1990 Cannondale ST600 mid-fork boss?
 

Just decided to add a front rack to this 90 ST600. What is up with the bosses?

My other bikes just have a threaded boss on the outer portion of the fork. These go all the way through the fork. They are completely unthreaded, and stick out about a 1/4” on the inside of the fork leg.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e3f03e074.jpeg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...578cb1167.jpeg

The 1990 catalog shows the ST1000, ST600 and ST400 all have forks with low rider bosses:

https://vintagecannondale.com/year/1990/1990.pdf

Only the ST1000 included both racks. Photo of the ST1000 shows the low rider front rack mounted, with the top of the rack mounted at the boss.

I'm wondering if there was some alternate system for mounting the rack, where the boss didn't need to be threaded.

Just use a thru-bolt and nyloc nut.

Pan head screw, with the nut on the outside of the rack
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...62ade9e5ed.jpg

Thanks! Your bike looks great!

It will never strip out, and is less likely to rust. I'm for it.

Sorry for the thread drift. But, where would one find a front pannier rack like Chuckk has? I’ve looked on ebay and have come up empty.

​​​​riverdrifter how about a full bike picture? I too would like to add a front rack to my 90 ST400.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204660176317
https://www.ebay.com/itm/156057336599
https://www.ebay.com/itm/116061329424
https://www.ebay.com/itm/156003816147
https://www.ebay.com/itm/275694907062

Thanks. Wrong search term on my part. Those will do. Appreciate the links! Sorry OP for the drift…

Those mounts were made for a lowrider pannier rack. Cannondale had their own version and Blackburn made a similar one. I bought a NIB set by accident when I didn't fully read the writing on the box. A couple years later I bought a Cannondale ST400. I haven't used the racks, except to put them on for a trial fit. The hardware included the fork bushings, in case you wanted to drill and braze them onto your own fork.:twitchy:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...af94bb8759.jpg
Blackburn CL-1 instructions

^^^ Okay, I see how the original racks attached now. That makes sense. Thanks!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e639c0447.jpeg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...acf25e8dc.jpeg

The bottom photo is the most current. It’s time for a rack, so I can stop strapping stuff all over it. 😀

It's as simple as teleporting back to 1992 or so, when Nashbar was surplussing them!
Mine is Blackburn, but has a fixed bottom mount and only a single top bar.
It makes me think that maybe mine was purpose built for one of the manufacturers that cut way back on their tourers then.
Touring was supposed to be "the next big thing" but got blown out of the water by mountain bikes.
Merida had been a contract builder up to that point, and all of a sudden they had to market all the touring bikes they had been stuck with.

Loaded (though I've never needed more than two panniers, next time I'll use just the fronts)
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...be6992ad7d.jpg

I found a Salsa Down Under rack locally to use with my 1989 ST400. The reviews were bad, but I got it for $20. It worked well for the one mini tour I used it on.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bab227d3_h.jpg

The more useful thing I can add to this thread is that I had to use a pan-head bolt, inserted from the inside, to give me a level of clearance from the spokes that seemed reasonable to me. It could be that the later forks had a bit more clearance?

Thanks for the info. Great looking Cannondale!

Curious why you all would prefer to use a front rack instead of a rear rack? Seems like it would affect handling a lot less on the rear rack.

It depends on the geometry, but with the right amount of trail you don't feel the bags low and on the front at all.

If I was going on long tour, I’d definitely put a back rack on. My trips are mostly just single overnighters, and a lot of riding around town. My bike has to, unfortunately, go on a car rack sometimes too. A small front rack is all I need.