The East Highland Way loop is a rack and mudguard step closer.

Now that looks like an ace machine.

I’ve got a front rack I’d like to fit too, but I need to have a couple of spacers made up to clear the fork blade and figure another way to mount the front mudguard stays.

Looks lovely that.

Why didn’t you use the rack mounts on the frame?

i am very drawn to your bike for some reason.a bike that will literally (nearly) do everything from a world trip to some bridleway riding.

was even thinking (momentarily) about swapping my new tarmac towards one (but i came to my senses 🙂

enjoy the new bike 🙂

please stop posting photo’s of this kind of bike. i get a nervous itch that i will eventually have to scratch. 😀

You need something like that in your life Tony…

That, or a Vaya.

Why didn’t you use the rack mounts on the frame?

The dropout mount is inboard of the really fat fork blade, spacing it out is the only way it will fit.

Sorry Ton 😉

Ton, I saw a salsa vaya yesterday in the flesh, it is lovely. You know you want too 😀

What wheels did you use on that build Mr McM?

Mcmoonter I meant at the back, 😉

At the front yes you’ll probably have to use a spacer (is the one supplied with Tubus racks not wide enough?), where to attach your mudguard stay without it fouling the disc calliper is the real challenge.

Mine is shaping up too, since this photo I’ve also got a 90mm stem on instead of the 110 and it seems bang on now, oh and got all black spacers too. Reluctant to cut steerer down until I do a big loaded ride in case I have a rethink. These are the Bluemels 65mm wide mudguards over 50mm Big Apple tyres, tons of room. Racks are Tubus Cargo and Tara.

The rack and mudguards didn’t clash at the front, but I’m not convinced the brake caliper is in the best place if I get a stick in the spokes and the mudguard strut pulls away as it’s meant to. There are some holes on the inner face of the fork which might be handy. It all works as is though with nothing interfering with anything else, I’ve tried a pannier on there and it clears pretty well, and it’s not like I have breakaway bolts on the rack so I might leave it as is. The rack is on backwards to normal but it puts the loop around the brake and dropout protecting it nicely and giving nearly the same spoke coverage as putting it on the other way round. Don’t get to use the extra mount holes for mudguard stays though.

As soon as the weather warms up a little bit I’ll do some sort of Coast to Coast via Youth Hostels to give it a proper run.

Wheels looking good Mcmoonter. Are they the ones you were planning on lacing up yourself…?

Bike is lovely mate, really nice.

MLC it looks like you have the front rack mounted the wrong way around. You’ve nothing to secure the lower pannier stay to, and fitted the other way around it makes wheel removal much easier.

At the rear of the frame there are two mounting points. I mounted the rack to the upper boss. The Tubus rack has two mounting holes at the bottom too. I used the lower one to connect the rack to the frame with, then connected the mudguard stays to the upper pair. It’s a much neater solution. Then if you need for what ever reason to remove the rack and mudguards it almost comes away as a complete unit. The front stay mounting is more complex with the BB7 caliper. If needs be I will just bend the stays and mount them to one of the other fork bosses. I doubt I will fit a cage to them.

The wheels? I found a pair of Hope XC 36H hubs, the rims are Mavic TN317.

Just to drag this up one more time. You had me in a panic about wheel removal so when Screwfix turned up with my big bag of M5 bolts I had another play.

Tubus’ way:

My way, flipped:

Either way up the front wheel drops out fine, the skewer has to come out both ways. If I was using old fashioned panniers with elastic and a hook I’d need that bottom rail to be horizontal, but most panniers these days have a lower rail and a stiff bar to tuck behind a rail or upright, so it’s just a case of finding the right spot to put that hook so it sits behind an upright. Like this:

Can’t see I’m gaining anything by doing it Tubus’s way round except for an efficient long grass and nettle collection system with those front facing bars so I’ll keep it wrong way round for now.

MLC what I’d worry about is your front pannier ‘ flopping’ into the wheel with the reverse fitting.

I don’t have a detail pic of the mounting on my Roberts, but with the rack the ‘right’ way around I used the froward most rack mounting on the mudguard mounting boss behind the dropout. Then fitted the mudguard stays to the rearmost hole on the rack. As a bonus there’s no need to remove the skewer.

I’m going to make up a spacer to clear the diameter of the fork blade to get it to fit.

Maybe you can make it out here.

