Daniel4

It seems that all accessories have mounts for either the handlebar and the seatpost.

However, I rarely ever mount my lights or cameras on my seat post. Put a saddlebag there and unless your seatpost is extended really long there's no more room to mount anything else. Or if you have a rear trunk or a pannier rack, it's going to block the light and/or the camera. Some members here have a bike radar (Garmin Varia) that mounts on the seatpost.

I don't think manufacturers ever think of things like this.

Are there any mounts one can buy so that a cyclist can mount his accessories directly at the back of the pannier rack?

I have already attempted a Google search but not sure of the search terms to use.

I have to hack and improvise all my installations and I'm getting a bit tired of doing this especially losing so many tail lights.

Bald Paul

You mean something like this?
Bike Rack Gen 2 Mount for Garmin Varia – Bup Labs

Daniel4

Seems too specific.

Thanks.

Tourist in MSN

Some of the German racks like Tubus or Racktime have a light mount on back of the rack, two holes that are 50mm apart. Some of their racks have two sets of holes, one pair at 50mm and one pair at 80mm.

What do you want to mount on back of a rack?

Daniel4

Tail light.

10 Wheels

This worked.

Tourist in MSN

Many of the Busch and Muller lights fit on the Tubus or Racktime racks without adapters.

Some of the other lights have adapters for those racks. Does not say if the bolt spacing is right, you would have to research that.
https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...s.php?id=62442

This says the bolt holes are the right spacing for the German racks that have the holes with 50mm spacing.
https://www.planetbike.com/rear-rack...light-bracket/

If you do not want to use one of the off the shelf adapters, you have to get creative.

If you have some household tools, I made this bracket mount out of a piece of angle aluminum. But you need a hacksaw and a drill to do that.



Many Planet Bike lights come with a seatstay mount. I cut some rubber strips from an old innertube and wrapped that strap around the rack tubing to make it thicker, then used the seatstay mounts.

2_i 

Looking from the manufacturers side, their products need to meet common needs, so that these products sell at a reasonable rate. You are largely left to your own wits for more specialized situations - people cope with that as you can see from the examples. Recumbent bikes require various clamps and you can look there for opportunities, see T-Cycle, but prices will be typical for a reduced demand.

Daniel4

Thanks everybody.

I'm resigned to DIYs and hacks.

Koyote

Have you even done a google search, or looked at some of the larger light manufacturer's websites? Because there are plenty of mounts designed to attach to racks and bags, even to saddlebags. You're just not trying very hard.

I found this in (literally) THREE SECONDS.

daihard 

Funny, that's exactly what I bought for my wife's bike a few years ago.

Bald Paul

How about something like this?
My friend's Trek Verve+ 4S has a factory rack and a rack bag. Her seatpost is low, so there is no place to mount anything there.
Solution? I made up a 'false seatpost' out of 1" wide by 1/8" thick aluminum stock, and some 1" diameter aluminum tubing.
I used a miter saw with an aluminum blade to cut the tubing at an 18 degree angle (18 degrees added to the seatpost 72 degrees = 90) Broke out the MAPP gas torch and aluminum brazing rods to connect the two. Drilled and tapped holes in the rack crossmembers for 6X32 cap screws, and drilled the flat aluminum for the screws. Painted it black and added a 1" diameter plastic cap on the end of the tube. Now I can mount any seatpost mount accessory needed, and not worry about clearing the bag. Currently, there is a video camera mounted.

2_i 

Have these kind of joints work well for you? For me they have rotten over time and fell apart. However, maybe I lacked enough experience or the rod formulation was different.

Tourist in MSN

I have made some similar brackets with a one inch wooden dowel, some aluminum bar stock that I bent for the purpose, sprayed black to make it more weather resistant and to be less noticeable. I have often stretched a piece of inner tube over the dowel so that whatever I attached to it later had a more grippy surface and the larger diameter was often needed if the device was sized for a 26mm handlebar. But never made a taillight bracket for a rack that way.

Bald Paul

The trick is to get the stock really hot (above 700 degrees) and then to allow the brazing rod to melt in place. It's more like soldering, but the joints have been extremely strong and lasting.

Bald Paul

I like the inner tube idea.

2_i 

OK, I should then try again, first just to get it under control on scrap pieces. As to getting the pieces hot, I had no problem melting the pieces I wanted to join ​​​​​​​.

Bald Paul

The rod should melt on the stock without being in the torch flame. Also, make sure your aluminum pieces are spotlessly clean. I used some very fine grit sandpaper to clean them up.

2_i 

Thanks for the advice. I did not use sandpaper , but I used some dedicated flux that likely contributed to the deterioration of the joints over time. Unfortunately, with that regard, I am away from my base for a few weeks and I cannot check what exactly I used.