Hiya.

Never used front racks, always managed with barbag, rear rack and panniers.

However, I’ve an old V-brake Rockhopper I’m putting together as a simple do it all bike.
It’s got a rear rack but handles appallingly with any decent rear load, so a front platform rack appeals for shopping etc.

Kona P2 forks with eyelets but no dedicated low rider mounts.

How do they affect handling?
Do you use yours?
Any recommendations?

Ta in advance.

#hipster

It was looking at the racks on the Surly site that got me thinking, tbh.
🙂

No need for one on the Trucker and not a bike I like to leave about.

They look practical for everyday use.
I’m ambi-basket.

Have had a Wald basket mounted on a Surly Nice front rack for the last year.

I like it, dont normally carry enough to warrant a pannier and I also like to pretend I am out riding for a Radavist article.

Mines on a Singular Peregrine so may affect the handling differently, but basically it makes the steering a bit slower and floppy at low speed. Once you get going its stable enough to comfortably ride no handed though.

Do it.

How do they affect handling?

Depends what you put on them and geometry of your bike.
Sticking anything big and heavy on them obviously will affect handling, if you do it all the time you get used to it, if it’s an occasional thing then it’ll feel weird every time.
Low trail bikes deal with it a LOT better though and over time I’ve come to prefer having the weight on the front of the bike, less ‘tail wagging the dog’ feeling and climbing standing is so much better, if you get the weight distributed right you really don’t notice it much at all.

Do you use yours?

Regularly yes, my commuter/utility bike used to have a front rack, low riders and a platform and over time my normal daily use has kinda stabilised on a pair of small/medium front panniers as my preference, and then using the platform for bigger bulkier stuff when needed or as extra space, I really only used the rear rack under protest when I had big bulky annoying stuff to move around, so much so that I’ve actually been running with no rear rack for about 6 months now, and if I know I’m going to need more capacity then I just hook the trailer up and be done with it.

Any recommendations?

I’ve used everything from cheapo front platform racks on their own, combo of lowrider rack (for panniers under normal use) with a platform rack for extra capacity, through to things like the Spesh Pizza rack and Surly Nice rack which, they all have their pros and cons.

It depends what your ‘normal’ usage is going to be really, ie: what you have to carry, and how often. My current favourite is the Pizza rack on a 26in as I can still use my panniers for normal stuff, and the weight is low enough to be almost as good as a proper low-rider rack (Tubus Tara), but on 700c I find the Pizza Rack leaves the panniers a little too high above the axle so on the 700c bike I’m still using a Tara and a basic cheap alu front rack with a skinny platform just for an extra flat central surface when needed, but if you were going to be using the platform regularly I’d still say go with a bigger wider platform like the Pizza Rack or Minoura etc.

If it’s just for small shopping trips and such then a platform might suit you, as you can keep the weight central and at the front if you get used to it and the bike is OK with it then it will be better than a waggly tailed pannier setup, but bear in mind there are limits to how much you can easily carry, and it’s normally less than a pair of panniers, you will also have to pay attention to how you pack and either have a bag with a closable top, or a cargo net if you’re using a box or basket.

I also like to pretend I am out riding for a Radavist article.

😆

This is what I’ve stabilised on for normal day to day use now, with crate/box/bag/basket on the rack when needed:

This is what’s on the 700c bike, if you can imagine if it had the Pizza rack on from the Charge you cna see how much higher the panniers would be:

Works well for many things too, adaptable to doa bit of exploring and bikepacking as just lash your bags on the top:

EDIT – found an older pic when I was trying jsut a platform on 700c and what it did to the panniers: