Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Miyata's Front Rack

I'm proud of the new rack for the Miyata. This bike is now tour-ready. I can distribute up to 15 lbs. of my load in the front or add a heavy handlebar bag. I like the simple connection to the cantilever brake mounts, as mentioned in last years post.
 
It is very lightweight and quite adaptable to a number of bikes. But because of this, I believe everyone who buys this rack will require lots of patience getting it to fit. It took me 1.5 hours to get it fine-tuned to the Miyata. I bent the stabilizer bracket around the cantilever brake wire, leaving just enough room for the brakes to function and clear the bolt on the brake pads.

And because of the tight spacing on the fenders, I readjusted the rack, leaving scant clearance for the stabilizer to also allow the headset to pivot freely. I was nearly at my wits end (my back isn't what it used to be) when I had finally finished. Phew!

Bike Nashbar doesn't sell the silver version of this rack. I found it on eBay, though I'm sure it's the same one. As the reviews state on the Nashbar site, the hardware is junk, so I purchased longer brake mount bolts at my favorite bike shop and utilized other hardware from our household stash. Who wouldn't like the Velo Orange classically styled version? It's out of my price range and looks like it's not as adaptable too.

So far, I've hauled a 5lb. bag of bunny hay on it, strapped with bungy cord. It was ridiculously large for the front area, but it worked. I also ordered the black version of this rack for the Ross bike.

2 comments:

  1. bunny hay?....super....i've posted about hauling a huge load of grapes bursting out of my panniers....keep biking!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I needed hay for our rabbit so thus the funny post. Once I hauled a recycling box 3 miles home. I got some very strange looks, but I did it!

    ReplyDelete

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