Combining a porteur rack and a low-rider vs. a full front rack
 

I don't own a front rack for my new Disc Trucker yet and had thought about playing around with a Wald basket configuration. To that end, I had considered just getting a small porteur rack (something like the Surly 8-Pack, Soma Demi-Porteur, etc. that mounts on the fork crown and mid-fork eyelet) and later getting some sort of low rider rack for front panniers that mounts mid-fork and the axle. Depending on which two I get, I may have to double-up on the mid-fork eyelet but may also be able to avoid that by using something like the Salsa Down Unders (mount on the inside of the fork) or by mounting the porteur on the new extra eyelet above the mid-fork eyelet which would allow the use of something like a Tubus Tara without doubling up.

I guess what I am asking is this is a reasonable alternative to just getting a full front rack? The combined weight would be about the same and would allow me to remove one or the other when desired.

In the photo below I have a small platform rack that Nashbar used to make, perhaps they still do? Sunlite made a similar rack too. Those mounted on the canti brake posts, which if your bike is a disc brake bike, you do not have. And a Tubus Ergo low rider rack.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...325a818540.jpg

Previously I had a Surly front rack but really did not like the Surly, donated it to a charity when I bought the Tubus rack to replace it.

Advantage to two racks is if you do not use one much, you can take it off and retain the other. I usually do not keep my low rider racks on a bike when I get home from a tour, put them on for the next tour.

For a basket and lowriders, I'd get a Tubus Grand Expedition. It's expensive, but it's basically 2 racks in one. Being all one piece and attached to 5 points on the fork, it will be rugged, rattle-free, and relatively lightweight for it's cargo capacity. I think normally they go for $180 but I have seen them for $135, so shop around if you're on a budget.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...17507eddc1.jpg

Yeah, I don't think Nashbar sells any racks under their own name anymore at all. The only porteur style racks they sell now are the Nittos and Somas. Of course, Tubus no longer seems to make the Ergo either so your bike is totally vintage! :)

Yeah, I think it is a bit much and just not something I think I want on my bike for all the miles when I am not even running front panniers.

I did find this picture of a bike where the guy doubled up a Tubus Ergo and a Racktime Topit (which is another rack I had considered):

https://i.imgur.com/Gg176iK.jpg

This Sunlite is very similar to my Nashbar rack.
https://www.amazon.com/Sunlite-Gold-...dp/B002MKHR6G/

But like I said above, if your bike is disc, that rack needs canti brake posts so this would not work for you.

I wonder why Tubus stopped making the Ergo? It fit a bit better than the Tara on one of my bikes, but I think the Tara had a higher weight rating.

I would not say that bike was "vintage", I bought the frame used only ten years ago, it was only a few years old when I bought it from someone that decided that the size was not quite right for him. Instead I would call it "experienced".

Racktime Topit rack might be hard to find in USA, I think that nobody is distributing Racktime racks anymore. I bought a Racktime rack three years ago, shipped from Germany, before that I bought them in USA. Since the Topit does not use brake canti posts, that would work on a disc bike.

I have no idea if this would work for you. The Topit rack has a bigger platform than this. And this you would have to check the geometry of it to see if it would fit your fork. Being steel, this would not be light.
https://velo-orange.com/products/vo-...tainless-steel

Quite easy, actually. I have the Racktime Addit as my rear rack. Got it, and the adapter to convert a non-system bag, off of Amazon. Specialized includes Racktime racks on some of their e-bikes now so they are enjoying a bit of a resurgence in popularity here lately. In terms of LBS inventory, yeah, its almost all Topeak.

I'll probably just get the Surly 8-pack, honestly. It is too heavy, of course, but too heavy on a small rack like that is only an extra 100 grams or so and I love all the eyelets it has. Even if I had the Racktime, I doubt I would use a Racktime adapter on a basket anyway (although it absolutely can be done).

When I built up my Surly Ogre back in 2012(ish), I quickly bypassed Surly's offering of racks due to them being heavy and low capacity compared to some other offerings.

After some advice and research was taken, I decided I was better served by two stainless steel Tubus offerings (Cosmo/Nova) and a small stainless steel platform rack, sold as a Velo Orange Pass Hunter (http://www.velotransit.com/products/...ter-front-rack)

The front combo of Pass Hunter and Tubus Nova was both lighter and had higher weight limits for luggage hauling than did the available Surly front rack.

IMHO the SS combo sure offered up a superior aesthetic and I knew would suffer no chipped paint nor unsightly oxidisation (rust) which was a benefit I was prepared to pay for.

At the time, due to huge savings available by internet buying from Europe as opposed to paying through the nose locally in Australia, there wasn't much of a price difference up until I found out that due to the Ogres suspension corrected fork, I had to have the Pass Hunters rearmost "stay" moved upwards in order for it to work.

A little problematic at the time due to finding someone capable of a "clean" stainless weld to suit my fussy nature but, to me, worth it in the end to achieve both the look and utility I wanted for my bike.

I complemented the SS racks with some polished stainless fenders curtesy of French firm Gilles Berthoud in 65mm. (https://berthoudcycles.fr/en/71-fenders)

Roll on 2020 and I'm still rocking both the same bike and racks,

If memory serves my ageing carcass, I first spotted what I was to find out later was a Pass Hunter rack, on a Long Haul Trucker.
I'm unsure about fit, being unfamiliar with your Disk Truckers fork mounts, but being a non suspension corrected front fork, I imagine, you at least shouldn't have to remove and weld the rearmost "stay" of the Velo Orange to suit.

