space. Look at the black parts in the photo. The rest are add on supports for other reasons.




This photo shows how close the rack is to fender. Lower the rack the better IMO.



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Bending a rack would lower the weight limit a rack is rated to carry. Could also damage the tubing and welds. To what degree, is unknown.

My rack that I bent was not tubing and if you have a lower attachment arm that is tubing I wouldn’t recommend bending it also. Being a design engineer I felt ok with making the modification. But you are correct and maybe a lawyer by trade as they will advise you to never alter anything as it could do harm to your body and prohibit litigation. Mine was actually altered in part for the reasons mentioned and also to make it stronger. It is also only a working prototype to a newer one I am building now.

With all things DIY there should be a warning label to go slow and think about what you are doing. The aluminum rod these cheap racks are made from are cold formed and welded nothing fancy in the process. Any re-bending you do should allow for large bend radius and you should be ok.

Great ideas so far, thanks everybody.