Mark's Lowrider Rack - AlexAndChristine's Photos- powered by SmugMug

Mark Vande Kamp and I built this rack for his Goodrich. When he ordered this bike he didn't expect to use it for touring, but he likes it so much that he wanted to be able to do so. The rack was designed to go very quickly using just 4 bolts. Special fasteners were made which allow it to mount to the same eyelets as the fenders. The rack was designed to carry 2 Ortlieb Frontroller panniers and the primary angles of the rack were designed to match the frame's downtube angle and top tube angles.

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AlexAndChristine > We didn't intentionally line up the angle of the hoop with the angle of the upper rack mounts, but it sure looks like we did. The hoop was bent with a Ridgid 506 3/8" bender.

AlexAndChristine > We bent the lower 2" radius bends on one of the V-belt pulleys from my drill press.
We bent this rack in 3 sections (two bottom sections and the hoop), then brazed the sections together with internal sleeves.

AlexAndChristine > This was taken just after tacking together the last of the joints. It shows how the rack mounts on the frame.

AlexAndChristine > The upper rack mounting tabs were made from 3/8" 1018 steel which was filed by hand to have tabs. I copied this idea from a Bruce Gordon lowrider that I own.

AlexAndChristine > This shows how the special fender/rack mount fasteners work when the rack is installed. The fender stay is held in place with an embedded M5 set screw. The bolt for the rack fits into the same threads.

AlexAndChristine > I made the end caps for the rack on the lathe.

AlexAndChristine > Another shot of the upper eyelets, all cleaned up.

AlexAndChristine > The end caps at this end of the rack are larger to prevent the pannier from sliding off.

The side profile with the pannier in place. The pannier sits pretty far back and is pretty well centered on the steering axis.
Most of the tubing is 3/8" x 0.035. Pieces under 5" long are 5/16" x 0.035.