Comments on: Rack Building Basics — Tubing Selection

By: Alex Wetmore

Alex Wetmore — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 04:36:41 +0000

To figure out the feet first figure out what you are building. In my experience a porteur-style rack takes 14-20'' of tubing while a handlebar bag rack takes about 4-6'' of tubing. For Aircraft Spruce you want to order it cut into 4'' segments. 8'' segments will cost more money, and UPS won''t ship longer sections of tubing. 8'' sections are handy if you are building a large porteur rack though, since you can bend the perimeter from a single piece of tubing.

By: Kenton

Kenton — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 01:26:17 +0000

So if this is my first rack and I”m order tubing from Aircraft Spruce two questions.

1. How many feet will I need?
2. How should I request it to be cut in terms of length?

Thanks.

Kenton

By: Johan

Johan — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 01:03:50 +0000

Tubus probably use some proprietary tubing that has thinner walls than anything I can find available. The racks I have looked at have 10×0.5 mm tubes which in American measurements should be about .0197″ in wall thickness.

By: Adam B

Adam B — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 20:14:43 +0000

I heard Dillsburg is no more…

By: AlexWetmore

AlexWetmore — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:14:45 +0000

I think that 1/4″ x 0.028″ (which is similar to the tubing in your french rack) is fine for a handlebar bag rack. I”ve made a couple of racks using tubing of that size.

I”ve had to pay much higher shipping charges when ordering tubing from McMaster Carr than Aircraft Spruce. I think that Aircraft Spruce is better about cutting the tubing into lengths that fit into UPS boxes without high surcharges.

By: Mike Jenkins

Mike Jenkins — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 15:55:13 +0000

I have a reputed 1950′’s French front rack for a handlebar bag constructed from 6mm OD, 4.5 mm ID steel tubing. The stays are short, only going to the cantilever mounts and seem rigid enough. Mcmaster.com has 4130 tubing. Quarter inch tubing in 0.028″ wall is $18.61 per 6” length.

Good stuff, Alex.

By: AlexWetmore

AlexWetmore — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 20:47:01 +0000

Thanks Jim.

Gary — I haven”t looked too closely at integrating racks with frames. I tend to swap bikes too much. It might be nice to save a little weight on the mounting hardware.

The Tubus Fly would be an example of a rack that has minimal stays and weight. I”m not sure that it could be reduced much by brazing directly to the bicycle’’s frame. A Tubus Fly weighs 12oz and I”m going to guess that 8oz of that is in the tubing (the rest would be mounting hardware, flat plate for the mounting points, etc). The tubing is 10mm and appears to be similar to 3/8 x 0.028 tubing in thickness. That means that it has about 5ft , very impressive for a rear rack. The shape is very elegant if you look at one in person, it is basically two loops of steel and one cross member.

By: Jim G

Jim G — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:59:11 +0000

Holy Cow! Alex, if TechShop does open a Seattle location, I nominate you to teach the Bicycle Rack Building class!

By: Gary Young

Gary Young — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 16:05:53 +0000

This is a great series — please keep them coming!

I do have a request. Have you investigated making racks that are brazed or welded directly to the frame, as on the tout-terrain frames that Peter White imports? It would seem that the seat stays would lend support to both the bike and the rack and that one could eliminate a stay from the rack. Am I just kidding myself about that?