chajmahal

Hey all,
I'm pretty much poor now after buying my Bike Friday, which I love, but it still needs some stuff for my commute: fr/rr racks and fenders. I don't really like the accessories Bike Friday offers. They're waaaaaaaaaaay too pricey. $95 and $120 for racks is so far over my limit that my wife laughs at me when I ask. And their el cheapo rack (with the long attachments for the seat stays) for $40 is still too much for me. I'm used to outfitting my bikes with $20 racks from Nashbar or PB. I've never had a problem with them as long as I could get them mounted properly.

Also, the "cheap", $40 one from BF only has 2 stays or loops instead of that 3rd one that angles back and keeps the back of the pannier from swaying into the rear tire/wheel. My laptop likes to hang out with the spokes when I hit a pothole.

Anybody mounted the cheapo Delta or Bor Yeuh racks from Nashbar on a NWT? How did you get the rack to attach to the seat stays? Did you use the hardware that came with the rack? I tried it out with mine and those flat braces with a twist just weren't long enough. What about heel clearance with panniers? I'm stuck with size 12 feet so I need the space.

$60 for the flat fenders seems pretty far out there too. I was looking at the Planet Bike recumbent fenders for 20" wheels which seem to be about $35 for a set. I know they fit Dahons. Anybody try them out on their BF?

Thank you for any help and for not making fun of me, unlike my wife.
Well, assuming you aren't laughing at me.
R,
Chaj

alhedges

You could probably buy a cheap rr and fabricate longer stays from something at the hardware store. Although I've done loaded touring with the cheap BF rear rack and it works quite well - it's rated for 60 lbs and I have had no issues of the panniers interfering with the spokes - with a 20" wheel, I think that's less of an issue. You can also fit panniers pretty far back on it.

I'm not sure of a *good* substitute for BF fenders - they attach using only one screw (each) and don't have any stays -which means that they don't interfere with the fold. It seems like it might be hard to substitute a conventional fender with stays and have the same functionality...but I don't know, maybe it would work fine.

I don't think there's any substitute for the front rack, though.

chajmahal

alhedges,
Thanks for the info. I'll take a look at Home Depot and see what they have for fab'ing some longer stays. Yeah, I guess the 20" wheels would be less of a problem with laptop sway into the spokes. So as long as I have long enough stays and good heel clearance then it should work out.

I'm not too worried about folding with the fenders. The only time I fold my NWT is when the Navy sends me on business trips and then I don't usually bring fenders and racks with me as I'm generally confined to 20 mile rides near my hotel after a meeting. The BF fenders look good for folding but I just need something cheap.

Maybe I could take the bike to a few bike shops and hold the front racks up to them and see what the mounting and clearance issues are.

Speedo

I have the Planet Bike fenders on my NWT. I like them. The only issue I have is that there's not an extra threaded braze on rear drop out. That means if you have the rear rack and fenders you need a really long bolt to go through all the layers.

Speedo

chajmahal

Speedo,
My NWT only has 1 rear braze on as well. I won't be carrying too much weight. Just clothes and lunch in one pannier and laptop in the other.
Chaj

Foldable Two

The Bike Friday fenders have only one screw, each, and are very easy to install and remove. They also nest nicely for storage and transport.

My wife also was not very amused when I said I (we) were going to get Fridays to replace our 7-speed Dahon Boardwalks (we really needed more gears and better fitting bikes).

She has a custom built, Sapphire colored, Pocket Crusoe - after a year of riding it, you couldn't get it away from her with a crowbar.

Solution: Get your wife one, too.

invisiblehand

Yeah ... the racks are pretty steep. However, you can get a 10% discount if you "join" the local BF club. I never heard of a membership fee.

BF racks are chromoly, which are typically pretty expensive in the market. I have no idea whether the workmanship is up to par, but just check nitto and tubus for comparisons.

LeeG

my $.02 is to not bother with rear panniers and just stick with front panniers. The chainstay length for the NWT/Llama isn't that long so any pannier attachment is cantilevered way off the back and high for heel clearance

The cheapo Sunlite brand rear rack works great for a few reasons,,it's cheap, strong, and with some mods works very well without compromising folding dimensions. You have to cut off the front "tang" near the eyelet mount then cut off the solid adjustable aluminum mounting bar that extends up into the center tube and drill all the way through the center aluminum tube and bar. This mounts the entire rack lower than most racks. I've been using a Jandd expandable rear rack bag that holds a lot of stuff.

Front racks are problematic. Unfortunately Blackburn doesn't make their mtn. front rack anymore as it was perfect for the BikeFriday, I had given one away. I bit the bullet and bought the bikefriday front rack and it's good.

My short trip with my NWT was the expandable Jandd rear bag and a small sailing duffle bag (10"x 20")secured onto the steering mast vertically.

Planet Bike Fenders work great, especially for the rear. I bought the APEX fenders and the rear is inadequate for keeping mud off your ass as it simply doesn't cover the rear of the tire enough. The front APEX works better than the rear but doesn't have any fender extending forward of the fork and I found water flying up off the tire above 15mph. I've got the Planet bike fenders on the rear with 2.0 Big Apples but they don't seem to fit to well on the front,,which may be moot if you have a NWT fork.

LeeG

here it is

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...cat%3A%20Racks

cut off the front tang, cut off the mounting rod leaving a short section in the tube, mount through the set screw for the adjustment. Even with the long adjusting ss. straps it mounted with only one screw on each strap on the rack but it's still mighty solid. Like I said this mounts it a couple incheas lower to the rear tire than the version BF uses.

then put this bag on it. It's pricey compared to Nashbars but the expansion lifts it up to fill the entire space behind the seat. Using a bungie to stabilize it when it's expanded and heavy is worthwhile.

https://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FRRPII

slogie

I've used an Axiom Odyssee Disc rack on my BikeFriday, see https://store.bikefriday.com/pipermai...ne/012524.html for my report. Also pictures at https://picasaweb.google.com/stewart.logie/BikeFridayNWT
The rack is very adjustable and reasonably priced.

As for fenders, I've both Planet bike and Bike Friday fenders and prefer the former, though the Bike Friday ones can be prevented from flapping as much by tying the rear one to the Axiom rack.