# How do I mount a rear rack?



## innergel (Jun 14, 2002)

I am rigging up my SS to be a commuter. It's an old Takara 27" frame. It doesn't need much more than a rear rack and some appropriate lights to work. Maybe fenders some day. The frame has eyelets down near the rear dropouts (I assume those are for a rack) but there is nothing up top to mount a rack too. How does that attach?


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

P-clamps around the seatstays, or bent bracket going to the brake bolt/bridge. Some mounted to the seatpost clamp in the olden days.


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

Something like this might work too:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Seatpost-Binder%2FClamp%2FCollar-w%2F-Bike-Rack-Mount_W0QQitemZ310080130962QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20080902?IMSfp=TL0809021246r26017

There is also the Plescher tube crusher style upper clamp.


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## innergel (Jun 14, 2002)

treebound said:


> P-clamps around the seatstays, or bent bracket going to the brake bolt/bridge. Some mounted to the seatpost clamp in the olden days.


I assume there are some sort of eyelets on the rack that these P-clamps attach to? 

This commuting stuff is totally new ground for me, so your patience is appreciated.


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

innergel said:


> I assume there are some sort of eyelets on the rack that these P-clamps attach to?
> 
> This commuting stuff is totally new ground for me, so your patience is appreciated.


Nope, no eyelets, if there were eyelets then you wouldn't need the p-clamps.









https://www.swagelok.com/images/cmi/_Tubing/pclamp.jpg









https://www.armadaleautoparts.com/userimages/Electrical/p_clamps.jpg

They come in a variety of sizes, use the size that best fits around your bike tubing. The screw and nut that goes thru the clamp to tighten it down on the tube is also the screw/bolt that the rack attaches to.

If nobody beats me to it I will try to post up some pics later tonight. I'm planning on putting a rack onto the LeTour which has brazeons on the dropout but nothing up above.


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

Found a thread showing an example:
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=94585&highlight=mounting+a+rack









Note how he is using four p-clamps? I did that on my Fillmore and the lower clamps started bending, some p-clamps are stronger than others and the roads I was riding on were a bit harsh. By mounting your rack legs to the eyelets/brazeons on your bike you will have better support, then the upper p-clamps will be there to basically just keep the rack from rotating fore and aft.

I'm becoming a non-fan of p-clamps for lower rack mounts where the stresses are higher, for fenders they're fine, but for the weights of racks and bags I'm wanting something stronger.

Here's another thread and another pic showing the upper p-clamp rack attachment and the rack brackets bent to fit the need and clear cables:
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=92964&highlight=mounting+a+rack


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## innergel (Jun 14, 2002)

treebound said:


> They come in a variety of sizes, use the size that best fits around your bike tubing. The screw and nut that goes thru the clamp to tighten it down on the tube is also the screw/bolt that the rack attaches to.
> 
> If nobody beats me to it I will try to post up some pics later tonight. I'm planning on putting a rack onto the LeTour which has brazeons on the dropout but nothing up above.


That's what I meant about eyelets, on the rack. I can't picture where the p-clamp would attach to the rack once it was wrapped around the seat stay unless there was some sort of brace/piece with a hole on it that extended off the rack. Of course I assume that every rack is slightly different and there are lots of ways to do it. 

The Takara sounds like it's setup like your LeTour. Pics would be mucho helpful.


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

Item D in this threads pic shows a bracket that would mount to the rear brake bridge and brake bolt:
https://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=84698&highlight=mounting+a+rack









Rack mounting and fender mounting are one of those areas where it sometimes pays to have a local shop do it for you since they usually have a bin full of clamps and brackets in the back room.

And even the pros sometimes have problems installing this stuff:
https://www.yehudamoon.com/index.php?date=2008-09-16


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

innergel said:


> That's what I meant about eyelets, on the rack. I can't picture where the p-clamp would attach to the rack once it was wrapped around the seat stay unless there was some sort of brace/piece with a hole on it that extended off the rack. Of course I assume that every rack is slightly different and there are lots of ways to do it.
> 
> The Takara sounds like it's setup like your LeTour. Pics would be mucho helpful.


