skidder

Looking at buying one of these for some long day rides, maybe overnight 'credit-card' trips, with small-medium panniers and a utility bag on top. The only question I have is how does it attach to a bicycle's fork. The picture shows two mounting points for eyelets down near the wheel skewers/dropouts, but does it come with hardware to attach it to the mid-fork braze-on eyelets or something else? None of the stores around here sell them, so I can't see it in person, and I don't want to drop $100 on it unless it'll work. I figure if anyone knows how this works, its gotta be here in the Bikeforums Touring section.

https://www.blackburndesign.com/medi...uring-rack.jpg

FWIW: I've got size 14 feet so a rear rack/pannier combo is out of the question due to heal strike. I'd like to use this and maybe a large seatbag if I need more room.

Thanks

mstateglfr 

I had one last fall...for about a week. Special order that was returned. Even the shop thought it was terrible.

Its a really cool design in that its extremely versatile for mounting to all sorts of forks and bike setups. It accomodates mid mount, no mid mount, disc brake, canti brake, wide tire, road tire, etc.

The distance between the horizontal mounting bars on the Outpost rack is really wonky. They are closer than most racks and though the bungee mounts can be adjusted to accomodate absurdly close mounting bars, the bottom hook ends up being above the stabilizer strap which means the bags could flap outwards over and over.

Awful design. Awful.


I ended up buying a Jandd Extreme front rack. Has a platform top, has high and low mounting, and was simple to set up. Just some spacers and it was attached with the bolts.
I like the platform on the Jandd a lot more.

The fork i use is a standard steel 700c fork with traditional bend. Not sure if that matters.



Insult to injury in the Blackburn rack- the company is filled with useless people in the service department. Useless. As in couldnt manage to respond mtiple times, then basically accepted that they have no idea. They simply market without product knowledge.

I also have 14 shoes. A rack like the Axiom Journey allows for bags to slide back a bit further than other racks. https://www.modernbike.com/product-2...uXcGgIfgvD_BwE
I dont clip bags with this rack.

DropBarFan

Jandd Extreme is solid, good for forward loading. A bit heavy but not much choice in platform front racks.

linus

Blackburn Outpost rack has multiple mounting hardware. Even if you don't have mid point mounting eyelets, there are hardware for them included with the rack.

Installed on Salsa Vaya steel fork without an issue. Also mounted on carbon touring fork without any issues.

These are the images from the web. You get the idea.





If you want to mount the rack really low, just take the platform part off and mount it low as possible.

DropBarFan

Keg was empty? 14 kg vs 73 kg full. Anyway a nice job of rigging the straps.

52telecaster

+1 on the axiom rear rack

Marcus_Ti

OP, they include mounting hardware for mid/high brazes. Just bear in mind that you'll have to basically figure it out on your own. Blackburn's instructions are basically useless.




What bags were you using? Haven't had a problem with my Ortliebs....then again they don't use bungees.

edthesped

I've been using the outpost rack on a Randonee for several years now and like it a lot. One thing to keep in mind is that it's a big rack so depending on your aesthetic opinion you may or may not like it, I like it... As for bags, I solely use Ortlieb Front Rollers on it and have never had an issue mounting them. As an aside I have a set of Down under racks on a Vaya and a Tubus Tara on an AWOL. The Down Under racks are the original revision and I'm not a big fan of them, as the lower latch on my front rollers tend to pop off when I hit big bumps at speed so it's my least favorite rack. If I'm only carrying bags on the front the Tara would be my choice. If I'm carrying lots of gear I prefer the outpost.

Below is a picture of the down under racks I have and dislike...

mstateglfr 

For your bike, the rack is probably really good since it uses disc brakes and a straight fork- the versatility of how the rack mounts is in use there.

As for bags- I tried my Axiom bags, my Banjo Brothers bags, some borrowed Jandd bags, some borrowed old Avenir bags, and even some Blackburn bags(so ironic) from the LBS.
All the bags can be made to fit by shortening the mounting hook, but the hook on all the bags needed to be so short that the stabilizer strap was bypassed, which meant the bags could flap outwards like wings.

