Rivendell / VO Randonneur Front Rack with Decaleur compatibility? -- also, trade me? (FT)

[Patch T]

Hey Bunch,

Currently I have a Nitto 32F Mini Front Rack on my Quickbeam, it's great, but I would like to carry a Med size Swift Ozette.

Does anyone know if the legs on the VO Randonneur Rack line up well with the mid-fork tabs on the orange Quickbeams? VO website says 3.75" below the bottom of the fork crown, but I'm seeing about 3.5" from the top of the tabs to the bottom of the fork crown on my QB, and of course slightly more if I measure from the center of the tabs.

Yes I could get the Pass Hunter and mount to cantis; yes I could just get a fork-mount decaleur and keep my current rack. But I want to use the tabs bc they're there, goshdarn, and I'd prefer the whole set up be one piece rather than two.

Lastly, say this works, and perhaps I'll just start a new thread, but does anyone want to trade me for my Nitto 32F? Or for a used Mark's Rack I have as well?

Thanks!

Love,

Patch 

LACA

[Justin, Oakland]

1) They don't line up. VO chose not to go with the Nitto spec. It's annoying
2) Many folks have expressed displeasure with the longevity and performance of those integrated racks/decaleur combos. I have no opinion but it's out there.

-Justin

[Orc]

On Friday, March 31, 2017 at 10:23:13 AM UTC-7, Justin, Oakland wrote:

2) Many folks have expressed displeasure with the longevity and performance of those integrated racks/decaleur combos.

Not surprising.  An integrated decaleur is basically a big lever that a loaded bag can use to twist the rear of the rack back and forth.   The best reason to have a decaleur (if you're going to have a tiny rack that's not wide enough to properly support the bag) is to tie the top of the bag to the frame, which even on the most flexy bicycle out there is still going to be stout enough not to be twisted by the 10-40 pounds of junk in your rando bag.

[Steve Palincsar]

And they've been known to break.

[Patch T]

Thanks for the input. 

Orc, I hear what you're saying.

I have never used a rando bag, have been basketting, and am wholly open to any and all advice.

Web-information in certain places claims more solidity, less rattle, less weight with an all-in-one rack and decaleur unit. 

Also since reading these responses, and researching more, have learned that some folks say no to decaleur altogether, so long as the bag can be strapped to the rack base and tombstone.

Or, best off to have something secured to the stem as well?

Thanks

Love,

Patch

LACA

[Orc]

When I make a bigger porteur bag I'll usually sew in a couple of straps that I can loop around the handlebars to keep the bag from sliding forward (I use drop bars on everything I ride, so I can't just have huge loads expand sideways because then they infringe on my shifters and brakes) but the loads I'd put in those bags are enough to bend an integrated decaleur all to hell and back.

I'm not sure about the weight gains, though.  A custom Herse-style receiver that mounts to the handlebar clamp bolts might weight slightly more than an integrated receiver, but that's because it will need a couple of pieces of steel plate for the clamp bolt mount tabs and those are only 8-10 grams (there is likely less tubing to go from the stem to the receiver that it takes to reach up from the rack deck, but .028 5/16ths tubing doesn't weigh that much so you don't win there.)

Wider racks are better;  if the rack is as wide as the bag it won't want to slosh off to one side or another as enthusiastically as it would on a skinny rack.    If you've got a tall unlined bag with any sort of load it will shimmy nevertheless, but if the load isn't heavy enough to make the bag sag forward you don't need a decaleur and if you've got a cargo net you can hook it around your handlebars & the rack to keep everything in place.

(I've only got one rack that's narrower than the bag I put on it -- a 7x7 rack on my light bicycle with a 9x6x7 rando bag I originally sewed for an 8x8 platform.   It shimmies more than the better-fitted racks and bags, but thankfully not enough to be unridable.)

-david parsons