What do Riv riders like for front low rider racks?

[Edwin W]

I have a Joe Appaloosa with a Mark’s rack, Wald medium and a rear rack.That is all fine and good, but I was thinking of getting a front lowrider rack to throw on when I am going camping. Partly to experiment with weight distribution. 

What do you all like? 

I see the Tubus Duo (need double sided eyelets which I have) and Tara (which has the hoop). $120

Salsa Down Under Rack. Aluminum. $65

Riv Hub Area rack. 7 lb (really?) weight limit. Sold out/discontinued.

Any others that people love? Thoughts on steel v aluminum?

Thanks!

Edwin

[Bob Lovejoy]

Without true mid-fork lowrider rack mounts, I use a Nitto 27F Campee rack on my Appaloosa.  That said, it would take the place of your Mark's rack.  The low rider portions of the 27F are removable so there is some weight savings possible when not in loaded mode.  Also, the choice of front bags may be a little limited as the height of the lowrider portions of the 27F is a little short for some panniers.  I use old Carradice front panniers and they are working for me when needed.

I could be wrong but you will probably need to use P-clamps or another solution for replicating mid-fork mounts for the Tubus or the Salsa racks.  The Riv HA rack would work though as I believe it attaches to the mounts you are probably using for the Mark's rack now.

Attached are very quick shots of my Joe with the 27F...

It could be that people have come up with good ways to use Tubus racks as I know Tubus has various mount options.  I will be interested to find out what people have done.

Hope this helps.

Bob

Galesburg, IL

[William!]

Oh man, did they really discontinue the hoopfull hub area rack as well? It's such a swell rack.

[Jim M.]

Contact Joe B on this list and see what he has from his massive stash of Bruce Gordon racks.

jim m

walnut creek, ca

[Jim M.]

I forgot there's at least 2 Joe B's on the list. Here's part of the stash:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_bunik/page4

[Edwin W]

So the mid fork braze-ons on the Joe Appa are too high? That is, the distance from dropout to mid fork braze-on is greater than "typical?"

Hmmmm

I will be interested to hear what people do.

Thanks!

[Steven Sweedler]

I’ve been using a Gordon low rider for 20 years on 4 different bikes. Some panniers fit better than others. My oldest Ortliebs don’t have vertical adjustment on the ‘flipper’nesr the bottom and it interferes with cross strut on the rack.    Steve

On Sat, Jun 2, 2018 at 11:28 AM William! <william.c...@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh man, did they really discontinue the hoopfull hub area rack as well? It's such a swell rack.

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Steven Sweedler
Plymouth, New Hampshire

[DarinM]

I’m working on a solution for a Tara on my early-2000’s Atlantis w mid-fork eyelets positioned for a 32F rack. They are too high for a level Tara by about 65mm, quite a ways.

I am trying to avoid the Tubus clamp-on things so am working on some drop down brackets to bridge the gap. Hopefully will have something done this week

Darin

[Mojo]

Darin,

I am curious, why are you trying to avoid the Tubus mid fork clamps? Do they damage the fork or create problems?  I haven't used them but am loosely considering them for a performance-bike tour. https://www.jejamescycles.com/tubus-fork-blade-clip-hks3988.html?___store=us

Thanks,

Joe in GJT

[Kainalu V.]

The tubus clamps are a great option. Use some gaffers tape and the provided rubber shim and no harm will come to your fork, guaranteed.
-Kai
BKNY

[Edwin W]

I measured the distance from fork eyelet to Riv. Mid fork eyelets and it is 10” vs the standard 6.5”.

Back to the drawing board.

Still want to hear other work arounds/options.

Edwin

[Kainalu V.]

Option #2- strip and braze (then paint?/wax?/rust)
Then braise, eat, and ride away into the sunset...
-Kai
BKNY

[hugh flynn]

Option #3

Consider the Nitto big front rack (32F I think). Sure, it’s not a low rider, and sure it won’t work with the top rack you currently have, but I believe it will mount to the mid fork braze-ons and it’s a great freakin’ rack for loaded touring. Looking forward to adding mine to my Joe shortly. 

Hugh “Sure, but...” Flynn

Newburyport, MA.

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Hugh Flynn
Newburyport, MA

[DarinM]

Almost purely aesthetic reasons, but also I like the idea of a more rigid mount for a touring bike. That said, I have no experience with the Tubus mounts and have heard they’re very sturdy.

Of course there’s also the tinkering aspect. I have an idea for a better mount so now I have to try.

Darin

[John Rinker]

Edwin,

The literature on my Riv hub-area rack (Nitto MF-2) says 5kg (11lbs) per side. Good luck with your rack!

Cheers,

John

On Saturday, June 2, 2018 at 7:28:05 AM UTC-7, Edwin W wrote:

[Edwin W]

I like this Bob-ish approach (in german, but I get the point). That's what I call custom!

