frpax

I'm looking to add a front rack to my bike and not sure what I want!

I'd like to carry a front bag of some sort, with the option of front panniers. I also don't want to spend much more than $100.

Thanks!


Oh, I'll be putting it on this bike:

wahoonc

I have a Jandd Extreme new they are ~$85, I bought the factory second and didn't see anything wrong with it. I have also used Jim Blackburn and Bor Yeuh.

Aaron

Cyclebum

That Jandd looks like a real winner if you need that much rack space on the front. For panniers only, this Blackburn has done the job for me for 6 years, no problems. It is designed for simple hooks only, not for the positive locking ones like Ortlieb uses. The Jandd would work with those.

Derailed

Here's a picture of my Surly Long Haul Trucker with a Tubus Tara front rack ($96 w/ free shipping from The Touring Store):



It's the only front rack I've ever used, so I have no comparative anecdotal data, but I have had no problems.

wahoonc

I wanted rack space...big time. The planned use for this bike is backcountry off road expeditions. My road tour bike has front platform rack and I have gotten spoiled using the platform for small items. Typically my small tent rides on the front rack. The biggest thing I liked about the Jandd was the ability to low mount or high mount the panniers on the front. I can use the low mounts on the road or smoother trails, but if the going gets rough I can move them up for more ground clearance.

This is a picture of my road tour bike.

Aaron

seeker333

The first thread in Touring (sticky/permanent) has 98 pages of pictures of touring bikes, many with front racks and bags.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ur-loaded-rigs

Derailed

I don't mean to be argumentative, but I think the word "and" is key here, making the photos of loaded rigs not particularly useful for comparing front racks.

(That said, after re-reading the original post, my own post in this thread may have been unhelpful if the OP was specifically looking for a rack with a platform to hold a non-pannier type of bag. Sorry, if that's the case! Personally, I prefer a handlebar bag and a front rack without a platform, but that's just my two cents....)

Chris_in_Miami

This is a Racktime Top-it temporarily mounted on my High Sierra:

frpax

This, I like!

Aushiker

Are you specifically looking for a rack with a platform to take a bag or would you also consider a handlebar bag with a front rack option? Might help to clarify what you are looking for here.

Andrew

MichaelW

Tubus Tara is probably the most efficient design in terms of weight/stiffness and like all Tubus, well proven under the toughest conditions.

wahoonc

As an added note, I do use a handlebar bag in conjunction with my front rack.

Aaron

Derailed

This rack would be fine if your primary purpose is to carry something heavy on the platform, but note how much higher the rails are on it compared to a more traditional low-rider, such as the Tubus Tara or Blackburn FL-1 (as suggested by Cyclebum). This would make it less ideal for carrying panniers, if you eventually go that route. Similarly, note that the Jandd Extreme has multiple rail positions, as pointed out by wahoonc -- those give you more options, but at the expense of extra weight.

bud16415

Here is my homemade front rack made from aluminum flat stock. About $20 in material and a few hours of my time. I do hang two small panniers from the top rail along with whatever I need to strap to the platform.

I plan on redoing the whole thing maybe this winter to make the platform fixed to the frame and the pannier mounts attached to the fork.

BigBlueToe

I have experience with three front racks. I used Blackburn Lowriders for years. They worked fine - no problems. When I bought a new tourer (LHT) I put on a Tubus Tara. It is very solid, without being too heavy. The rod over the wheel connecting the two sides makes a perfect spot for attaching a headlight. However, I wanted to try a rack with a platform for loading more stuff. I bought a Jandd Extreme. It's great. It supports my front panniers solidly. I put my Ursack bearproof (?) food bag and my Big Agnes Insulated Air Core air mattress on top of the platform. That seems to be a good system for me, so I'll stick with the Extreme. The only downside is that the top rear corners of the rack hit the frame when the front wheel flops to the side.

tarwheel 

I've got a Nitto front rack designed for frames with canti brakes, so I should it should fit your bike fine, but it is not designed to hold panniers. There also are very few bags designed to fit the Nitto front rack, so it's not really that useful. Personally I think you would be better off buying something like the Tubus Tara to install when you need front panniers and complementing that with a good handlebar bag, of which there are many good options.

Chris_in_Miami

Agreed, it also sits a bit farther forward than I would like, but it's useful as a platform and a place to mount a headlight. It might sit down a bit closer to the wheel on a 700c fork, but I haven't tried it yet.

