steve-in-kville 

Now granted, the majority of the SS/FG bikes represented here are not meant for touring. But I am considering mounting a front rack on the Kilo for commuting purposes. Basically to strap my lunch bag to it. Will I notice anything wonky in the handling of the bike?

Thoughts and experiences on this?

TourDeHood

Soma deluxe portuer on my Big Block, handles fine to me.

motrheadsroadie

its twitchy as hell on a real track bike but that kilo you cant figure out what to do with will be fine.

79pmooney

LowRider racks and panniers will stabilize the steering a lot. I have had a fix gear set up with them continuously since the early '80s. One of the things I love about the is the bike behaves nicely when they are loaded. Getting out of the saddle and rocking the bike hard (to accelerate through an intersection or climb a hill when loaded with 30 pounds or more) is not a big deal, at least as far as bike handling.

Drawback is that your front wheel has to be strong. Big tire. There is no suspension between your load and the road. (This could be a reason not to do this with a laptop.)

Ben

Philasteve

What frameset is that?

hairnet

TejanoTrackie 

^^^ A Schwinn Paramount P14 for just $175. Le sigh.

tyrion

A mini rack is about a pound, so you'll hardly notice it. If you put 5 pounds on it you'll notice it, but get used to it quickly. A riding speed it will be more stable, you'll have to plan your turns a microsecond earlier. At slow speeds it's slightly cumbersome. When stopped, and you lean it against a tree, the wheel tends to flop.

hairnet

I just used an inflation calculator and found that $175 in 1973 comes out to about $1000 today. And I bought mine for $500

motrheadsroadie

i didnt pay anything for mine.

Wendell F

I put a Wald front rack on my Steamroller and it lasted about a month. Even empty it threw off handling like nuts. Anything more than a six pack up front actually gave me elbow pain keeping it steady (though the narrow bars probably exacerbated that). Yeah panniers are dorky but for me rear-mounted weight is just better if the bike can take it.

Euthyphro

I commute with a soma porteur rack on my wabi. I usually keep a mission workshop laptop bag on it (it straps to the rack and handlebars) and it's a huge improvement over commuting with a backpack. I have to load it up (like two six packs of beer) before I notice any problems with stability, but even then its not really a problem. I have VO porteur bars on it, and I imagine that narrower bars would make the bike much less stable. The setup without the rack is actually twitchier which I found strange.

One benefit of the soma rack is that it mounts to the hub axle. I used a gamoh rack for a while but since I don't have rack mounts on the frame I had to use p-clamps. The p-clamps just seemed janky.

steve-in-kville 

As an update, I attempted to mount a front rack I had laying around. Beings the small frame that I ride, my lunchbag would have been high enough to block my headlamp. So I mounted a rear rack and now I just need to rig up a mount for my tail light.

motrheadsroadie

yeah nevermind mounting your front light lower to the ground.

steve-in-kville 

Tried that on a different bike once. Didn't care for it.

motrheadsroadie

what didnt you care for?

Wspsux

Just get a big saddle bag, carradice, swift industries, sackville