JoeTBM 

I would think that anyone that works on bikes would have a jar full of these from old v-brake pads

DorkDisk

Boy, that bike sure isn't made for closeups.

Troul 

https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/85558500

https://www.amazon.com/AMF-AMF-188-T...ts_id=16410941

veganbikes

I don't know why aluminum. If I am looking for a more durable bike I would be looking towards steel or titanium. A Surly frame would be an easy choice but there might be some other great options in NZ.

mitchmellow62

Careful us of a counterbore would create a flat surface for a washer: https://www.mcmaster.com/spot-facers/ . By the pictures, it doesn't appear it would take that much material. A hand filing wouldn't be as neat but might also work.

smasha

I love the idea of a titanium bike, but I can't stomach spending $5-10k on a bike.

Without getting too much into a "steel is real" debate… Here in Wellington, seawater spray and mist is a thing. I like the idea of a bike that can gets its paint scratched, without leading to terminal failure. I like the weight of aluminium bikes. For a city commuter that's often used for short rides and often locked up for a few hours, keeping it under $1000 helps keep it mine.

Everything is compromise, and aluminium frames are part of the bicycle compromise that I'm happy with, based on my daily use. YMMV.

smasha

That's something to think about, especially if a length of naked bolt doesn't hold up. Counterbore a face to fit a washer or spacer/standoff.

There's a local guy who does frame-building. I might want to check with him about getting that done.

I wonder if that piece of dropout below the weld is solid. Or how solid is it?

smasha

The points of contact between that and the curved face on the dropout would still be putting all of the force on two points, not spread over an area.

What it might help with would be allowing the use of a spacer/standoff, and allowing that to rest parallel with the bolt, and distribute forces in parallel with the bolt.

dedhed

Plenty of 20 - 30 year old aluminium bikes out there running every day, not to mention cranks, wheels, etc

smasha

Another gotcha with this fork… On the Tubus Tara, I drew a red circle around the point where this would mount. From the edge of that mounting hole to the outer edge of the flange is 5mm at the smallest point. On the fork, the space between the bolt and the QR-nut is 5mm. A different nut could easily be different, for better or worse. That mounting hole is "generously" sized for an M5 bolt, so gravity would reduce that clearance, and push the rack flange down onto the QR-nut. Similar on the opposite end of the skewer.

This is kind of stupid.

Now I'm wondering if a frame-builder can install a braze-on eyelet at the base of the weld, above the dropouts. I'm wondering it that would be a good idea, and solve all of these problems.

smasha

Is this a better idea?

Troul 

just grind the area flat enough for the rack hardware. #sendit.

Trakhak

Why not email Giant's tech support and ask them how to mount the rack?

smasha

Is there an email address where that would actually get a response???

Trakhak

I haven't tried it. But I once emailed Felt for support and got a helpful response the next day. I would hope Giant would do the same.

Here's their customer support page. Live chat is offered, among other options, although chat might be merely automated responses. They also offer a contact form to fill out.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/contact

Schweinhund

Looks like something you could get for free off of an old set of bolt on cantilever brake pads.

maddog34

V-brake pads have them in Two Different thicknesses.....and a more appropriate hole size too... 6.1 mm.
place the metal "dome" to the inside, place the Cup outside, flat side towards the rack flange.. bolt that sucker up and quit overthinking it.

hokiefyd 

Subject to what Giant might have to say about it, I think I would use some plastic spacers/standoffs and try to "sculpt" out one end to sort of match the contour of the mounting surface of that fork end...so the through hole of the spacer is aligned and coincident with the threaded hole in the fork end. You could do this with a small rotary tool or even a grinder. Rack and fender kits sometimes have these parts, so you may indeed have some floating around already, but you can also get them in varying lengths at hardware stores, and M5 bolts to match.

No, it won't be perfect, but it would probably work.

smasha

Update from Giant. It kind of leaves me SOL. Seems like the front-racks are only properly compatible with steel fork versions of this bike.

Sucks for me, because I bought this bike with the intention of turning it into a city/grocery bike, with front and rear racks. After putting some time, effort, and money into customising it, it looks like I may be back to the drawing board, either (a) starting from scratch with another bike, or (b) having braze-on eyelets installed on the fork. Either way, this is a disapointment.

Joe Remi

Ok wait, this fork has mid-fork braze-ons for a low-rider rack but isn't supposed to use one??

smasha

tbf, the "Equipped" version/package of this bike comes with fenders, and the mid-fork eyelets are used to attach the front fender. Picture, below.

Still, the threaded eyelet near the dropouts seems unable to serve any useful purpose properly. It bears repeating: What where they thinking???

One of the weird things is that the mid-fork eyelets protrude from the fork just enough that the top mounting flange of the Giant branded Rack-It low-rider front-rack mates against it, leaving just enough room to slide a few sheets of paper between the fork and the top rail of the rack. It seems kind of beautiful in its design. It's almost like that was carefully considered. Then there's that bottom eyelet… Which only laughs at me and my hopes of turning this into a city/grocery bike.

And… The bike's specs state: Fork - Alloy, rack mount, disc​

I certainly bought this bike with the understanding that it's properly compatible with a front rack, and I had every intention of installing one.

That bottom eyelet… ​​​​​​

Troul 

could you swap out the fork with one that will allow for a rack?

Ironfish653

Yes, and apparently the mfgr also designed a rack specifically for this bike, but didn’t consider that the OP might choose to use a different rack, and also include specific mounting hardware for it.

I think OP should change everything on this bike but the paint job, in order to accommodate the chosen rack in the manner he sees fit.
I mean, what else can you do, since neither the rack or the bike manufacturer considered this combination and created The Part That Does.

Trakhak

See post 44. A Giant representative admitted that that fork will not accommodate a Giant-branded front rack or any other rack that they're aware of.

Ironfish653

Ah. I see. In post 46, OP seemed to indicate that the Giant rack mated perfectly with the mid-mounts, which aren’t really mid-mounts, but some sort of fender-specific mount. I get it now.

Guess I’ll have to give up on fitting that old Blackburn on to the front of my townie, since no one makes a hardware kit specifically for a 1976 Bridgestone.

Seriously, though, this is not a Mars lander or a Deepwater drilling rig; it’s a bicycle. This isn’t that hard.
I know we all want everything perfect, but sometimes the solution isn’t packaged, labeled and hanging on a peg behind the sales counter.