I have an old 26″ 456 that I want to create new rack (and potentially proper mudguard) mounts in the plates for the dropouts.

The silly little brazed on rack mounts are too close to the dropout itself and there’s only about 1mm of clearance between a regular skewer and a rack leg. The problem is I can’t then run the special skewer for our “follow me” tag along for my youngest which has a big footprint.

My instinct was to drill and tap the plates but wasnt sure if

A) this was total idiocy from a strength perspective
B) where was safest to drill (I assume behind the axle)
C) subject to the above if anyone has a neat idea for aligning the holes – I have half an idea on how to make a jig already but my plan is a bit fiddly.

It’s a piece of piss

Perfect, just the answer I wanted and not unexpected but thought it was worth asking the hive. 😆

Hoping to use/adapt this bike for some bikepacking, adventures with the kids and a bit more utility stuff now I have a new main bike.

Can you not just drill a hole a fit a screw from the inside of the dropout and a nut on the outside? Button head screw are fairly low profile so should fit, and you don’t have to thread the hole.