I decided to change my front brake, so I need a new rack. I'm going to have it bolt onto the brakes this time, the old one was held by the brake bolt at the rear, which isn't particularly good looking.

I think I'll still take the vertical struts to the dropout. I was thinking about using p-clamps mid fork blade, but since the top is going to a bolt-on brake, I think I would like extra security on the bottom. Maybe I'm over-thinking.

Anyone built a rack for a front randonneur bag or a decaleur recently?

I'm using Ortlieb pannier hooks (e162) and rail (e170) for the decaleur, so I can take the bag off easily.

One thing that wasn't obvious to me when I first built a rack for one of these bags is that the rack should tilt forwards, and the tombstone should tilt back. That keeps the bag on the rack even without further restraints. I was using my Acorn bag with just the straps at the brake levers instead of a decaleur. That would have worked, but the velcro that holds the coroplast stiffener in place isn't up to the job, and it would get a bit loose when I hit a bump. I'll post some pictures of the existing rack in a bit.

Things I'm going to change:
A little more fender clearance. I like the rack to be close to the tire, but not too close. I had to modify the rack when I changed bags because the bottom straps pushed the fender into the tire.
Stainless steel mounting points. i was in a hurry and used steel braze ons. Didn't realize they would look quite that bad. Too bad you can't buy stainless rack bosses, I'm going to have to crank up the lathe. I have seen some people use stainless standoffs from McMaster Carr, I might do that for the decaleur clamp.
Tombstone made from 1/4" tubing instead of 5/16" tubing. I like the 5/16" tubing for most of the rack, but it's too big for the tombstone.
ETA: do something about the wiring. Putting it on with clear tape and zip ties just doesn't hack it

tipping the rack platform down towards the front makes the bag want to slide forward. If the tombstone is tilted back, the bag is less likely to ride up on the tombstone, it will tend to slide down if anything. I don't think it matters that much, but it's amazing how much a bump will make the bag want to fly.

I didn't use the lathe last time because I procrastinated before a ride, it was getting late, and I have 450 rack bosses in steel. Well, 449 now. And I always prefer if someone else taps something like that. I suppose it's similar to not wanting to see sausage being made

this is the framebuilder forum, so the decaleur is going to be exactly the right length because it will be built for the bike. Glad you got a compass to work.

[MENTION=381793]gugie[/MENTION] must have built a couple dozen of them by now.

[QUOTE=unterhausen;20483722]/QUOTE]

To the OP, feel free to PM me if you want someone to bounce ideas off of. As [MENTION=73614]rhm[/MENTION] commented, I've made a couple dozen custom racks and a lot more custom decaleurs of various types.

I like the fact that you're using the Ortlieb hardware. The "Ortlieb hack" that Rob at Ocean Air Cycles published is as stiff and sturdy as anything, I stole the idea and incorporated it as an option

I just realized that I have bosses that would work for light mounts. Paragon MS 1033 for 6mm and stainless bottle bosses for 5mm. Although, now that I look, they have stainless dropout eyelets and stainless rack mount bosses too.

I hacked the Radavist hack for a Decaleur using the Thomson direct mount stem, some rack hardware (from Tubus and Surly) and instead of the Ortlieb hooks I used Lone Peak Pannier Hooks (thanks to Wayne at the Touring Store) and those have worked great. The nice thing with the Lone Peak hooks is they lock on and have provided a nice sturdy fit with no wiggle or jiggle. I used a stock Nitto M12 rack so I cannot speak to using alt racks but so far it has been a quite solid set up. I wish I had done a little different hook mounting on my rando bag from Swift Industries but I could easily fix it with a different backer (using an old plastic political/ad sign that was littered on stakes in the median) that didn't compress as much.

I have seen a lot of variations on that way of building a decaleur https://theradavist.com/2016/06/my-h...rgan-taylor/#1

Handlebar space is too precious for me to do something like that though. I need to build a stem so I can attach the decaleur to the stem. I feel uncomfortable attaching it to the stem faceplate.

leaving for a big ride on Monday, so I finally got a decaleur done. I got really tired of using the straps on the side of the bag, they work most of the time until you are going about 40mph down a hill and hit a bump.

fixturing worked okay, I need to add something to keep the extension bars level and make it easier to remove the thing when it's hot so I can finish brazing after I have tacked it. Maybe add some clearance.