superlou

My sister owns Diamondback 2016 Women's Clarity 1 hybrid bike. I am trying to buy her a rear cargo rack and packs to make it easier for her to get to and from campus with her gear. Unfortunately, it is a "14"/X-Small" frame, and the typical cargo racks I'm finding are only for 26" to 29" bikes. Are those the right measurements to compare, or is there a different measurement I need to determine if these are compatible?

There are seatpost-mount-only racks, but I'm afraid that they won't be very strong.

Do you have any recommendations on which way to go? I'm open to any suggestion on racks and bags that would be compatible with her bike. Thanks! I wish I could provide reference links, but I don't meet the post limits.

loosemilk

The "26" and "29" refer to wheel sizes common on mountain bikes. "14" refers to the frame size - the seat tube measured from the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube. From what I can tell, the clarity runs 700c wheels (you can confirm this by checking for that number on the tire sidewalls of rims). With racks, the real size difference is in the width of the rear axle. With a 700c bike, you should be able to fit most off-the-shelf rear racks, pretty much anything will be more than adequate for her uses.

superlou

That makes more sense. I was pretty sure I was misunderstanding those numbers, as they were so different. I'm going to double check rear axle width. 700c would be a unique rear axle width? My understanding was that 700 refers to diameter and C to tire width.

loosemilk

Actually 700c refers to diameter wheel sizing is an arcane field in which labels are only tenuously connected to reality.
Your axle width is likely to be 126-130mm. See Sheldon Brown's page on frame/hub spacing.

linberl

Racktime foldit rack is adjustable and fits my 20" wheel folding bike so probably would work ok on hers. Or this one: https://www.ebay.com/p/Durban-Bicycl...les/1985889778

Fargo Wolf

Look around at different racks. some will allow for adjustment, but not others. A seatpost rack is fine, but finicky to mount and get it to stay put once mounted. I really had to tighten mine on my current ride. The load limit for the seatpost rack I have, is 20lbs max.I have yet to reach that limit.

Does the bike have a rear suspension, or not? This will also affect the type of rack you get.

superlou

I tried working out the measurements, but I didn't have any luck over the phone even with Sheldon Brown's pictures. We did confirm that the tire is a 700x32c, which seems to be fairly standard, so I'm trying the highest rated standard Ibera off Amazon that should hold her 30 pound pack without issues. If it doesn't fit, we'll try again. Thanks!

loosemilk

That will probably fit just fine. Good luck!

fietsbob

Buying the rack at the local bike shop they would help put it on for you .. Bezos won't.