Front racks - canti vs ???

[Alistair]

I'm looking for a small front rack to mount on a Cannondale KillerV I just built up (see the "Show me your 26er thread"). It won't be used for front panniers, or anything heavy - just strapping a dry bag or similar. Maybe a smaller Wald basket.

The fork doesn't have rack bosses, only fender bosses on the back of the drop-out. So, it seems like my best option is a cantilever boss mount. I know Nitto makes one, but I can only find it in silver/chrome. Does anybody make something similar in black?

Failing that, is using stand-offs on the fender bosses a terrible idea? Doesn't seem very sturdy to me, but maybe it's fine?

[unterhausen]

Is it a steel fork? Do it have a hole at the fork crown? A randonneuring rack will do what you want if you have those. It's possible to have a rack that goes to the dropouts and the canti posts, but I suspect it's not too easy to find one off the shelf.

[Mr.Appa]

This has been a go-to for many a 90s MTB townie conversions. Anecdotally I haven't heard of any failures...

https://www.modernbike.com/sunlite-g...ck-26-29-black

[benb]

If you're using it on a bike with Cantis be absolutely sure you're buying a rack that is explicitly designed to fit.

There are some newer racks that no longer work with rim brakes. Disc brakes allow the rack to be positioned a bit closer to the fork & head tube which improves handling. So a lot of racks get in the way of the cable for a rim brake.

I bought an Old Man Mountain rack recently and they thought it would work with a front Canti/V-brake but weren't sure. It doesn't work, putting it level interferes with the 90 degree noodle on my V-brakes. And you can't move it forward and leave it not level because the extenders that attach to the mid-fork eyelets are not long enough.

On top of that modern disc forks often have 3 eyelets up the length of the fork, older rim brake forks seem to sometimes only have one, and it's lower down, so some new racks assume you have the upper eyelets/bolts.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

Is it a steel fork? Do it have a hole at the fork crown? A randonneuring rack will do what you want if you have those. It's possible to have a rack that goes to the dropouts and the canti posts, but I suspect it's not too easy to find one off the shelf.

Metal fork (assuming steel, maybe aluminum?) and it does have a hole in the crown.

I'm just not sure where the rando rack would attach since there's no lower mounts other than the canti bosses and fender mounts (wrong side of dropout to work without a stand-off of some sort).

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by benb

If you're using it on a bike with Cantis be absolutely sure you're buying a rack that is explicitly designed to fit.

Yeah, that's part of the problem - most newer racks are disc/TA, and assume a "touring" fork of some sort (mid-mounts or triples).

This is a normal vintage mountain bike. Canti brakes, with the Force45 pivot located above a hole in the crown, so a normal crown mount should work - just need to figure out the lower/leg mounts.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by Mr.Appa

This has been a go-to for many a 90s MTB townie conversions. Anecdotally I haven't heard of any failures...

https://www.modernbike.com/sunlite-g...ck-26-29-black

That might work. I was looking at the usual spots - VO, Soma, etc - none of whom seem to carry this model.

[ColonelJLloyd]

Personally, I would not hesitate to use clamps over a wrap of self-vulcanizing silicone tape on a metal or even carbon fork. King USB or similar.

That would give you the option for a Nitto or similar rack.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by ColonelJLloyd

Personally, I would not hesitate to use clamps over a wrap of self-vulcanizing silicone tape on a metal or even carbon fork. King USB or similar.

That would work. But ewww. Was hoping for something cleaner.



I'll probably try the Sunlite posted above. For $20, it's worth a shot.

[YVR_brad]

This is what you are after I think, Ian from Escape Collective seems to have same setup w/ the above mentioned rack.

IMG_0320.jpg

[Alistair]

Awesome! Thanks.