philpeugeot 

Hi all,
I was trying to install said rack on my Miyata 1000, only to find that the manufacturer recommends fitting the rack onto a fork with a width of 120mm to 160mm. The Miyata's fork is only ~105mm across, and the provided spacers just aren't enough. Would it be okay to "cold-set" the rack down to about the same width as the fork since it's made of steel? I've seen someone else mount a Tubus Expedition onto a vintage frame before, but I just wanted to get your advice on the potential ramifications of making such modifications to the rack.
Thanks all,
Phil

brooklyn_bike

should be no problem if rack is steel. that's roughy 7mm per side you're bring it in. once you've got it installed and see how it looks : post a photo if you get a minute

mstateglfr 

Just buy some longer made bolts and spacers. Itll cost $3 in total at the local hardware store.
A couple of 8mm or 8mm spacers made from stainless steel or aluminum and then some longer stainless steel m5 bolts. Stainless so they dont rust. Just measure from where the bolt threading will start at the head to the inner wall of the fork blade and subtract a couple mm that'll be plenty long enough to fully thread everything securely.

An 8mm spacer on each side is nothing and it'll allow the rack to not be bent into fitting.
Its what I did for this rack. I haven't thought twice about weight or stability.

philpeugeot 

mstateglfr brooklyn_bike Thanks for the advice, although I should mention that the rack was originally spaced out to 165mm. I think I'll give it a shot anyways.

djb

Ive used spacers on racks for decades, without problems, although offhand I can't say how long the spacers have been.
I would mention that its important to make sure that the bolts are long enough to fully engage all the way in the threads of the fork, and to use blue loctite to help keep them from loosening.
I wouldn't bend the rack all the way to your forks width, but I can't see that doing it a bit would be bad. Others with more experience than me will probably have better advice re bending it more. You could always contact Tubus directly with the question and see what they think.

PS, if you go the spacer route, I would recommend adding a spare spacer, appropriate length bolt and washers in with your tool kit, just in case you didnt notice stuff loosening and can't find stuff that falls out.

djb

hey, I just remembered putting on a aluminum rear rack on a bike a bunch of years ago that was quite a bit wider than the dropouts of the bike. Being that much wider was causing too much "force" on the bolt area in my opinion, so I did bend the rack in a certain amount to take away this seemingly not good force--both for when mounting, and thinking down the road if I had to take the rack off for a flat (it was a rack setup on the skewer, for road bikes without bolt holes for racks)

so yes, bringing it in a "certain" amount is probably a really good idea. I just don't have the experience to know without seeing and feeling it, what would be "too much bending"
Seems to me that NOT doing the bending at a weld point would be prudent, so perhaps be aware of that---again, just common sense view on my part, you may get other opinions elsewhere.

Doug64

I wouldn't recommend cold setting a Tubus rack. There is a little give, but it broke at the weld on a Tubus Cargo rack by trying to pull it in too much. Tubus covered it under warranty, but I felt it was my fault. I can't remember what the problem was, but I should have used a 5 mm spacers on a frame with 130 mm rear dropout spacing.

This is just a sample of one, but I'd use the spacers.

The smallest space allowed between the inside of the rack is 144 mm. Tech Drawing