Hi folks,

I recently bought a Blackburn EX-1 rear rack in slightly unused condition. I'm trying to fit it on a mid-2000s Jamis Aurora, and am finding I have to REALLY pull the legs/struts apart in order to get them over the eyelets. I did a search, and I think some posts on bikeforums.net said that the standard rack strut width is 160mm. The width of this rack (measured from inside-to-inside of the struts) is 110mm.

Is that normal for this rack? Do they come in different widths? I'm thinking this one was perhaps modified?

Any other ideas?

(Not sure this is the best place for this post, but I couldn't think of a more appropriate forum.)

Thanks!

If I follow correctly and you are talking about spreading the rack to fit the drop outs, I have installed several and always just bent them until they fit.

Yes, that's what I meant. I was just surprised I had to spread them THAT far apart... it's not just a few mm's, but a good 4-5 cm total. I really have to pry the legs apart.

Was wondering if that's a thing with this particular model, or perhaps with older versions (mine seems it could be a slightly older EX-1).

the shipping cost of them benefits them not taking up a lot of space.. in the box..

as a reference, last year I got a narrow rack (top flat area, bottom appeared "normal") for my wifes new bike. It was set up to go on via the skewer, but I figured I'd try to see how it went on using the rack bolt holes in the frame. I too was surprised how much the rack had to be spread out, and frankly didnt like how it was then so tight on the rear end of the bike, plus being problematic for lining up the bolts in the holes because of all the stress on the rack when spread out to get around the frame.
I guess I should have worked the rack (alu) carefully over a log or something, to slightly bend the struts out more (like when straightening out a ski pole if you've ever fallen on a ski pole in the bottom of a mogul, if careful over a curved surface you can gently , a bit at a time, bend it back straight) but in the end, the skewer system worked well as it was slightly inward compared to the rack holes in the frame.
Not sure if I described it right, but if you do want to bend the rack struts, do it over a rounded thickish object to do it bit by bit, and not just in one specific area. I was afraid of breaking the rack as well, so didnt really force it to stay wider than it was , not by much anyway, I recall I did tweak both struts out a certain amount, but not as much as I would have liked to.

djb, by skewer, do you mean the quick release skewer? I don't think mine will attach that way; it's designed to mount on the eyelets.

I may try to bent the struts carefully, as you suggested, thanks for the info!

Yes, its a rack designed for road bikes with no rack eyelets so can use the quick release skewer for the lower part, and the top of the rack mounts to road brakes via the bolt.

https://www.axiomgear.com/products/ge...iner-road-dlx/

Perhaps I was being overly careful about bending the rack struts further outward, just didn't want to break it. Perhaps you could ask at a bike store about making it wider as I'm sure they have experience.