Korina

I've been toying with switching to a front lowrider rack, but I sometimes take my bike on the bus, and I don't want to spend $$ on a front rack only to have it not fit.

Our buses use an arm that pulls out and goes over the front wheel. Obviously I'd take the panniers off, but the rack itself, and I don't have a particular one in mind yet, would stay.

Anyone have experience with this?

Miele Man

Yes, I have experience with this. If you do not have a platform rack above your low-rider rack the hook on the bus rack will go up, over and behine the loop of the low-rider rack. My lower run of the low-rider rack I have (an old mid-1980s Blackburn clone) does not interfere with the lower part of the wheel holder on the bus either.

Cheers

Doug64

Fenders will also cause a problem.

Miele Man

On my MTB with fenders I simply put the hook on the bus right up against the fork on my MTB. Sometimes I'll disconnect the front brake transverse cable in order to get the bus rack hook as close to the frame as I can.

YMMV

Cheers

randallr

I ran a Tubus Tara front rack for a while and it actually made the bus rack (like the one you show) more secure. The Tara model has a hoop that goes up round the the front wheel and I'd pull that hook up over it and latch it onto the tire above it. I've also run Blackburn lowriders with that same kind of bus rack no problem at all.

Korina

Thanks for your responses, everyone, I appreciate it.

Taking a step back and looking at it, I don't think I can do what I was envisioning. Problem number one is my panniers; they're Axiom Seymours, and connected at the top. Then there are my canti brakes. Well, here:

Miele Man

Why would having cantilever brakes iterfere with you putting that bike on a bus rack? Many people use the bus racks even though the bicycles have cantilever or V-brakes. My MTB has a low-rider rack (1980s Blackburn type clone), full fenders like those in your images, and cantilever brakes yet I'm able to put it onto a bus rack with no problems whatsoever.

Cheers

Korina

It's not the bike on the bus, I do that frequently, it's the rack on the bike and the panniers on the rack. My connected panniers would require a rack with a platform, which would interfere with the brakes, causing all manner of headaches. I was just toying with the idea, and it turns out it won't work, so that's fine. And no, I don't really want to spend $$$ to replace the panniers I just bought. C'est la vie.

Edit: I know! I'll buy a new bike! ::cackles madly:: Where do you find a 2008 Trek 520 in small?

Miele Man

But at the start of this thread you stated: "I've been toying with switching to a front low-rider rack, but I sometimes take my bike on the bus, and I don't want to spend $$ on a front rack only to have it not fit.

Our buses use an arm that pulls out and goes over the front wheel. Obviously I'd take the panniers off, but the rack itself, and I don't have a particular one in mind yet, would stay."

Obviously if your panniers are connected by fabric then they won't work on any low-rider rack that does not also have a rack deck like a normal rack. That was NOT the topic title of this thread. Now you're saying that you can't even use a low-rider rack due to the type of panniers you're using. I was going to go to the bus terminal here in town and take a few images of my bike with a front low-rider rack to show you how it goes on the bus rack. I'm sure glad I did not waste my time doing that.

Good luck and cheers

Korina

Sorry, @Miele_Man, I slipped a cog; should've said 'front' rack. I blame menopause; these days I blame everything on menopause, it's very convenient.

Also, I'm saying I can't use any kind of front rack, due to my bike's setup. I'm new to cantis, having ridden a disc hybrid the last few years, and I've never ever used a front rack. My bad.