Be aware it appears Velo Orange might no longer be producing the Pass Hunter (old stock abounds elsewhere) but offer a horde of SS alternatives including larger Porteur racks .

Oh and this might inspire: http://biketouringnews.com/touring-b...-disc-trucker/

Hope some of this waffle helps

I once was able to offer links to pics of my bike and ones I took inspiration from but Photobuckets change of business model put paid to that.

They appear to have stopped producing the Nova as well which is a shame as I believe it was touted as having a heavier load tolerance of many of the alternatives if memory serves.

Fingers crossed this one sees me out.

Velo Orange has changed rack designs on a regular basis over the years. I bought my Pass Hunter bike frame (rim brake bike, not the rack) in Dec 2015, at that time they also sold a disc brake Pass Hunter frame. And they sold several racks, the Pass Hunter rack had the right shape to be a direct bolt on to the rim brake Pass Hunter fork. If my recollection is correct, in 2015 when I bought my frame they sold both the Pass Hunter rack and a Randonneur rack that was very similar but offered a bit more adjustability.

But they no longer make a rim brake Pass Hunter frame, so no longer make a canti brake post mount Pass Hunter rack. But their website indicates that they make a Randonneur rack in two versions, one is canti fork mount.
https://velo-orange.com/collections/...ack-cantilever

I think the company changed ownership in the last few years too.

I considered buying the Pass Hunter rack for my Pass Hunter bike when I bought the frame, but decided not to put a rack on the front of that bike.

Thanks. Do you double up on the mid-fork eyelet? If so, any issues doing that?

I am not too picky about aesthetics, but I have had to not consider much of what Velo sells because it isn't available in black. I don't want anything silver on my bike if I can avoid it. :) For example, I think I would be very interested in this if they sold it in black:

https://velo-orange.com/collections/...tainless-steel

I may just get over it anyway and get that one because I know I could use the eyelets above the mid-fork eyelets to mount it and wouldn't have to worry about doubling up if I coupled it with something like the Tubus Tara.

On my Pass Hunter rack, on the end of the rearmost stay there is a welded on threaded rod that goes through the centre fork eyelet.
This was the stay I had to get repositioned due to my forks being suspension corrected.
The threaded rod is long enough to pass through both side of the fork centre, whilst my front fender/mudguard daruma bolt has a hole in it, allowing the aforementioned threaded rod to pass through it, allowing the daruma bolt to hang down within the fork, for attaching the fender.
Struggling to coherently articulate this without pics but its easy enough once you see what the daruma bolt is and then understand that its held within the fork, hanging downward via the threaded rod, which is at the end of the rearmost stay of the rack.
Following the link (Installing Berthoud Fenders on the Surly Disc Trucker), and looking at the second pic down, there is a pile of bits and bobs for fender attachment. The daruma bolt is roughly in the centre of the pic and has a nut at one end, a black plastic spacer in the middle and a hole at the other end.
The hole is what the threaded rod of the rack (rearmost stay) goes through inside the interior of middle tube of the forks through the centre hole.
Does that make any sense or answer the correct question?

My fenders/mudguards are not currently installed as I removed them for some air travel and haven't gotten around to re-installing them yet.
Otherwise I'd consider organising some pics for you.
As I said all my build pics were deleted when photo bucket did their "thing" and I was unaware of where else they might have been hosted at the time.
A shame as it spoilt a lot of my various forum posts I contributed, many of which were designed to assist others following a similar path installing similar accessories to my build.

Sorry I just spotted that the rack you've linked to differs to mine in that my Pass Hunter attached to brake bosses of which the early Ogre had as well as disk brake attachments to offer choice.
The centre "stay" was different too as it had a welded threaded rod at the rear.
I left a link to it in an above post. https://www.velotransit.com/products...ter-front-rack

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...cc0f249c5.jpeg

The “randonneur” rack is for an Electra Ticino I got it because it was able to carry the most weight.

Looks great (your setup)

Another rack some might find worthy of consideration is the Pass and Stow (https://www.passandstowracks.com)

These are a painted cro-mo steel rack that was getting some positive comments in the MTBR forum

They caught my eye a few years back when I spotted them, I think, in the Surly commentary section of said forum.

My decision to pass on them was due to living coastal and not wanting to deal with rust and scratches on a work surface that would see plenty of action.

I'm very happy with my stainless Tubus racks but do keep returning to look and admire the racks from Pass and Stow.

Anyway, thought posting another option couldn't hurt, despite them not exactly being a low-rider as they can haul a pair of panniers

I use black finger nail nail polish to touch up wear spots on black racks. Takes only a few minutes, leaves a durable finish. The built in brush makes it very convenient and fast.

Great tip:thumb:

Advantage to two racks is if you do not use one much, you can take it off and retain the other. I usually do not keep my low rider racks on a bike when I get home from a tour, put them on for the next tour.[/QUOTE]
That's the idea behind the Nitto Campee rack. The question is, how often you use the front rack when you are not traveling? I settled on the large Surly rack and added a basket to the top shelf. I take the whole thing off when I am not camping.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fc1128051f.jpg
Marc

I don't know if this one is the best one but after reading about all the ones I could find I decided on a Blackburn Bootlegger porteur, it came with a spider type of bungee thing, anyway I put my tent on it and it holds it just fine, and it's made for disk or non-disk bikes.