Jon, congrats! The reason Nitto is well regarded is because the quality is really high, which matters the more times you ride your bike with more things. I believe all Nitto racks are still brazed by the same woman in Japan for the past decade or maybe even two. I know you bought two Riv's which is a lot of money so I can understand your apprehension at a more expensive rack.
Any good rack that won't fail in a couple of years will be $70-200 depending on how much you want to carry. So to have a specific size, price range, and intended use is helpful for us to give suggestions so we're not all aiming in the dark and can better help you. A reason Howard suggest posting a WTB is because a lot of us are bike tinkerers and have parts/accessories that are sitting around that we would gladly see being used. So you can usually get racks and parts cheaper this way, and most of the stuff is in good to great condition. So whenever or if ever the time comes for you to buy a front rack, then it will be helpful to post to this list. If you don't have a set idea, then being specific in your intended use, etc. always helps. A lot of knowledgeable people on here, and will go the extra mile to make measurements, take pictures, etc. All things considered - Soma has a couple of front racks that are cheaper that might work, mainly their Alloy front rack is around $35, but their shipping can be outrageous. Another option would be to get a Wald front basket set up ($25ish). This will connect to your handlebars and have legs that connect to your fork dropouts. I highly recommend against the wald basket, unless you attach it to a front rack. I had the Basket set up, and the screws vibrated loose within a week. A Tara Tubus Duo Lowrider rack is a little over $50, which might be your best option though you might need to use P-Clamps. Another option would be to try to find a cheap rear rack that you can jerry rig to use as a front rack. Not a lot of options if you're trying to stay below $100. Surly front racks (Surly Nice Rack, 24 pack rack, etc.) as well as Minoura Gamoh front racks. Velo Orange also has a Constructeur front rack that I've also used with great success (these are all in the $100 and over range). On Friday, June 17, 2016 at 8:46:12 AM UTC-4, Jon Craig wrote: > > > <https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P1QC4YV-EI0/V2PwuyaVQDI/AAAAAAAABe0/EWKwiZ3lkfcetJfc1H1fLx5_lZc_jGcUwCLcB/s1600/sam-20160617.jpg> > > So, last Saturday I finally bought a Sam (55, blue, noodle)! (BTW A1 > Cyclery in Indianapolis rocks!) (And truth be told, I'm now a 2-Sam > household as on Wednesday we went back and my wife got one too - 51, > orange, noodle. :D ) > > Anyway - I had an old Trek rear rack so I black-nailpolished the Trek > logos and put it on - it fits great! > > A front rack I do not have, and I'm wondering what ones fit well on Sam > without a lot of bodging. NIttos, yeah, they're gorgeous, but they're also > bordering on blasphemously expensive so I'm looking for lower cost options. > > Since someone will demand it, I've attached a pic of my Sam sitting in my > office as I type this. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
