CanadianCyclism

Hey folks,
Does anyone have experience with/opinions about the Lhasa Front Rack from IRD? It looks like it would accomplish the same purpose as either the Surly Nice or the Jandd Extreme without the same big weight, or the huge cost of the Surly.

Specifically, if anyone has experience mounting it on an LHT fork, I'd really appreciate your input.

vik 

It only has a capacity of 25lbs [vs. 70lbs for the Surly front Nice rack] so keep that in mind when determining what use you'll put it to.

mawwwk

I don't have a lot of experience with this rack. But, from chatting with a few friends that have the Jannd extreme front rack this one appears to be pretty much the same, for less $. It's from Soma fabrications, which is very reputable. The only problems I've heard of is if you don't have all the braze ons for this type of rack it can be a huge pain to mount.

I've been looking at the Lhasa for my touring set up as well. I think having the added ability to strap something on the top of the rack would be nice (an ability I don't currently have). I haven't really put more than 25 lbs on front rack - ever. I try to distribute weight evenly across the wheelbase.

In terms of the Surly, I think it's expensive, and I doubt I would every put 70lbs on the front of my bike.

himespau 

I like my Jandd that I got for only $10 more than this one and claims to be able to hold 45 lbs, but if this one is lighter that might be better for you. I wasn't concerned about the weight as it's on my super heavy commuter/grocery getter.

seeker333

I think the OP has already made a rack choice in the past 3 yrs...

Looks to me like the Lhasa is probably an improvement over the JandD. The JD will hit your DT if you rotate fork beyond ~60 degrees from normal position. IRD has evidently noticed this and eliminated that sharp top tubing bend, and possibly moved the platform forward a bit too. Dimensionally it is nearly identical to the JD.

Downside to this is that pannier mounting will be a little more forward, and probably make handling worse.

velocycle

I just recently purchased the Lhasa front rack for my upcoming tour... but I am having some difficulty installing it onto my bike.

I have an 85' Bridgestone T500, which came with a fork with 2 eyelets, but no bosses. I know that the Lhasa comes with the clamps for forks without bosses, but for some reason I still can't find the sweet spot on the fork, nor the right combination of hardware to make it secure (or even fit onto the fork for that matter!).

The purpose of this post is to see if anyone knows of any tutorials, or even photos on the internet right now of different Lhasa rack installations? Perhaps having some photos to go off of, I could solve my problem. Thanks in advance!

Cheers

goodfoot

I had just purchased the Lhasa from my LBS for my LHT w/ 26" wheels. It appeared to be a perfect fit. However, when I took it home and tried installing it, I couldn't match the upper hole with the braze-ons on the fork. Even if I was able to screw it on to the fork, the platform hits the break cable. Unless I'm grossly overlooking something, the Lhasa isn't designed to fit my LHT. Too bad, I really liked it. The price was right, too.

fietsbob

A Bit of DIY will get a couple adapters made .
I had to make something 20 years ago
I got a Specialized Expedition, the whole batch got the Low rider boss site wrong.

They threw in a 2 hole strip piece, 2, to be a patch fix for the too low boss.

I made one out of Aluminum Angle 'Iron' drilled 3 holes in a triangular pattern.

so when any 1 bolt may have loosened, (They never did)
the bracket would not pivot around it.

So put on your handy-person's hat.

mawwwk

I got a sweet deal on a Surly Nice Rack for the front of my touring/commuter bike. It was/is rated to hold 80 lbs, which is about twice what the Jannd or Lhasa. It was a bit of a chore to install, and really isn't that well adapted for disc brakes like it claims. but, it's a nice rack, that doesn't interfere with the movement of front wheel like the Jannd does.

I can mount my front panniers really low for good stability and weight distribution. And, with the top surface I can strap down odds and ends very easily, without hindering access to my panniers. The rack is really well designed, except for the disc brake adaptable claim..

Overall I'm really happy, and since I got it for about 10$ than I would of paid for the Jannd I'm going to stick with it.