Front rack pointers (DIY)

[p nut]

I'm looking to make a front rack for my wife's bike (for her b-day). Looked at VO racks and Nitto, but maybe making something would be even better. I thought of using a hard wood for the base (Cherry or Cedar). Thinking of having my daughter paint a little flower or something girly before putting the finishing coat on. I think fashioning some metal brackets for the struts would be easy enough? I would just bolt these on to the bottom of the board. Same deal with the fork mount.

The question is, I have never used or built a front rack before. Is there something I'm missing? Precautionary measures? I quickly put together a rather spectacular Paint drawing (below) of what I have in my head. It's not going to sit as high as the one below, but you get the idea. The bike is a Surly Disc Trucker, so no canti brakes to mess with or work around. It does have low rider brazeons to attach the struts to. The rack will not carry anything heavy. Just a front bag or basket with small personal items (cell phone, keys, little snacks, etc. Maybe 10lbs at most?), so weight capacity is not a big concern, however, stability is, as we do rides on dirt laden with potholes and stints of washboard. I'm just trying to think if there are any weaknesses to the design. Pretty much copied VO/Nitto racks, although it's not a full cromo rack, I think the rack will be stout enough for its uses.

Any input welcome. Thanks.

[559Rando]

There was a similar DIY rack in an early Bicycle Quarterly. I I can find the reference I'll post back. The key part used was a Park handlebar holder.


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[Coluber42]

The one thing I'd be concerned about, stability-wise, is the rack racking from side to side. It would be the biggest potential issue when steering suddenly or riding hard out of the saddle. You might be able to improve that a bit by using the eyelets near the dropouts as well as the lowrider mounts. Or you could make it attach at the stem or handlebars, like a decaleur.

The other thing that sticks out to me is that it might be better with side rails more like a very shallow crate, so that it's easier to just dump a bag in it and then pull a cargo net over it to keep stuff from falling out. A flat platform is good if you have a bag meant specifically for it, but I think it's more useful to have some easy way of just tossing whatever you're already carrying onto it and strapping it down.

But basically, I think it looks fine and it sounds like a nice birthday present!

[donevwil]

From what I can find online the front-end on the Disc Trucker has pretty high trail, is it a viable candidate for a large front rack ? I'm thinking a large cargo rack as you show may result in a floppy front end and scary handling ?

[Cat3roadracer]

Take a look at the Paul Component web site. They have exactly what you want.

[cromo900]

I built a similar front rack, definitely not as solid side to side as I had hoped. If I were to do it again I would try to make the most rigid interface between the bike, struts and rack as possible in order to minimize flex at all those points. Ultimately I took the rack off the cruiser, if I were to put it back on I would weld the support struts directly to the rack, but at the time I wanted it to be able to be fitted to more than one bike.

[559Rando]

There was a similar DIY rack in an early Bicycle Quarterly. I I can find the reference I'll post back. The key part used was a Park handlebar holder.

Vol. 9, No. 3 (Spring 2011), pg 32
Project: Do-It-Yourself Porteur Rack

[p nut]

Thanks for all of the feedback and info.

The rack I drew up is not to scale. It will probably measure approximately 5" wide and 8" long. I'll probably have either a custom bag made or get something like this:

http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/bastss.htm

So I hope stability won't be an issue with this smaller rack. I will just use the lowrider brazeons and see if that will work. If not, I will either add a stem or axle struts.

[bart998]

Instead of attaching each leg separately, make them one piece, like a "U". Then attach that to the wood platform. The wider the base of the "U", the better.

[oliver1850]

You might use something like the clamp below to attach the frame to the handlebar, or maybe the stem.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-PCS-Bike-Bicycle-Metal-Durable-Water-Bottle-Cage-Handlebar-Bar-Adapter-Tool-/200949982663?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec98d65c7#ht_2043wt_1219

There might be something higher quality out there. This one is 23 mm, so made to clamp outboard of the bulged center section of the bar. It might work if you used two and wanted them widely spaced, or you could shim it to use on a quill stem. Be careful that the bolts you use aren't too long, or they will dent/puncture the handlebar. It would be better to Loctite a stud in them and use a nut.