I think I’m finally on the same page as you. The big difference is the rack crossing the fork blade rather than passing in front/below. That also spaces it out a lot further from the spokes regardless of whether you flip it, and the bottom of the pannier a bit further from the dirt. When I line it up for fitting it’s like this:

Unfortunately this is what it does to the arch clearance with 2.0 tyres:

Thought to myself that can’t be right and went for a google, turns out Tubus do a 29er version of the rack which I didn’t know about. Now I bought my racks from the classifieds on here and I’m assuming these are the standard version, not the “Big Apple” version which is wider and taller. Maybe I should try one of those instead, or even a Surly Nice rack, I like the idea of an extra platform on the front. Decisions, decisions. I don’t really need front rack except for a big trip which won’t be for a while yet. Thinking about it a bit more while typing, the height of the pannier is set by the upper horizontal bar which is the same whichever Tubus rack I go with, and there’s nothing to stop me spacing the rack out for more width without crossing the fork blade and using the front holes on the dropout.

it would be an ideal bike for most of my rides, just enjoying the scenery and exploring and enjoying being on a bike

just think the top tube slopes a bit too much

MLC

Yikes that is a close clearance. I didn’t know there was a 29er option either. In a panic I just nipped out to the shed to check the clearance on mine. I’ve got a Schwalbe Marathon XR 50mm wide front tyre, there is about 10mm clearance around the hoop of the rack. Not ideal, but not as close as yours.

Wheels looking good Mcmoonter. Are they the ones you were planning on lacing up yourself…?

Yes Paul, they went together well. I went to Wheelcraft to get the spokes, Big Al gave me some lacing tips, I got some tension on the spokes and he did the final tweaking. He used a strange combination of spokes and used loctite stylee nipples on one side.

I tried to fit my Tubus Tara rack and found it had a similar clearance issue to MLC. I found a Tubus Duo rack that doesn’t have the over the wheel loop. It’s still a pain trying to get the mudguard stays past the front brake caliper, so I mounted the stays to a pair of P clips. I also had to bolt it to the front fork boss as the top rails sat at a crazy angle when mounted on the rear bosses.

[img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-072kd03rpfA/UYecctVh5yI/AAAAAAAAB2g/oo95jsMaM-U/s512/20130506_113047.jpg[/img]

hi chaps, I have a feeling I’m going to have a similar issue with regard to the clearance required from the lower fork mount for the rack to clear the fork leg. mcmoonter did you put in additional spacers as noted previously? I’ve got kona p2 forks which are equally if not more chunky, so am keen to hear how you resolved it before i order a tubus rack.

Bikes are looking smashing, nice work

Cheers
paul

I put 40mm schwalbe marathons on mine today and did a coastal gravel jaunt. Great bikes indeed.

some pics of mine here, front tubus rack fitted as per tubus instructions with no problems at all

its the stainless Nova BTW

Paulg, I only needed to use the spacer on the front upper mudguard eye on the drop out with the Duo. There was no way I could get it to fit level with the lower rear.

I bought a Shutter Precision dynamo hub and a couple of Busch & Muller lights. I hope to get the wheel built tomorrow, then I fancy a loaded jaunt off somewhere before the midgies come out.

Pics look great Steve.

Ah ok, thanks. Unfortunately the P2’s only have a lower rear mount (presumably intended for mudguards) with no front one as per the Salsa. Looks like i may have to go down a different route, possibly this: http://www.carradice.co.uk/index.php?page_id=product&under=range&product_id=77 but it’s quite pricey!

Cheers

paul

Paulg, you should be ok with a P2 fork. I’ve still got the Tubus Tara rack, I was going to put it on the classifieds, looking for £40 posted. I’m dashing out the door now, but if you are interested email me.

Almost the final Fargo fettle.

I built up the new front wheel around an SP dynamo hub and I’ve fitted Busch & Muller head and tail lamps.

I still need to sort out the front mech. I’ve got an Ultegra road triple, but I’m struggling to shim the clamp down to 26.8mm. The shims I have must be for a later model mech.

Now it needs riding as intended. I booked the rail tickets to Kyle of Lochalsh for next Monday, Boblo and I are going to ride from Skye to somewhere on the east coast, possibly Montrose.

Looking ace McM. Looking ace.

Just been trying to find the Big Apple Tara for my new Ogre. It seems they are as rare as Hen’s Teeth. Thought I found one at Bike24, but they’re stock levels weren’t clear.

Oh well I’ll make do with the normal Tara, as realistically I’ll only be using the front rack with 40mm tyres on I guess.