Nitto 32F Rack weight limit?

[Zac Terrones]

Looks like a lot of the sites say 4.4lbs. Are they saying that just to be safe? Analog says 15lbs and if you're gonna go over to use a voile strap. Has anyone tested this? Anyone pushing that 4.4lb limit regularly? 

I want to throw a basket on it for grocery shopping. The soma rack I have now attaches to the lower fork mounts but because of the headtube angle the rack sits pretty far away from the headtube and a heavy load feels sloppy way out there. 

[Brian McDermott]

I've always thought the "weight limit" on that rack was absurdly low, especially for such an expensive item. If you put a bag or basket on it, there's half of the weight capacity taken up already. They just put that very conservative rating on it so that you don't load it up with 25 lbs of crap. I would say 15 is safe, and really, who would want that much weight that high anyway?

[Patrick Moore]

I've been puzzled by Nitto's and consequently Rivendell's -- yes, absurdly low -- weight limits for racks that are sold as the top in design and quality and price. I see that the Riv product copy instructs users to use the strap right after stating the 2 kg weight limit for this $160 rack. The logical response to this would be to say, "Hell no!" and buy something else.

Now I don't believe that Nitto products are merely precious and expensive and useless bling; I'm very familiar with Nitto stems, seatposts, and bars. But I have chosen Tubus racks because they offer very generous weight limits -- 44 lb for the 12 oz Tubus Fly (chromo; my ss one -- Luna -- is a wee bit heavier and with a slightly lower limit), and I've used several over thousands of miles under sometimes limit-pushing (even exceeding) loads with no problem; short shopping trips, true, but a lot of them and with heavy loads. Of course, for truly expensive rack bling, you could choose the titanium GBP386 Airy at 8 oz and rated for 66 lb!

[brendonoid]

I've never used a rack that wasn't stronger than the M5 stainless steel screws attaching it to the bike.

Years ago Riv said don't put baskets on this rack. With all sorts of wink wink caveats and the advice to always put a strap around your rack/basket to your handlebar.

From memory, Nitto had a lot of issues with the 32f because wald baskets allowed too much leverage on the crown brace and it would fatigue fail. So not really a weight problem but a torque, use case problem. Front racks failing, falling into front wheels is very serious accident bad, something a company would want to legally distance itself from.

I have never had a Nitto rack come even close to failing and I've put crazy stupid weights on most of them.

[Joe Bernard]

This is why Riv got Nitto to make a Basket Rack. They kinda backed themselves into a world of riders putting big loads in a big basket on a little rack on the if-the-wheel-locks-up-things-get-ugly-fast end of the bike and...you don't want that. 

I tried it, I hated the way it affected the steering, I run most of my load on the back now. My recommendation is to keep basket loads in the range of weight you would normally allow a bar bag to run. And use that strap. 

Joe "safer than sorry" Bernard 

[Luke Hendrickson]

This is why I’ve just opted for the five rail rack from Pass & Stow: 25lbs or less suggested, rated to 50lbs, and can handle 200lbs. I’ll never need all that it can offer tbh.

[Zac Terrones]

The pass and stow is nice but im going for something lighter that hopefully sits closer to the headtube. having the load out in front of the axle like that feels too sloppy for me. I think im gonna try the 32f with a beefy strap and just not go too crazy on the load. 

[Minh]

this has been discussed many times before.  in this age of litigation, nitto has always been conservative with their weight ratings, but we're all adults and have to make our own decisions.  that said, and keep in mind this comes from someone thats been running a nitto mini front for over 10 years with a basket, you can get away with more weight.  now even i would say, if your plan is to bring back 15-20 lbs of whatever often, then thats not a good idea (imo), but for occasional heavy loads, its fine.  

my bigger issue with this combo is i think the smaller racks are not wide enough of a platform for stability to secure a basket.  i recently switched to a nitto/simworks obento rack and its been a little more stable.   

you don't mention what bike you are planning for this, but if its a rivendell, most of them do not steer well with a heavy front load, which is another reason to keep it light.  

[Garth]

Yeah, I always thought it goofy also to buy a tiny rack and then put a big wire basket on top of it and expect it to be stable. Even if one does it anyway, in "zac's" case with a shallow head tube frame, the 32f is poor choice as it has no adjustability in any way to get it close-r to the head tube. While a M 18 or Marks rack would offer that, more platform and relative strength is called for here. The Soma/VO Porteur racks are fully adjustable and there's no concern with loads. The VO includes a platform fence, no cheap wire basket needed. How the bike may feel/handle, well that's a separate story.

[Will M]

@ Zac: The 32F on my Quickbeam routinely exceeds the 4.4-lb load. I'd go with Analog's 15-lb limit.  As load increases, slow-speed steering weirdness becomes the constraint long before one worries about rack integrity.  Using archive.org, I just took a peak at http://www.rivendellbicycles.com/webalog/baggage_racks/20020.html from February 2006 (about the vintage of mine), and see that they did not publish a weight limits nor recommend tether straps back in the day.  When did published limits appear?  Anecdotally... I've walked my 4-year-old (30+ pounds) home from school while she sat backward on the 32F rack (I pushed the bike).  And the similar VO Rando rack has a 12-pound rated limit, tho' it has straight stays to the fork blade eyelets. 

[Zac Terrones]

Hey Will thanks! That's exactly what I was after. 

Re: the non published weight limits/tether advice, I wonder if it's because of failures that happened? Either way I don't plan to put a ton of weight on it. I think it'll be alright. 

[Bill Lindsay]

Sean referred to a Rene Herse UD-1 rack as "listed if anyone ... is interested"

Does that mean it is offered for sale? Is it offered as-pictured, missing all the hardware?  What's your price?

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

On Monday, February 13, 2023 at 8:47:50 PM UTC-8 Sean, PNW wrote:

I've a Rene Herse UD-1 rack listed if anyone searching for an adjustable and lightweight rack with a 10 kg (22 lb) weight rating is interested.

It’s very nicely built and high quality w/adjustable struts that can fit the same mounts as a 32f.

Rene Herse specs - https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop/equipment/racks/rene-herse-ud-1-disc/

Pics - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZN_guFpHhKwBSHXI89expGdVdYFwrZH6?usp=sharing

[matt miller]

I think he's referring to a post a few days ago. He has a nice set of images, links and prices. I'll help him out with the link: https://groups.google.com/g/rbw-owners-bunch/c/CH5S8_xA3oA