Rack design?

[jpw]

Okey dokey, I'm designing myself a rear rack to be built in stainless steel. I'm looking for ideas from the forum about features I might want to included in the design. I'm dividing it in two, aesthetic considerations and practical usage considerations. The rack will be on my Legend CX frame which has mounting eyelets at the dropouts and stay bridge tubes. The rack will be designed to attach like an Old Man Mountain rack, at the cantilever bosses. I want to use the rack to carry a pair of either Arkel or Ortlieb bags for lightish Euro travel with train rides included, and not full-on touring across the deserts of Africa, but also urban transport and day trips/ commuting-type journeys et.c.

So far I've come up with the idea of a symmetrical 'v' shape with the angle of the seat stay forming one side of the 'v' and the rear struts forming the other side. That might look quite nice aesthetically, but structurally who knows(?).

How much height should be included in the top platform above the wheel tread to accommodate any type of fender (metal, wood, thick, thin et.c.) 1 inch, would that be enough?

I've thought about light and reflector fittings, but I'm not sure what type and where. and how many.

Also, I've seen racks with top platforms that have side 'slots' to accommodate u locks. Seems a good idea.

Should I include 'stoppers' at the ends of the platform?

How wide would be good for the platform? How long?

Racks 'seem' simple, but I don't have too much experience.

Any pearls of wisdom gratefully received. Thanks, Jason.

[palincss]

How much height should be included in the top platform above the wheel tread to accommodate any type of fender (metal, wood, thick, thin et.c.) 1 inch, would that be enough?


You've got the bike and the fenders, right? Install the fenders and measure. And since this is a custom, why are you worried about accommodating "any type of fender"? We're talking pure custom here, make it fit the one YOU have on YOUR bike, not any fender on anybody's bike.

[cp43]

You might want to think about a second rail for mounting the panniers lower than the top platform. Something like what Tubus does on the Logo.

Tubus Logo (http://www.tubus.com/en/rear-carriers/logo-expedition)

That would allow you to still have the ability to easily tie things down on the top of the rack with the panniers in place. Not sure if you need to be able to do that, just something to think about.

Chris

[jpw]

You might want to think about a second rail for mounting the panniers lower than the top platform. Something like what Tubus does on the Logo.

Tubus Logo (http://www.tubus.com/en/rear-carriers/logo-expedition)

That would allow you to still have the ability to easily tie things down on the top of the rack with the panniers in place. Not sure if you need to be able to do that, just something to think about.

Chris

OK, so do you mean that I could Have the top of the pannier bags flush with the top platform by having the second lower rail? I guess it depends on which bags I choose and where the mounting hooks are positioned on them.

Do you think it is a good idea to choose the bags first?

[xjoex]

Choose the bags first (Ortlieb Backroller Classics if I may suggest) and then base your custom rack off of a Tubus like suggested above.

-Joe

[cp43]

OK, so do you mean that I could Have the top of the pannier bags flush with the top platform by having the second lower rail? I guess it depends on which bags I choose and where the mounting hooks are positioned on them.

Do you think it is a good idea to choose the bags first?

Correct, if you lower the mounting rail of the panniers you can keep the top of the pannier even with, or below, the top of the platform. You are also correct that it would depend on your panniers, some don't stick up much above the rail, others, a couple inches.

If you haven't picked panniers yet, you could just have a rail low enough to accommodate the "tallest" bag you're considering. I'm not sure how easy it is to find that measurement though.


Chris

[palincss]

If you're trending towards lowriders in the rear, that setup is said to be very sensitive to left-right load imbalance compared to the more typical, higher rear pannier placement. An article in BQ I recall from a couple of years ago showed French tourists with this setup using fish scales to accurately balance their load.

[RPS]

If you're trending towards lowriders in the rear, that setup is said to be very sensitive to left-right load imbalance compared to the more typical, higher rear pannier placement. An article in BQ I recall from a couple of years ago showed French tourists with this setup using fish scales to accurately balance their load.
palincss, did they mention or give a reason why that's the case?

[cp43]

If you're trending towards lowriders in the rear, that setup is said to be very sensitive to left-right load imbalance compared to the more typical, higher rear pannier placement. An article in BQ I recall from a couple of years ago showed French tourists with this setup using fish scales to accurately balance their load.

I'm basing my suggestion on the topeak rack I have on my commuter, which has a second lower bar ~1.5 to 2 inches lower than the top of the platform. I haven't noticed any imbalance issues, and I routinely ride with a noticeably heavier load on one side. I can't say that there wouldn't be problems if the loads were much lower tho.

Chris

[palincss]

palincss, did they mention or give a reason why that's the case?

Not that I recall.

[RPS]

Not that I recall.
Thanks. Interesting that it should make that much difference, although I see the need to keep the combined CG over tire patches.