 

http://fahrradzukunft.de/3/packtaschen/

 

Edwin

[Edwin W]

Ah-ha! I found the answer:

Norther Bikes has already made one for a Rivendell Atlantis.

And they made Jan's setup for his Mule.

http://www.northercycles.com/custom-racks/

And it costs $699.

Not quite ready for that level of commitment yet...

Edwin 

[Justin, Oakland]

I am able to flip the struts on my Tubus Tara upside down and they attach to my Saluki’s Nitto-spec braze ons nearly perfectly. This may not work on a fork with a longer axle to crown.

-J

[Tim Gavin]

Justin-

I can't imagine that the struts sit level.  What bag do you mount, and how?

On Mon, Jun 4, 2018 at 1:12 PM, Justin, Oakland <justin...@gmail.com> wrote:

I am able to flip the struts on my Tubus Tara upside down and they attach to my Saluki’s Nitto-spec braze ons nearly perfectly. This may not work on a fork with a longer axle to crown.

-J

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[Dave Johnston]

What size Joe is this? If it's a 700c model I think you could use a Tubus Smarti, to the braze ons. If its another size you can use the smarti onto the canti's which is what it is designed for.

Here is a pic on a 650b Joe, but the struts aren't level but usable. I think it would work better on a 700c model.

-Dave J

[Dave Johnston]

Actually after reviewing the picture I take it back. A big 700c might not fit under the hoop on the Smarti.

-Dave J

On Saturday, June 2, 2018 at 10:28:05 AM UTC-4, Edwin W wrote:

[Benz, Sunnyvale, CA]

On Saturday, June 2, 2018 at 7:28:05 AM UTC-7, Edwin W wrote:

I have three bikes with lowrider racks – An older Toyo Atlantis outfitted with Nitto Campee front and rear racks; a Boulder Bicycle All-Road with Velo-Orange's Campeur front rack; and a Litespeed Blue Ridge with traditional lowrider racks from Tubus.

I've ridden all of these bikes with panniers weighing about 10 pounds each on the lowriders, and they all work fine. A few notes:

1. front loading makes steering a little unresponsive at first (but you'll get used to it quickly).
2. Large-ish Ortlieb "Back Roller Plus" panniers fit fine in the front spot, and clear the road, but you'll need to be wary of curbs. I crashed once when the curb (or something) grabbed a front pannier.
3. Structurally, the Tubus traditional lowrider rack felt the most secure and rigid, but they require a lowrider braze-on (urge, no P-clamps) that a lot of forks don't have
4. Although still fully functional, the Nitto and VO racks flex laterally, especially under heavier loads.
5. A positive for the non-traditional Nitto and VO lowrider racks is they are two-in-one, so you can sit a front bag or basket on top.
6. Be aware that the VO rack has an odd lowrider size that didn't really agree with Ortlieb bags (small or large), as it was impossible to find a good perch for the non-elastic stabilizer hook used throughout the Ortlieb pannier line.

Generally speaking, front loading works for me. One thing I did notice and do not like is that you need to retain some resemblance of left-right load balancing for front loading, unlike rear loading. Once, I had it unbalanced (probably by <4 pounds), and was too lazy to move things around. After 30-odd miles, my shoulders became knotted and sore. Be forewarned! I do enjoy being able to pedal off saddle much easier with front load-only versus any permutation with a rear load.

On steel versus aluminum, having owned both, it's steel for me. For one thing, I've never seen aluminum lowrider racks until your link to the Salsa rack; I wonder how rigid they are, with the tubes having relatively small diameter and being tubular. For another, aluminum racks of sufficient strength tend to appear bulky to me (thinking of Topeak racks, which are fully-functional and reasonably priced). Plus you can chrome or nickel-plate steel racks to make them pretty and durable. I know, mostly aesthetics, and especially irrelevant as racks are mostly covered by bags anyway.

[Edwin W]

Dave,
Tubus Smarti? Discontinued, but a few around. I had never heard of those. And they might work. I have 44-622 tires on mine. What size tires do you have?
Can you take a picture of the clearance at the hoop?
They are (were) advertised for up to 622 wheels, but they did not specify tire size.

Thanks!

Edwin

[David Johnston]

I don't have the smarti on at the moment. I was running the stock
~47mm tires. I think they are "kraniums". the side to side clearance
was adequate but not great. I'll have to search old pics to see if I
have one.

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[Igor Shteynbuk]

Hey all,

One thing I wanted to add since our rack was brought up in this topic. The Front Campeur Rack does work just fine with Ortlieb bags. You just need to flip the hardware on the lower runner. Once it is flipped, everything sits snug-as-a-bug-in-a-rug.

Happy riding!

-Igor Shteynbuk