Item A in the previous parts pic would be the brace/piece you were thinking of. Most racks should come with the brackets, otherwise you can usually buy the bits from an LBS or a decently stocked hardware store. Where I live we have two hardware stores that have been there forever that between them seem to have all sorts of stuff that I keep being surprised that they even have.

Maybe I'll try to do a short photo tutorial installing the rack on the LeTour if I don't get Shanghi'd into going to watch a grandkid soccer game.


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## innergel (Jun 14, 2002)

treebound said:


> Item A in the previous parts pic would be the brace/piece you were thinking of. Most racks should come with the brackets, otherwise you can usually buy the bits from an LBS or a decently stocked hardware store. Where I live we have two hardware stores that have been there forever that between them seem to have all sorts of stuff that I keep being surprised that they even have.
> 
> Maybe I'll try to do a short photo tutorial installing the rack on the LeTour if I don't get Shanghi'd into going to watch a grandkid soccer game.


I'm pretty good about rigging something up from Home Depot parts. And I have a neighbor with a welding fabrication business. I'm sure he could knock me something up in no time if I needed it. 

I looked at Nashbar and they have a house brand rack for $18 that says it has "all mounting brackets". I may spring for that and see how it goes. It can't be too far away from what I'd need. And it's cheap. 
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?...ype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop by Subcat: Racks

Here's another one., $15
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?...ype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop by Subcat: Racks


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

I like how those two racks have the rear bend to help keep the panniers out of the spokes.

I got the rack installed on the LeTour and took some pics of the process. Got to run an errand but will try to upload the tutorial later tonight or in the morning. Probably overkill for you (if you can figure out and build up a fixie from a frameset then a rack will be simple, or at least simpler than figuring out setting up a chainline :wink5: ), but might be good for someone else lurking out there trying to do their own rack install. After you install about 30 of these things you sort of find your own ways of getting it done. 

Type to ya later.


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

*Rack installation*

This might end up getting this thread moved to the mechanical/repair section....

Here's the install I just did tonight on my late 80's Schwinn LeTour.

Bike on the repair stand, rack standing by on the ground, a few tools handy in the stand tray, dogs off playing in the yard behind me.









First check to see what the bike has and what parts will be needed for the installation.
Does it have braze-ons on the dropouts - check









Does it have braze-ons or mounting holes on the seatstays? Nope, going to need some p-clamps









Here's the rack, an old Blackburn I've had laying around for a few years that gets swapped between bikes sometimes









The rack has some mounting brackets already bolted to it so I just loosen them up a bit to get them ready to get positioned for the bike


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

Next I loosely attach the legs of the rack to the lower brazeons to check for fit and clearances, the screw looks a bit close to the chain on the small cog









Don't have a shorter screw handy so a couple of washers provides some breathing room









Put the bike on the ground to get it level (the repair stand is an older one with a locking tab to rotate it and doesnt let the bike sit level in the stand when lightly clamped on the top tube)(it's not recommended to clamp a bike by the top tube, but I'm being gentle with it). Then with the lower rack mounting screws snugged just enough to hold the rack but still allow it to rotate I level the rack.









Then I take a couple of small pieces of tape to mark where the p-clamps will go on the seatstays









Next I position the p-clamps on the seatstays









Depending upon how things line up sometimes I'll use two nuts on each p-clamp screw, sometims just one, just depends on how the rack brackets line up so I just decide this on the fly as I'm working on it, and sometimes I back up and change it, just depends, go with the flow and do what works as every bike and rack combination is a little different.


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

Next I pop the rack brackets onto the screws to verify everything will be happy. The length of the chainstays on the bike along with the frame size and the way the rack is made puts the rack brackets fairly deep under the rack and the brackets are snugged up right to the bends. Sometimes I have to bend the brackets to fit, but this time they work as is.