LeeG

$.02, panniers mounted at the platform height will be in a compromised position placing it forward of your cantilevers otherwise the panniers will be resting on the brake arms. Some narrower cantilevers will reduce this problem. Placing panniers far forward makes handling kind of crappy compared to low rider or more aft mounted locations closer to fork. For platform height mounted panniers I'd look to a rack than enables you to put the panniers partially over the brakes and utilize panniers like Ortliebs that allow a range of adjustment on a rack.
Either way I'd look to a platform mount that's as low as practical to the tire/fender and back as close to the brake wire as possible. Mounting higher and far forward makes handling worse.
If you're going the Jandd/Surly/Interloc super duty front rack route I'd suggest Surly/Interloc over Jandd because the rack will be hitting the down tube on the Jandd.

https://store.interlocracing.com/lhfrpara.html top side bar and back vertical bend to cut the corner
https://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FREXT see how the top side bar and back vertical bar meet, that's what hits the down tube when front wheel falls to the side while off the bike.
https://surlybikes.com/parts/surly_rack top side bar and back vertical don't meet

The above mondo racks give you a rack and low riders with the Surly giving you more positions closer to the fork and the Interloc Lhasa being the cheapest.

BUT if you want to go a more minimalist route you might consider something like a small platform rack and be willing to modify your front brakes and panniers to allow a more handling friendly position where about 1" of the panniers is behind the fork crown. I've got one of these mounted on my 700c Cross-Check.

https://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...ront-rack.html

It's mounted with p-clamps to the cantilever studs and with the Oryx front brakes the Ortleib panniers barely touch the brakes. I've got some thick gorilla tape at that contact point on the panniers. Braking isn't affected, the levers return when released. With cantilever attachment there's no need for the tang going to the crown so I cut it off. I've carried a six pack in either bag or an 18pack on top and it's perfectly solid. You'll need to wrap some tape on the supports so the panniers don't rattle. With that set-up it's solid platform rack and not heavy/huge when not used. Pannier mount is ok, not as ideal as low riders and requires some accomodation for brakes.

OMM Cold Spring front rack allows for brake clearance, top rack and top pannier mount.

Rob_E

I use an Old Man Mountain Cold Springs front rack. I originally thought I'd want the platform for around town and the ability to carry panniers when I'm traveling, but in reality I mainly use the platform to hold my cue sheet. Grocery bag panniers on the front and a basket on the back make for good grocery runs, although I suppose the reverse would also be true. I still like the platform and want to make better use of it, but first I need to find a bag I like for the front and relocate my crown-mounted headlight.

Unfortunately I don't seem to have really good photos of the rack without anything attached to it. Maybe that speaks to its utility.







edited to add: This rack retails for over $100, but I paid less than $100 by watching eBay for a deal.

bwgride

I use Blackburn MTF-1 front rack. Attached some of my images but these were not of front rack. Here is a better image of another's bike.

https://www.bike-discussions.info/en/9Wwf7wW

fietsbob

Tubus Ergo on one bike , Bruce Gordon , on another,
but both sell for over the C note target.

Aaron's bike in#5, with the Blackburn 70's stuff, or knockoffs, there of,
will get the job done..

himespau 

I have the Jannd and was able to position it so that the rack didn't hit the downtube. Of course, this is after scratching the rack up a bit with the cable stops.

Sorry, no pictures at the moment.

jdswitters

I currently have a blackburn on the front of a nishiki riv. GT The bike handles well enough with a bit of weight in front, prefers it when the back is loaded, but there is a tipping point where everything seems fine on the front rack and then I add one more thing and whamo, it is really bad handling. I suspect this is going to vary with geometry, but when I get a chance my next front rack will just be for small panniers carried low.

The point is that if you can, you may want to try some loads on different style racks at the LBS. If not, I would plan on going low. I too like the looks of the rack time on the High seirra bike, but your bike may not like to carry weight up front that way.

examples of just right on the front platform are a jacket, set of shoes and spare hat or a pizza. things that are too heavy, 10lbs box of laundry detergent.

[IMG][/IMG]

wahoonc

Those are Bor Yueh racks The bike is a basically stock 1989 Giant Excursion, it came with flat bars, I converted to drops.

Aaron