I try any bags with Ortlieb style mounting systems. The bags I own work perfectly on my rear rack andy are in good condition. With the Blackburn rack being extremely wide too, I decided to just return it instead of buying new bags to specifically fit the rack. The rack I currently have is narrower which is good for my bike's fit, bags can be swapped between the front and rear rack without any work, and the top platform is more versatile.

There is certainly more versatility in mounting the Blackburn rack though, so it would fit a lot more bike styles, especially with the popularity in disc brakes, wide axle, wide fork mount distance, straight blades etc.

indyfabz

First thought that came to mind.

indyfabz

Or in the product manual available for download on Blackburn's web site:


https://www.blackburndesign.com/outp...ring-rack.html


https://www.blackburndesign.com/medi...ack-Manual.pdf

skidder

Thanks to all for the replies. The Blackburn front rack's mid-fork attachment things looked kinda wonky to me since they are basically friction attachments to the rack (screw down onto the rack tubing to get it to stay put). Nice to see some folks are using them successfully. I never knew Jannd made bike racks, and their rack looks interesting since its a 'solid' rack that would attach directly to the bicycles mid-fork blade eyelets. I used to do backpacking/peakbagging and knew of their backpacks, but never bicycling equipment. Now I'll have to decide . . .

Thanks again.

KD5NRH

Sort of what I kept thinking; I like the rest of the design, but would it really be that hard to tack in a few grams more aluminum to make a proper hook point at the bottom? Or even re-bend the point so it comes up a bit to make a hook point?

Do you really need to carry all of them at once? I mean, maybe if I'm going dancing and don't know whether to take boots or ballroom shoes, I might need six including the two bike shoes I'm wearing, but 14 seems a bit excessive even on tour.

Samaritain

Hello,

I would like to fit a light in the front of this luggage rack.
For this, I plan to make a support.
Unfortunately, I can not measure this because I have not been delivered yet.

I made a technical drawing, unfortunately the forum forbids me to post this, because I have not yet published ten posts on this forum U_____U
I will try to be clear, despite my approximate English.

I need the distance between the two screws at the front and top of the rack.

would you be so kind as to indicate this measure?



Thank you in advance,

Regards,

Antoine.

Dellphinus

64mm between the top screws, c-c

Dellphinus

OK, I'll agree with most of the other comments here- terrible design, poorly executed. +1 on the bottom point and bungees.
All this on a Surly LHT.
The wheel is almost impossible to get off with the rack installed.
The supplied "cam" fittings and extension arms were machined so poorly that the extension and rack truss could not both fit in the "cam" simultaneously.
The LHT mid fork mounts were so close to the rack that the extensions, had the cams worked even, would have been useless.
Ended up using a 20 mm cap screw, a flanged 1/4 inch nut as a spaces, and a 1" fender washer with one side bent 90, and a rubber lined strap clamp.

It is going back as soon as I return- as inadequate design, and faulty manufacturing. The Jandd Extreme will get ordered.

Samaritain

Hi Dellphinus,

Thank you very much for this information !
I would have preferred to order a Jandd, unfortunately we do not find on this side of the Atlantic.

KD5NRH

https://www.bikenashbar.com/cycling/...ack-na-fr-base $25
https://www.bikenashbar.com/cycling/...ck-na-frr-base $8 (Does need V/Canti posts and a crown hole.)

So $33 plus shipping and you've got both a front platform bigger than the Outpost's and pannier frames. I have both on a Trek 7100 with no issues; the pannier rack comes with two sizes of U bolts for attaching to the fork blades, and the larger ones just fit my suspension fork. It carries my old Axiom Seymour 10L (each) panniers just fine, or you can use some of your savings for https://www.bikenashbar.com/cycling/...t-na-atpf-base and still have enough left for a six pack to go on top.