Racks, front and rear — need feeback
 

I am having a utility bike built for me.

Mostly, this bike will be used for commuting to work (it will have fenders and generator hub and lights fore and aft) and for runs to the grocery store.

The build includes custom racks. Can't decide on the racks, though.

Idea 1 — a porteur-style on the front. A standard rack on the back, for hooking on my Wald folding baskets.

Idea 2 — Why go with a porteur that I will need to strap everything down to? Why not have a porteur but with some sides, basket-like — something I could drop groceries or other goods in without strapping it down?

Idea 3 — F the folding Walds! They'll just cheese up my new bike. So, why not put a wide rack/basket back there, too?

Any ideas? Feedback?

What is the geometry of the new bike? Some are better suited to front loads than others. I prefer to keep most of my stuff behind me with just a few items in a basket on the front, but most of my bikes handle better with the loads in the rear. My tour bike does a bit better with the heavier load on the front, but down low. FWIW I use huge rear panniers with a small front basket on my city bike, I also have an old Raleigh Sports with baskets front and rear.

Aaron:)

pass and stow front rack.

I recently bought a Torker Cargo T bike and it has a huge front rack and a heavy duty rear rack. I am going to either fabricate some rectangular rear cargo boxes out of diamond plate aluminum, 1/8 inch flat stock or buy a pair of heavy duty plastic tool boxes and attach J-Hooks to hang them from the rack with a lower attached bungee cord to secure them. My problem with many of the rear factory cargo Bike baskets is they aren't big enough or configured correctly for carrying certain items like Square boxes. Case in point, I have the Largest Set of Wald Baskets #535 (like 18x13x7) on my old Beater but the problem is they are tapered from Top to bottom. The problem is if you are carrying a Gallon of Milk or paint, the basket at the bottom is too narrow to allow you to put it all the way down in the basket securely. That's an otherwise fine rack for the money. In my checking out a few toolbox websites, as well as Amazon.com, I have found a couple of Tool boxes that would suit my needs. Klein is one, Sears is another place. They are Rectangular and have a hinged or detachable Lid and are approx 18" long, 12 inches high and approx 8 inches wide. And they add little to the weight. They retail from around $19- $30 and it would be easy to attach a hasp to lock and secure the contents. Not to forget, they come in Bright Orange or Safety Yellow color schemes with a black Lid. That's my low cost solution

My Recent purchase:http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_G1N4SIcd-j...-h/Cargo_T.jpg

Geometry for sure is the key.

I like a basket in front for throwing stuff into, but not for heavy loads.

I like the heavy stuff in lowriders in front. I like the front basket to be as low as possible. My 20" folder has got low frontbasket plus lowriders. I put most of the weight in the front when touring with it plus a traier if needed.

Sounds like you need a longtail. I am building a 20" longtail just now. Good since it is shorter than other longtails andcarrying the weight lower.

This bike won't be a longtail. This is light stuff -- just a run to the grocery store. It will be a classic frame, drop bars -- on the fast end of the utility spectrum.

Most of the weight will be carried on the back.

Miamimike -- I had the same problem with the tapered baskets -- big at the top, but small at the bottom. Wouldn't hold a gallon of milk or a lot of other things. Great for books, maybe.

The Wald folding baskets are sized for grocery bags. Those solved that problem. I sold my tapered baskets to a college professor, who needed them for hauling ... books.

What about Idea 4? Get a frame-mounted front rack and detachable plastic bin for a basket.

It might look like this.
Clever Cycles sells the rack, or get it from David Hembrow.

Frame-mounted front racks have an enormous advantage over fork-mounted front racks: The cargo on a frame-mounted front rack does not affect your steering. Turn your wheel and your cargo continues to point forward instead of pointing in the direction of your turn forcing you to countersteer slightly.

I have no opinion about the front, but at the rear, baskets are not for me

• Baskets are not flexible. Thus, they can't be overstuffed when you need to get that last thing in, nor can you carry a watermelon (or anything else that's oddly-shaped) in one. I can do both with my nylon grocery panniers.
  
• Baskets are not waterproof. My commuting panniers are.
  
• Baskets are a permanent fixture and can't be quickly removed or changed. I have different panniers for different needs. Also, in my case, living in a third-floor walkup, it's nice to be able to remove the panniers before carrying the bike upstairs. Even empty, they add bulk when turning on the landings.
  
• I don't know about the current generations, but growing up, I was a paperboy and had Wald paperboy baskets front and rear. I hated the rattling. Unladen, people could hear me coming for a quarter-mile.

What I prefer and works very well for me is a dual-siderail rear rack.

• I can attach only what I need for the day or the ride. There's no excess to drag through the headwinds, and it's smaller and easier to park at work.
  
• The lower siderails make it easy to mount the panniers and still use a trunk bag.
  
• Lower siderails yield a lower center-of-gravity.

For mid- to high-trail bikes, this set up would work well. But for low-trail bikes, then you're better off with the weight in front. The porteur racks were meant for lower trail bikes, which you probably already know. I like them without side rails, as it opens up the range of sizes I can carry, including sleeping bag and tent, bags of pet food plus my own groceries on top, bike stuff like wheels/rims, and so on. I've carried a lot of unanticipated loads this way, just because it was do-able. You can also just bungee a basket to the rack when you need to haul smaller loose items. Good luck with your build. It sounds like a fun one.

I believe that the rack from Clever Cycles will only fit on Azor bikes. I have not seen the rack but they caution that it will only fit Dutch bikes not most American bikes.

It looks like the one from David Hembrow is handle bar mount which will limit the loads you will want to carry.

Aaron

I installed a rear rack on the front of my bike and use a Longaberger basket for grocery runs (I've got panniers on the rear rack). It works out well. I bungee the Longaberger basket to the front rack.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=140582

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=140583

I'm thinking now, as regards the rear, of having him build a rack to which I can easily and quickly hang the baskets — or panniers (which I don't have and have never used).

That way I am not always lugging around something I don't need.

To be honest, a big part of this is aesthetics — I want it to look good.

I still love the Wald twin rear baskets, folding or non-folding.

The "pick up" rack will fit on any bike with a straight downtube having a diameter less than 32mm. With some creativity, you can fit it onto oval downtubes.

The "pick up" rack will fit on any bike with a straight downtube having a diameter less than 32mm. With some creativity, you can fit it onto oval downtubes.

I like the idea of a frame mounted front rack. ( note to self: Keep in mind for the Dummy build.)
I have no issues carrying things that I may, or may not, need. I would lot rather have it and not need it, than NEED it, and not have it.
I am also a longtail fan. Just because you never know what you may find and decide to haul home.

Nwmtnbkr, Did you have special/custom hardware to attach the rear rack on the front? I couldn't quite tell from the picture. When I tried to do the same thing, I had to give it up as a lost cause.

xtrajack,

I didn't use any specialized hardware to mount the Wald rear rack to the front of my bike, just P-clamps and a pack of L-brackets. I straightened two of the L-brackets to mount the rack's support arms to the P-clamps. I used a third L-bracket to mount to the center hole of the V-brake post. It's working out very well on shopping runs (I bungee a Longaberger basket to it).

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=141692

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=141693

Update -- Here's what I have in mind for the front rack, something close to this one, by Ahearne Cycles:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22210180@N03/2198803472

Out back, something simple and clean. Leaning heavily now toward getting some panniers, because I can use them when I need them and strip them off when I don't.