Which Front Pannier Lowrider Rack?
 

As the subject line says, I spent some frustrating time last night looking for reasonably priced, front pannier lowriders. I was surprised that there appeared few choices to be available. Including some biker forum suggestions that are no longer in production. This surprised me as it seem almost a prerequisite to long distance touring. Am I wrong in the assumption? Would a high rider front rack also be fine?

Where is reasonably priced for you? I have a Tubus Tara on my commuter and love it.

There are a lot of them out there. Nashbar sells one that's pretty cheap and will be hard to beat priceless, Nashbar Front Rack

Also check out axiom and blackburn.

Yes, I was looking at the Axiom Journey DLX Ridge Front Rack, but I am concerned about flex and durability for this and the cheaper models, and the price for the Nashbar seems just too good to be true. Newbie resistance to a large upfront outlay is probably penny wise pound foolish though. Adding to the confusion, while I was doing research, I came across this earlier post regarding high and low riders on Bike Forums.

http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/70...igh-rider.html

But stylistically, the front lowriders look cool :thumb:.

I've toured both with and without low riders. Low riders have made the bike more stable and the front wheel track better.

the nashbar one is pretty much a copy of the old Blackburn lowrider. I've had a Blackburn one since about 1990 or 91 and with a reasonable front load--I have always preferred to have light stuff up front, so maybe 15lbs total--it has worked fine for the paved touring I have always done.
I think the main issue here is how much weight you will put on front racks, I've always tended to put rain gear in one front pannier with some other light stuff, and in the other my cooking stuff, so not a lot of weight. As I said, I prefer how a bike steers with a lighter front end, with the added bonus that the front rack is not getting a hard workout.
It stands to reason that riding a lot on rough surfaces and/or having a lot more weight up front, perhaps a sturdier rack would be better, but my experience has shown that an aluminum rack like the nashbar one can work perfectly well----
*I havent seen the nashbar one, but it looks very much like the Blackburn one, which I believe is still sold.
*Ortlieb panniers cannot fit on my Blackburn because of the design of the rack, the top of the rack doesnt allow the clip system to "enclose" the top bar, as Ortlieb system needs fully exposed round rack tubes to mount onto--notice in the nashbar photo, there is a black piece of sheet metal that runs along the entire top rack rod, so works fine for "U-hook" style panniers that the U thing can sit over the top rod, but not the "enclosing" type system that Ortlieb has always had for their two top mounting hardware.

ps-I had thought of drilling holes in the metal piece that runs along the top rod, to allow the Ortliebs to go on, but figured it wasnt worth doing as I was going to buy a new front rack in any case, and still use the old rack sometimes so didnt want to take any risks reducing the rigidity of it--although I feel comfortable that small notches just wide enough to allow Ortliebs would have little effect on its strength.

Not to add another option, but I have only toured with front racks with mid-level pannier mounts and a front platform which I have used for tents and sleeping bags (one or the other, not both at the same time)' although lately I have not been using the front rack to carry gear unless I am travelling through and camping in an area requiring me to carry extra food. In that case, the sleeping bag goes on the front rack. The bike handles fine, and you get extra ground clearance. But at $210, I suspect what I am using now--the Nitto Big Front Rack from Rivendell--is out of your desired price range.

Here's what the setup looks like:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davez2...7647841191346/

I've used both types, both Blackburn, I've had no issues with either one. However if you are doing any off road riding lowriders might turn out to be a little too low.

have 30 + Reliable touring years from Bruce Gordon's racks , being Hand Made in His shop they were a reasonable Investment.

but yes if lowest price is your criteria, the Hoop type Black burn copies are OK.. for Ortlieb hooks the round holes

in the top plate can be filed or Dremel cut out to a square shape..

Or get one of Tubus' front racks. a bit more up front invested but will also last a Lifetime..

sprocketss, if you are new to touring and not sure if you like it, the nashbars or other reasonably priced ones will work fine depending on your pannier type. I wouldnt suggest getting expensive ones if touring might not be your thing or you do once or twice, but your budget concerns are yours to figure out.
You can have a fun time with reasonably priced racks, and could put saved money towards other camping stuff etc if you need to buy a bunch of stuff anyway.

Jandd expedition front rack lets you mount your bags low or high as well and gives you a rack top to mount things:

Extreme Front Rack

Thanks for the link, I already have a high rider front rack that I inherited with the bike I bought, and I now have a set of Axiom 30L panniers for the front on the way to match up with the 45L's for the rear. I plan to do some late fall, (for Nova Scotia), bike / camping and consider my options. Both for low rider/high riders, and also consider the best approach to low riders if that time comes.

Interesting solution, I will look into it.

Yes, everything I have read about these racks has been good, definately on my list along with Tubus.

Decisions, decisions. I feel only my own experience will tell, I will be getting some this fall.

I See many people clueless about how to Use the U Bolt mounting parts to fit the Blackburn upper rear of the rack to the fork.

So... NB: when you are done the rear of the rack is to be as wide apart as the front , where the Hoop attaches .

Eh, I always go Tubus. There are places to cheap out, but the racks aren't one for me.

again, depending on the weight you put on front, one can tour with a less expensive rack and have no problems at all, my experiences with the Blackburn lowrider attest to that, many many trips with no issues at all, and it still working fine after all these years--but horses for courses....depends on the factors.

another thing to consider is weight, the Surly front rack weighs 1382g, the Jandd 1054g, the Blackburn or copies and Tubus are in the 400-500g range.

I have had good success with Jandd lowrider but I recently got a good deal on a Tubus Tara which puts the bags a little lower.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=480475http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=480476

Sprocketss, is this for a 26" wheel bike that may be used on rough roads with potholes or trails?

That is a lot of talk which amounts low isn't the only factor - DUH. But as it happens low does count a lot for stability and reduced wheel flop, but shimmy can have a number of causes.

Blackburn either invented or popularized the low rider space, and is entirely adequate for reasonable needs. What happened is some people did some crazy stuff weight or length of time wise, and for that parameter better racks were required. This doesn't make the Blackburn bad, it makes it designed for the average use at a lower weight. So if you are just doing normal stuff like a trans-am, and a bunch of trips in your holidays over the next 10 years, Balckburn or similar rip offs are fine.

Yes, i have an old school Marin Muirwoods MTB.

And are you planning to do off road type touring on rough terrain or on paved roads, that's the important issue here.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=480766
I am using Jandd Extreme front rackhttp://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=480766