Because the front of the bike is better suited for carrying
weight than the back of the bike. Think about it.
1. The rear wheel is inherently weaker than the front
wheel due to its asymmetrical build and offset hub.
2. The rear part of the frame is where almost all frames
break. The thin chain stays and seat stays are notorious
weak spots.
3. Carrying weight on a rear rack makes the entire bike
feel unstable and top-heavy. Put a heavy box on a rear
rack and try to ride down the street. The entire frame
flexes, and the bike tries to lay down. Come to a stop and
it gets downright scary. Transporting that box becomes a
precarious balancing act.
4. Rear-loaded freight remains behind you while you ride,
and you can't see if it's shifting or about to fall. It's easy
to keep an eye on it when it's right in front of you.
Freight up front makes better sense because that's where
your hands are, that's where the stronger wheel is,
that's where the stronger part of the frame is,
and it's where you can see it.
A front mounted rack with a low-center of gravity (very
important) is the best way to carry freight on a bike.
These are French newspaper couriers. The picture on the left was taken around
1930.
The shot on the right is from 1927. See any rear racks?
Carrying freight anywhere on the bike will affect steering.
As far as overall bike handling goes, though, any cargo carried in the back
is better carried in the front, as low as possible, over the front wheel,
and close to where your hands are.
1956, 1960 These four pictures are provided courtesy of Joel Metz, keeper of
Messengers.org.
Check out his site to see the full-size version of these pictures plus a billion
other things that will
totally blow your mind into next week.
It's hard to say because I haven't broken one yet.
I used my first CETMArack for daily messenger work in SF and
could not break it-and I really tried! I still have it and it's as good as new.
The general consensus is that steering gets a little weird
around forty pounds.
I guess it depends on you and your bike.
There are a few limitations to know about
before you buy a CETMArack.
-Handlebar height. Measure the
distance between the top of your front wheel
and the handlebars. If it's over 13 inches, a standard CETMArack may
not fit.
Contact me to customize one for you.
-Handlebar size. If you're using oversize bars, the brackets may
need to be slightly bent
and a longer bolt will need to be substituted for the standard one.
Anything over 30mm aren't compatible, though.
-Lawyer tabs. These are the annoying lips added to the dropouts of
some front forks,
which are supposed to prevent the wheel from flying off if not bolted
tight enough or whatever.
In some cases these tabs prevent the rack strut from laying flat against
the fork dropout.
If this is the case, you'll need to improvise with washers, a file or a
grinder. My wife's bike
has these, which we worked around with a couple washers. I'll post a
picture of it here
as soon as I don't have 61187136532169 other things to do.
-Shocks. Shockingly, CETMAracks don't work with shocks.
Yes, CETMAracks are compatible with quick-release axles and
drop-bars.
It's your responsibility to attach your rack safely. If you've got any questions or reservations about attaching your rack adequately, take
your bike to your independent locally-owned bike shop and have them
check it out for you. While you're there, buy something!
Bars over 30mm won't work. If
you're using oversize bars under 30mm, the brackets may need
to be slightly bent and a longer bolt substituted for the standard one.
October 1995--Solo Pacific Coast bike tour from Modesto,
CA, to San Francisco, to Los Angeles.
September/October 1997--Two-person bike tour from Anacortes,
Washington to Fargo, North Dakota.
February 2001 to June 2005, and July to November 2006--Bike messenger in Chicago,
Los Angeles, and San Francisco. I worked at Apex,
Deadline, Exacta,
Western Messenger, and Quake.
From May 2007 to December 2007 I worked at Pedalers Express in Eugene, Oregon.
And a lot of riding in between.
After ruining countless wheels (rear almost every time),
fracturing good frames (rear triangle every time),
and a nudging from Mr. Zo, I realized I'd had it wrong for
so long and built my first front rack.
Take it easy. Powder-coating is a
"dry-paint" process of coating metal, which uses electricity
to bond a statically-charged powder to metal. It's more durable than paint
and less toxic,
because there aren't any toxic solvents involved. The process is usually
done in three steps.
First, the metal is sand-blasted to remove oils and other crap. Then it's
"sprayed" with powder.
Lastly, it goes into an oven where the powder is baked on. Sometimes
there's a clear-coat added for durability.
Eventually, yes. All CETMAracks are coated to protect the metal,
but like any coated metal surface, scratches to the protective layer
will expose the steel to oxygen and bring on rust.
All CETMAracks are available powder-coated
or uncoated at your request.
It means they're uncoated, bare metal, naked,
not painted, sans protective finish,
without covering, no clear-coat, varnish, wax, shellac, nothin'. If you
buy an uncoated rack,
it will eventually rust. I highly recommend you have it painted or
powder-coated,
or just spend the extra twenty and get a powder-coated one from me.
As a general rule 1-2 weeks, depending on
inventory.
As of February, 2008 I've been backordered three weeks, but I'm catching up fast,
so turnaround will soon be much quicker. Of
course, if you have
special requests or need something sooner, contact me.
And if you've already ordered a rack and want an ETA, don't hesitate to call.
Individual domestic orders include free
shipping. All domestic racks are shipped
via UPS Ground Service. International shipments are made via USPS and must
be
arranged for/billed for ahead of time.
