Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Bicycle Mechanics
Reload this Page >

Cracked rear rack mount. Repair or replace?

Notices
Bicycle Mechanics Broken bottom bracket? Tacoed wheel? If you're having problems with your bicycle, or just need help fixing a flat, drop in here for the latest on bicycle mechanics & bicycle maintenance.

Cracked rear rack mount. Repair or replace?

Old 07-19-17, 07:05 AM
  #1  
rumrunn6
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
rumrunn6's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: 25 miles northwest of Boston
Posts: 29,528

Bikes: Bottecchia Sprint, GT Timberline 29r, Marin Muirwoods 29er, Trek FX Alpha 7.0

Mentioned: 112 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5219 Post(s)
Liked 3,564 Times in 2,331 Posts
Cracked rear rack mount. Repair or replace?

Son's bike has a cracked mount in his rear rack. It's an old Blackburn, aluminum, I guess. We got our money's worth out of it. It's been on 2-3 bikes over the years as he grew & I may have bought it used for cheap. Dunno how / why it cracked. Noticed it before our family trip last month. It's strong enough w the 3 contact points for regular rear trunk & a day trip load to the beach. was thinking I could make an adapter with a 3" long 1" wide piece of thin steel or aluminum bar, fold it over the round bar & drill a hole through it & that tab sticking out, then a single bolt & nut & to squeeze it shut. somewhat like a p-clamp. would probably be easier, faster & cheaper than buying another (new or used) rack & installing it. I've got the raw materials in my basement


Last edited by rumrunn6; 07-19-17 at 07:10 AM.
rumrunn6 is offline  
Old 07-19-17, 07:08 AM
  #2  
ecnewell 
Senior Member
 
ecnewell's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Syracuse, NY
Posts: 496

Bikes: 2007 Raleigh Rx 1.0, 1990 Cannondale ST400, 1981 Fredy Rüegg, 1984 Miyata One-Thousand

Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 100 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts
I love seeing things repaired whenever possible. It sounds like you've got a good plan to me.
ecnewell is offline  
Old 07-19-17, 07:11 AM
  #3  
10 Wheels
Galveston County Texas
 
10 Wheels's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: In The Wind
Posts: 33,221

Bikes: 02 GTO, 2011 Magnum

Mentioned: 18 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1346 Post(s)
Liked 1,236 Times in 617 Posts
Just drill a hole in the flat piece and connect w a wire or Tie Wrap.
__________________
Fred "The Real Fred"

10 Wheels is offline  
Old 07-19-17, 07:19 AM
  #4  
FBOATSB
Senior Member
 
FBOATSB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Central Indiana
Posts: 2,201

Bikes: Old Stuff

Mentioned: 27 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 912 Post(s)
Liked 514 Times in 343 Posts
Looks like a perfect application for a P clamp. Looks like there's room for two on there.

Last edited by FBOATSB; 07-19-17 at 07:27 AM.
FBOATSB is offline  
Old 07-19-17, 07:28 AM
  #5  
FBOATSB
Senior Member
 
FBOATSB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Central Indiana
Posts: 2,201

Bikes: Old Stuff

Mentioned: 27 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 912 Post(s)
Liked 514 Times in 343 Posts
And you could put two on the other side so they match.
FBOATSB is offline  
Old 07-19-17, 07:36 AM
  #6  
Bike tinker man
Full Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Retired to Penang Malaysia originally from UK
Posts: 346

Bikes: My 1978 Raleigh from new, 1995 Trek, & constant changing & rebuilding of other bike projects.

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 41 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts
Make the P clamp the same width as the broken bracket otherwise if you only put in one bolt that is taking all the load, & use SS bolts, my guess its about 1." wide so you can put two x 1/4" bolts in, if you are near any workshop maybe you can get it ally welded ?
Bike tinker man is offline  
Old 07-19-17, 09:11 AM
  #7  
chorlton
Full Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 277
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 98 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Originally Posted by FBOATSB
Looks like a perfect application for a P clamp. Looks like there's room for two on there.
Had to fix a rear reflector to a rack. It looks like the diameter of your bar is bigger but I used 6mm P-Clamps because mine were 6mm. Nuts/Bolts are M5. From some left overs. All stainless steel so you will have to source a tin of spray on rust.

..
Attached Images
File Type: jpg
DSCF5944.jpg (92.9 KB, 123 views)
chorlton is offline  
Old 07-19-17, 10:24 AM
  #8  
speedy25
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: NE oHIo
Posts: 1,071

Bikes: Specialized, Trek, Diamondback, Schwinn, Peugeot

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 160 Post(s)
Liked 53 Times in 43 Posts
Welding would be stronger. Its not an easy job on thin metal but you might be able to find the right guy to lay down a few beads to fix the break and reinforce the other side.

-SP
speedy25 is offline  
Old 07-19-17, 10:44 AM
  #9  
sweeks
Senior Member
 
sweeks's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Chicago area
Posts: 2,541

Bikes: Airborne "Carpe Diem", Motobecane "Mirage", Trek 6000, Strida 2, Dahon "Helios XL", Dahon "Mu XL", Tern "Verge S11i"

Mentioned: 22 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 978 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times in 395 Posts
I like the welding solution best. A shop that has heliarc or TIG equipment should be able to do it. I'd like to think it wouldn't cost much.

On the other end of the sophistication spectrum, you could run a length of glass-reinforced strapping tape around both sides of the rack. a couple thicknesses would hold any reasonable load you might carry.
Steve
sweeks is offline  
Old 07-19-17, 10:52 AM
  #10  
HillRider
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 33,656

Bikes: '96 Litespeed Catalyst, '05 Litespeed Firenze, '06 Litespeed Tuscany, '20 Surly Midnight Special, All are 3x10. It is hilly around here!

Mentioned: 39 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2026 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1,095 Times in 741 Posts
Before doing anything contact Blackburn. They have a lifetime warranty on most of their products and you may get a new replacement at no cost. I've had a couple of their mini-pumps fail when the check-balls got rusty from rain exposure and they replaced the pumps no questions asked.
HillRider is offline  
Old 07-19-17, 11:28 AM
  #11  
CliffordK
Senior Member
 
CliffordK's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Eugene, Oregon, USA
Posts: 27,600
Mentioned: 217 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18320 Post(s)
Liked 4,489 Times in 3,338 Posts
Used racks periodically show up for $5 to $10.

Most of the load on the rack will be vertical, but there may be some other twisting going on. I don't use my rack a lot, but going out on a mini-tour, I want everything to be in good condition. No sense in getting 200 miles from home and having the rack disintegrate.
CliffordK is offline  
Old 07-19-17, 06:40 PM
  #12  
dedhed
SE Wis
 
dedhed's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 10,516

Bikes: '68 Raleigh Sprite, '02 Raleigh C500, '84 Raleigh Gran Prix, '91 Trek 400, 2013 Novara Randonee, 1990 Trek 970

Mentioned: 40 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2731 Post(s)
Liked 3,361 Times in 2,034 Posts
Like Hillrider said, check warranty, worst they can say is no.

If that didn't pan out, If I could get it welded free I'd do that, if I had to pay, I'd be going the P clamp route.
dedhed is offline  
Old 07-20-17, 05:59 AM
  #13  
bradtx
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Pearland, Texas
Posts: 7,579

Bikes: Cannondale, Trek, Raleigh, Santana

Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 308 Post(s)
Liked 3 Times in 3 Posts
rumrunn6, The P clamp idea is good unless the clamps are in the way of hanging a pannier. If need be, form a piece of aluminum or steel sheet to fit around the tube (a Phillips head screwdriver and a vice using a hammer is an easy way to form the loop) and then screw into the flat piece on the rack.

Brad
bradtx is offline  
Old 09-16-17, 07:53 PM
  #14  
rumrunn6
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
rumrunn6's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: 25 miles northwest of Boston
Posts: 29,528

Bikes: Bottecchia Sprint, GT Timberline 29r, Marin Muirwoods 29er, Trek FX Alpha 7.0

Mentioned: 112 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5219 Post(s)
Liked 3,564 Times in 2,331 Posts
meanwhile 2 months later ... sometime between then & now it cracked on the other side too. it was an old rack I got 2nd hand & it had moved to 2 maybe 3 bikes over the years. decided to replace it with a Topeak Explorer Non-Disc Direct MTX Track rack because I saw it recommended by another BF member. we have a bunch of trunks so not jumping on the slide on Topeak MTX Trunkbag just yet but they look sweet

Last edited by rumrunn6; 09-16-17 at 08:29 PM.
rumrunn6 is offline  
Old 09-16-17, 08:06 PM
  #15  
Troul 
Senior Member
 
Troul's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Mich
Posts: 7,291

Bikes: RSO E-tire dropper fixie brifter

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6 Post(s)
Liked 2,910 Times in 1,884 Posts
The version #2 TP rack I have has the slide feature. Also has the under rack slide box. The box is useless for the most part, but that slide and latch is worth the simplicity it lends. Version #1 I had, it was great for the little box under the rack... It just flopped off when the rack itself came apart somewhere between the midway and end of my commute that day...
__________________
-Oh Hey!
Troul is offline  
Old 09-17-17, 10:41 AM
  #16  
Dsprok
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Ontario Canada
Posts: 250

Bikes: Hybrid and Folding

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 42 Post(s)
Liked 3 Times in 2 Posts
Lot of good tips already.

I sometimes see people double riding and using the back rack as a seat. That is probably what started the crack.
Dsprok is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
vonfilm
Classic & Vintage
23
09-29-20 01:41 PM
inkandsilver
Classic & Vintage
9
11-10-14 08:36 PM
the sci guy
Bicycle Mechanics
15
04-09-13 11:16 AM
SpudsMcKinney
Utility Cycling
4
02-26-12 02:44 AM
Wiggles_dad
Utility Cycling
0
08-13-10 12:43 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.