Chris_W

I'm looking for some advice on a new front rack for my new bike. The bike has the mounting point half-way up the fork, but it does not go all the way through. On my other touring bikes (Dawes Horizon then Trek 520), the mounting point went all the way through the fork so that a rack like this (a Blackburn CL1) could be bolted onto them quite securely:

I like the aesthetic and simplicity of not having the loop over the front wheel, and it was always sturdy enough for my needs - I never had any problems in a couple thousand miles of use over several years.

Obviously, this kind of rack will not fit my new bike which doesn't have the extra mounting point on the inside of the fork blades, so I've been looking at other options. I found one rack (a Madison Summit Lo-Rider) that only attaches to the outside of the fork blades and doesn't have a loop over the front wheel:

However, is it going to be a problem to only have two mounting points for the rack? Will it allow too much twisting that would normally be prevented by the third mounting point on the inside of the fork or by the loop over the wheel connecting the two racks? Or, I am just not understanding the forces and mechanics that are involved enough?
If you look closely at the picture of the Madison rack above, it appears that there could be a third fixing point where the fender stays attach, but in fact the rack is not attached there, as you can see by this other picture of a black version of the same rack with all of it's fixing hardware:


This is not the only rack available like this, the fixing system for the Axiom Journey 2 Lowrider seems very similar:


I won't be putting a lot of stuff up front, just a pair of 25 liter Ortlieb front-roller panniers. This is actually to go on our new touring tandem (Co-motion Speedster), but the fact that its a tandem shouldn't make any difference to these questions.

Again, I'd like to go with this design because I lke the simiplicity and aesthetics, but I'm unsure about the mechanics. Hopefully there are some smarter people than I am who can give some educated answers to my concerns.

Thanks a lot, Chris.

Chris_W

Update: I've been continuing to research this. It appears that the Madison rack that I showed is just a re-branded version of the original Axiom Journey Lowrider rack:


It therefore appears that there is only one company making racks in this style. The differences between this original version of the Journey Lowrider (and so also the Madison rack) and version 2 that I showed above are that it's "34% lighter and 25% stiffer than original Journey Lowrider" and they've added "Exclusive safety tabs prevent bag hooks from accidentally slilding off".

Axiom also make the "Tour du Monde" (= World Tour) lowrider, which is a beefier version of the Journey 2 Lowrider - weighing 600 grams instead of 380 grams and rated for 50 kg instead of 30 kg:


I guess the design must be OK if they can make a product rated up to this level, but I'd still like to hear what other people think about this.

staehpj1

I am guessing that with so many well respected brads offering racks like that it is OK. If you are concerned you could go with a design that bridges the two racks with an arch like so:

The Blackburn Lowrider clones like that are available for cheap from Nashbar and Performance. I have found them quite sturdy and functional. They are also pretty light. Best of all, they cost a fraction of what some of the racks on the market do.

Chris_W

Since discovering that there is basically just one rack that I'm talking about here, the Axiom Journey LowRider and all of it's variants, I've been more successful with my search for information. I found this thread by searching BikeForums with Google: Axiom Journal Lowrider mounting, with most comments concentrating on the interference between the rack and the front wheel's quick release. However, two useful comments about load-bearing capacity were: "I was convinced by others that the absence of an anti-sway bridge was a bad idea if carrying anything other then very light weight on the front" and "it's prone to fail under a load not that heavy".

I also found this useful website: bicycleluggageracks.com , which states that "This is the only non-braze-on low-rider rack that doesn't have the extra support of a hoop over the wheel. I would be very cautious about using this rack." Interestingly, I found this image on that site of a rack equivalent to the Blackburn that I already have which is attached on only one side of the fork blades. This seems very strange to me, but they do not comment on it. Is this normal practice with this rack?

Mr. Jim

I have the Axiom S shaped rack above and it mounts to the outside of the fork only, no problems at all, I've never seen the "around the fork" mount used before.

julk

You run the risk that either front rack will loosen or break a mid fork fixing bolt and then turn into the spokes under load and over bumps. The result of that happening would probably be serious.

I carry up to 12kg on the front rack and ride some rough trails at times. My money went on front racks that either had a loop over the front wheel or bolted on to both sides of the fork at around 165mm from the dropout. They are very solid as a result. I feel as safe as I can be with my setup.

It is up to you to assess what your own risk is and choose the racks you have confidence in.

Josef Taylor

I never liked the Blackburn lowrider I have. Even with the over-the-wheel hoop, I always felt like it moved around a lot. The hoop is attached to the frames by P-clamps, which allowed a fair bit of flex, and the hoop itself is pretty small diameter rod. I like to put a fair amount of the weight up front though, so others may not have a stiffness problem with this one.

Also, in order to attach the rack to mid fork eyelets, the lower attachment arm must be bent into shape- not something I'm comfortable doing very much to fatigue prone aluminum.

Furthering my dislike, the plate along the top keeps my Ortliebs from hooking on securely (even if the tabs go through the little holes provided).

I've been looking at the Jandd, but it, like the Blackburn makes it difficult to remove the front wheel, as the skewer is enclosed in the frame. The Tubus Tara solves this problem. I'll probably get either the Jandd or the Tubus soon.

staehpj1

I haven't found the nashbar ones to flex noticeably. The Performance one with larger diameter tubing are stiffer yet. How much is "a fair amount of weight" in this case? Is yours the original blackburn or a clone?

Not sure what you mean. I didn't need to bend anything. I did need to add a bit of spacer at the mid fork mount point.

I don't have ortleibs so I don't know about that. Would some extra or larger holes in plate fix that?

True, but it is a minor annoyance to take the skewer out.

Good luck with whatever you get.

DukeArcher 

Quite right staehpj1, it is easy to take the skewer out, and you shouldn't have to be taking the wheel off all that often...if so you need better tyres! The front wheel comes out from the Jannd on my bike quite freely even without removing the skewer (XT hub/skewer).

Josef Taylor

it is an original blackburn rack. I took them across the states with two front-packers, and it wasn't bad. When I went down the west coast with my back-rollers in front, and a rear trunk bag, it was too much. I don't know how much weight it was, but I was touring with about 30 pounds, and most of it was up front.

I had to bend the struts up or down to fit it on my bike (to accommodate the distance between the fork eyelets and the mid-fork eyelets, and get the rack level. Got to be level.) and then later put it on my dad's bike, which required some adjustment, and then it went back on my bike, so it's had a few big bends.

Thanks for the tip on the Nashbars. I'll have to look into those.