A front rack was always in the plan for my faux rando Miyata but I never got around to ordering a proper one. I did have one of the $9.99 Nashbar/Sunlite racks that mount to canti bosses and some AL rod laying around and a little time so......







Top

Way to fabricate, Top! I suspect, though, that with much of anything in that bag you're not going to be pleased with the handling.

The bag is a temp measure, just for a windbreaker and some paperwork for this weekend's 180 mile charity ride.
I will gladly entertain recommendations/suggestions on a proper, boxy, French-style bag that won't break the bank.

Top

I love a good rack kludge, but wouldn't the rack be able to pivot forward around the axis of the bolts on the upper end of the new strut?

Did you bend the rack to make this work? I think I want to do whatever you did, because most other racks are too expensive.

I've used both the VO Campagne and Ostrich handlebar box/bags. The Ostrich is larger and all of the closures are the elastic loop type, which I prefer as they can be opened and closed with one hand. The Ostrich is about 30% more. On the other hand, the VO bag's top "hinge" is on the front of the bag. The Ostrich's is on the side closest to the rider. I prefer the former.

A stem mounted decaleur would work well on your bike.

I torqued the joint pretty tight, using both lock washers and aircraft nuts. A 4mm allen wrench and an 8mm crescent will ride with me until I see how it holds up.

No racks were injured in this project. I did have to tweak the rear bracket to play nice with both the fender clearance and brake caliper. Version 1.0 had shorter struts attached to the fork at almost right angles. I went to the longer strut and shallower angle to reduce the load on the joint.

Top

Were the ends of the aluminum rod flattened just by hammering or did it have to be heated first?

Pounded flat with a metric ball peen; no heat involved.

Top

Metric, huh? What are you, a commie or something?

This from a true public house turned small brewery across the river. One of my favorite places.

Well, I did have Prokofiev's score to 'Alexander Nevsky' in the Ipod while pounding......

Top

- You could be nerdy and find the moment about the bolt and figure out what the max distributed load can be on the rack. Or if you notice that it's applying too much of a load, a cheap and irreversible fix would be an application of jb weld between the members and the bolt. Torque it down, let it dry and move on. Or for a reversible alternative some lock tight.

Top just lives too close to Quebec. Lots of French influence.

Closer to Quebec City than to Boston, in fact.
But this morning my heart is on Causeway St. Go Bruins!!!

Top

I like it!

That Nashbar rack has more potential than people realize. But I share the concern that the secondary struts will pivot forward under load, regardless how tight you make the bolts and regardless of JBWeld &c. I would add a second pair of aluminum struts, just like the first pair but more or less horizontal. That'll stabilize the whole thing nicely.

All I see are the two struts. What is the other attachment point?

My suggestion is to have 2 P-clips on each fork leg, each holding a short aluminum strut that mounts to the same mounting hole on the rack at the other end. The two struts and the fork thus form a triangle about 2" on each side.

I'm still missing something. I don't see it attaching to the fork crown or brake hole. How many attachment points are there? It sounds like you're saying there are two, but that can't be.

The Nashbar rack has three attachment points:
1. top center for hole in fork crown
2. lower left for brake boss on left fork blade
3. lower right for brake boss on right fork blade.

Top's fork has one attachment point, the hole in fork crown, to which he has attached the rack at point #1.

To which he has added one P-clip on each fork leg, one holding an aluminum strut connected to rack at point #2, the other at point #3.

I propose adding another P-clip on each fork leg, one holding a second aluminum strut connected to rack at point #2, the other at point #3.

Thus the three points on the rack will be attached to the fork at five points. Here, I photoshopped it for you. Note I added only one extra strut, on the left side, didn't bother with the right fork blade.

Thank you. That clears it up. Your photoshop skills continue to impress me.

The extra P clips and struts will be ugly and I don't they're necessary. I don't think the rack will pivot at those points. Ride it for a while and prove me wrong.

I have a Nashbar front rack that I was planning to install on a sidepull equipped bike using the P-clips but haven't done any trial fitting yet. Is the OP saying that you can't P-clip the rack directly to the fork because of clearance necessary for the brake, making the fabricated struts necessary? Shoot, my plan down in flames...
Well, this thread will be a useful reference when I get around to trying out that installation, which probably won't be until the winter at the earliest, since the bike is taken to bits and awaiting a complete stripping & repaint... [ducks & runs]

I'm ordering one of them there racks.

fear not, old's cool! Here's my solution with the same rack:



And some thumbnails of the details:

The first two are an attempt to show the metal piece that I bent into shape as an attachment point for the brake boss. I believe the metal was taken from a trashed 1970's kiddie seat rack. It took a bunch of trial and error and rebending. I used some vise grips to do the deed





The rest show how I pulled the brake off and threaded it through the rack. I don't think all sidepulls would work, but old sidepulls are plentiful and I think some trial and error might work.