Everything looks good so far for the fit and alignment, or at least good enough









Tighten down the doubled nuts on the rack brackets. I'll let you decide if you want to use lockwashers or a locktight product or both or neither, sort of gets a little debate going between some folks but I don't worry about that and use whatever seems to be needed at the time. This time I used locktight up top and left the lower screws dry. Note the grease rag over the tire, it helps to keep drops of locktight from dripping onto the tire









And don't forget to tighten the bracket hardware on the rack top, easy to forget as you focus on other areas









Put a final tighten on the screws on the lower legs and stand back and take a look at the finished job









Looks like it will work









Take your time and it doesn't take too long. This one was fairly simple. Mounting to the brake crossbar or other mounting points can add or reduce the complexity of the job.


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

One final thought, workstands are nice items to have if you work on your own bikes. I've got two workstands, an Ulimate stand that collapses down quickly and is easy to transport in it's carry bag, and the one I used here which I found earlier this summer at a local thrift shop. It pays to keep one's eyes open.










Oh, and sorry about the dirt and oily grunge on the bike, I tend to just ride my bikes and keep them working, dirt is just something that happens. I do clean them sometimes, but mostly I just ride them. It's much more fun to ride a bike than it is to clean one. :wink5: 

Hope this little rack install tutorial helps a few folks. This ain't the gospel on how to install a rack, it's just how I happened to do this one, the next one will probably be done a little different depending upon how things go. Just go with the flow and do what works at the time.


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## innergel (Jun 14, 2002)

Perfection! Exactly what I needed. It probably took you more time to post this thread than to mount the rack. 1mm thanks! 

I'm off to Nashbar to buy me one of those racks. 

PS - blue loctite is pure greatness!



treebound said:


> Hope this little rack install tutorial helps a few folks. This ain't the gospel on how to install a rack, it's just how I happened to do this one, the next one will probably be done a little different depending upon how things go. Just go with the flow and do what works at the time.


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## slowrider (Mar 12, 2004)

Before rack mounts, they made racks like the one I use on my 27 inch bike. I found two at this old hardware store that sold bike parts. For some reason I can't get my picture of my rack to post.


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## innergel (Jun 14, 2002)

Update! 

My rack finally arrived. I ordered on Sept 19th. Nashbar sent it to an address I lived at 9 years ago.  I had to wait for it to get returned and then they reshipped. Anyway, it got here and it's only got 1 p-clamp. So it's off to Home Depot tomorrow to get a few extras and get everything installed. Looks to be fairly straight forward. 

The main diff. I see is that my frame does not have threaded rack mounts. They are smooth. I'll have to use some bolts to secure the bottom. Easy fix, assuming there's enough clearance. 

I'll try and take some pics during the build.


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## StageHand (Dec 27, 2002)

If you don't mind paying an extra $5 or 10, you can have a shop tap those eyelets for a 5mm bolt (they're usually threaded for 4mm, but these are actually bigger). It makes mounting a bit easier, which you'll appreciate if you ever have to take the rack off and remount it. I also think it makes a slightly (I said slightly) more secure connection.


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

Looking forward to pics of the completed installation.

I've found two style of p-clamps, the thinner ones like pictured above with the protective rubber sort of folded over the metal, and a thicker metal one that is dipped in the protective rubber/plastic. The thicker ones hold up better.

What I"ve done on some bikes is to install the screw pointing outward, especially if I"m going to install fenders along with the rack. I've done that with both threaded brazeons and smooth-hole brazeons. Allows you to use a longer screw if you want to and not have to worry about hitting the cluster or hub. Once on a bike where I wanted to leave the rack in place but sometimes take the fenders off I put the rack on with the screws pointing outward and used longer screws. Then once the rack was secured with a nut I put the fender mounts outboard of the nuts securing the rack and used a second nut to secure the fender mounts. It worked for my needs at the time.

Do what works and have fun doing it. Post pics when you're done.

And just to scare you a little, here is a pic of one of the projects I'm currently working on:









Installing a rack on this thing is going to be "fun", especially since the rack mount also works as a structural member of the assembly. Going to be a 3-speed if I can get the hub working, otherwise it will be single speed, or will run a singulator and a double chainring on front with a front derailer. So, 3 speed, or 2 speed, or 6 speed (2x3), or a pile of parts (still working out the details).

I'll install your rack for you if you finish this project for me, deal?????????????


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## innergel (Jun 14, 2002)

New thread here http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?p=1823116#post1823116

I figured a build along might be fun for everyone.


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