Midrack - this is how it is done

[Laurent]

Hi JonB!

I'm very interested in setting such a midrack on my Sofrider V2. I've studied the history of your construction, the drawings and the pictures and I came out with a few questions.

I understood that you used about 10 cm length of the rod for the rounding. According to my maths, with this length, should'nt the space between the two sides be shorter near the rounding then at the end? I assumed that the sides needed to be perfectly parallel. I figured that to have a 16cm spacing all along the two sides, the length of the rounding would have to bo at least 25cm+some fraction(16cm[spacer=diameter] X 3.1416[full circle] / 2 [half circle]).

Do you think that doing it this way, the rod would be too far out from the bike frame or would it be a good idea since it could probably give more room to install, to remove and to have easier access to different types of panniers?

Did you have the aluminum rod bent from a machine shop or did you do it yourself? I'd like to know how it's been done.

I'm also not so sure that the dimensions under the seat for the sofrider V2 are the same as for the Freerider.
Would I need to adapt?

Thanks a million times for your wonderfull idea and your answers.

Laurent

 

[JonB]

Laurent wrote: Hi JonB!

I'm very interested in setting such a midrack on my Sofrider V2. I've studied the history of your construction, the drawings and the pictures and I came out with a few questions.

I understood that you used about 10 cm length of the rod for the rounding. According to my maths, with this length, should'nt the space between the two sides be shorter near the rounding then at the end? I assumed that the sides needed to be perfectly parallel. I figured that to have a 16cm spacing all along the two sides, the length of the rounding would have to bo at least 25cm+some fraction(16cm[spacer=diameter] X 3.1416[full circle] / 2 [half circle]).

They might be shorter, i can check when i get home from my parents. I think my rounding is near perfect round, since i used a rounding machine for it.

Laurent wrote: Do you think that doing it this way, the rod would be too far out from the bike frame or would it be a good idea since it could probably give more room to install, to remove and to have easier access to different types of panniers?

Naturally further out will make it easier to put panniers on. But probably also less aerodynamic.

Laurent wrote: Did you have the aluminum rod bent from a machine shop or did you do it yourself? I'd like to know how it's been done.

I bought some time and material from the Leitra.dk velomobile workshop. So i actually did the work and experimentation myself, but i talked with CG. Rasmussen (Mr. Leitra) for advice/input during the process. Took me half a day or so, including mounting it.

Laurent wrote: I'm also not so sure that the dimensions under the seat for the sofrider V2 are the same as for the Freerider.
Would I need to adapt?

I think they are identical. Why not? I think only the handlebar and gearing is different.

Laurent wrote: Thanks a million times for your wonderfull idea and your answers.

I have another idea, i played with in my mind while looking at a Silvio. But it might work for a Sofrider/freerider/quest as well. The idea was that each side should have a long bended rod that started going flush along the back of the seat pan and the backrest. With 2-3 firm U shackles on each part of the seat to hold it in place. Both ends starts at the crack/crevice between the seat pan/backrest. Then it moves up a long the backrest, to a certain height, and from there it goes out over/next to the rear wheel slight over horizontally, so panniers will slide forward, then it bends and goes downwards, maybe vertically, maybe moving forward to form a "triangle" where the "cross bar" prevents the pannier from reaching the wheel. In the buttom it bends, and moves horizontially forward with enough space to the underside of the seatpan. In front of the seat pan it bends up and returns moving towards the rear like a U a long the bottom of the seat pan.

The attached drawing is a quick crude one. I have thought about welding little triangles in the bends to make it more stiff and stabilize + make it stronger (the white triangle on the picture). I would also attach this rack to the existing screws that holds the arm to the rear wheel (dashed circle). This rack might be done in 2 parts, a front and a rear part, but this is shown as a single piece. I think single piece is lighter.
I might do a wire from the rear of the rack to the top of the backrest (angled dashed line). This could be attached with a Y that connected the 2 sides of the rack just over the rear wheel, but i cant draw that from the side. The near vertical dashed line is another wire to strengthening the rack.

The intention is to have one large pannier behind the backrest, and 1 or 2 smaller front panniers under the seat. As usually anyone is free to copy, clone, build from/upon, ... my design and sell, marked, advertise, it without paying me. Maybe i should write "you are encouraged to?" No, this is what i will write: "By reading this text you agree to that you will build and marked this rack" ;-)

 

[joda76]

Here's a reasonable solution for mid racks that worked well for a recent eight day sojourn around Lake Ontario. We started in Lewiston, NY, and traveled counterclockwise around the shoreline and finished in Niagara On The Lake, ON.

The bike was fast, comfortable, carried five bags of gear and handled the New York shorline rolling hills very well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joda76/sets/72157624251565499/

World-traveling, Re-Cycle Cruzbiker, David Byrne sent me some shots of how he clamped some older style Axiom lowrider front racks to his bike. I had some old Blackburn lowriders laying around and made them work. The newer DLX Axiom's don't provide quite enough space to hang different panniers.

 

[KenM]

These are brilliant prototypes and ideas! Ideally the next step is for John (or someone equally skilled) to apply some professional design and get them manufactured. Again, I'd be seriously in the market for this as I'm hopeless when it comes to doing this sort of stuff myself.
-Ken