Corben

A little chopchop here and there along with reuse sustainability attitude and I managed to come up with a pretty sturdy front rack.
Although my wife protests I will go touring one day and this modified rack brings it one step closer.

devianb

Cool. How much weight do you reckon it handles?

Corben

I have no idea.

Maelochs

Can you hang panniers low on the rack?

corrado33

That was going to be my question as well.

Front panniers generally "ride low" to improve handling while loaded. Basically they have mounting points that allow the panniers to ride closer to the ground.

See the 2nd and 3rd "cross members" of the surly front rack. The bag is meant to ride on the middle "horizontal" bar, not on the top.

indyfabz

Don't see anywhere to hang them low, but that's not necessarily a problem. I have only ever toured with panniers mounted mid-range. The bike handles fine, even with a sleeping bag also on the front rack platform.


The problem I see with this rack vis-a-vis front panniers is that the vertical struts are not flush with the horizontal bars of the platform. That looks like it will cause front panniers to angle out from the bottom. If that happens, it may be difficult to have a bottom attachment point.

Corben

Panniers!?
Didn't even consider those. I was thinking like my sleeping bag, dirty laundry or a picnic basket with fried chicken and a fine chardonnay.
I do have a small set of panniers somewhere that i picked up from Perfomance for 20 bucks. I'll see if i can find them and well, stay tuned!

indyfabz

For weight distribution reasons, you might want a little more than a sleeping bag on the front unless you are going very light. Too much weight on the rear can stress the rear wheel and adversely affect handling. The tail can start to wag the dog, if you know what I mean.


This was my setup for my June tour in Montana:


https://www.flickr.com/photos/105349...7667672266654/


Lately, I have been stuffing my sleeping bag in my right, rear pannier. But one day I did have it on the front rack for part of the day because I needed extra capacity for food for lunch, dinner and breakfast the next morning. Half way through the ride I hit a long stretch of highway with a horrible crosswind. Stopped, put the bag into the pannier and found room to stash the food elsewhere.

Corben

Found them.
Yeah they're too high I can see.
Notice the bolts on the rack.
Perhaps I can customize the bags to hang indepently utilizing those bolts on the racks.
The best I can do now is a over er nighter to discovery park sacramento.
Btw....montana native here!

Jean3n16

nice set up!