mikerp

Hello, everybody.

I am new to cycling, recently purchased a Giant Escape 2 (2018, in case that matters). Very happy with it, though of course I have no real point of comparison.

Anyway, I'm trying to find a rear rack that will fit the bike. I purchased an Ibera rack from Amazon*, kind of just assuming that racks are a standard width and would generally fit most bikes. Unfortunately it's too narrow. That is, the distance between the two bottom connection points is about 5 and 1/4 inches. (On the Amazon description page, it says it's 6 inches. So I guess there's some considerable variation in manufacturing here.) On my bike though, the dropout eyelets are roughly 7" apart from each other. I might be able to force it, but I worry that I'd break the rack or at least weaken it, so that it'd be more likely to break with an actual load. Also, if I force it, the legs would not be sitting flush with the eyelets, because they'd be coming down at an angle.

Anybody have suggestions on what to do here? Or suggestions of a rack that you know is a bit wider and likely to fit a Giant Escape?

*I'm too new here to post links. The product name on Amazon is "Ibera Bike Rack – Bicycle Touring Carrier with Fender Board, Frame-Mounted for Heavier Top & Side Loads, Height Adjustable for 26"-29" Frames." Product ASIN is B00DWKUAZK.

mikerp

Update: I forced it. A few enthusiastic by-hand stretching sessions was enough. Then I used an adjustable wrench to bend the ends of the legs back inward somewhat so that they'd sit closer to flush with the eyelets.

We'll see what happens.

hokiefyd 

Welcome -- and you did a great job fitting the rack. I've never fitted a rack that I didn't have to...stretch a little bit. I usually put some rubber or nylon washers under the rack mounts (between the rack struts and the frame) to prevent paint damage here. The Escape is a nice bike -- enjoy it!

mikerp

Thanks for the welcome, hokiefyd.

And thanks too for the suggestion of a soft material to prevent paint damage. That's a good idea.

nios2

My wife bought the recommended rack for her bike and I still had to bend it to the point of worry to make it fit but it did and seems OK. Rack and panniers are great as it gives me an excuse to jump on the bike to get bread and milk etc.

BikeTall

DowneasTTer

There's not a lot of difference between the rim brake and the disc brake model.i would guess. My wife and I both had Escape RX 0s with the Topeak rack and bag on them. When I sold them and bought 2 Escape RX composites I moved the rack system over. Then four years ago I sold the RX composites and got a couple of FastRoad CoMax 1's with disc brakes... guess what I moved the rack system to the them as well. The combo is hard to fault. We have over 50K miles on the rack system carrying all sorts of stuff the only fault is the zipper handles on the racks tend to fail in the FL sun after a number of years exposure.

Here' what it looks like on my bike:

hokiefyd 

This thread is over a year old, and it looks like the original poster, and a follow-up poster, both got their racks installed successfully. The only difference between the disc and non-disc versions of the Topeak rack are aluminum blocks about 1" long on the disc version, to stand the struts off from the frame by that amount (to clear seatstay-mounted calipers). If your caliper is mounted on the chainstay, then there is no special clearance requirement. Even if your caliper is on the seat stay, you may or may not need the disc version. It just depends on the frame. You can estimate this by placing a straight edge from the rack mounting point down near the axle and hold it up and lean it over slightly towards the tire. That's about how the rack strut would be. If you have plenty of clearance, then you probably don't need the disc version. If the straight edge looks close to contacting a brake caliper, then it might be good to get the disc version.

I own both. My Giant Roam, with disc brakes, can use the non-disc version just fine, because the caliper is on the chainstay. My Redline MTB, with a seatstay-mounted caliper, has a disc version of the rack. The disc version is definitely wider, and I'd recommend it only if you're certain you need the clearance.

If you do need the clearance, you could use the non-disc version and just add spacers between the strut and the frame, but the disc version of the rack would be stronger. Those aluminum blocks have a large bore all the way through them, with a narrower bore for the machine screw only at the very bottom of them. This puts the clamping force, and the vertical load, right there next to the frame, and provides the most strength. If one spaced the rack out using spacers and longer bolts, then there could be quite a vertical load on the little M5 machine screw; that wouldn't be optimal.