Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Nice rack!

Over the Fourth of July weekend, I made an effort to get a rear rack for the trike, but exhausted my professional options. So here's a recap of how I made my quick and dirty pannier rack for the Sun EZ Tad. First, I made a trip to Home Depot and bought a bar of aluminum flat and four 5mm bolts, two longer and two shorter.


I got out the drill and drilled two holes in the aluminum that line up with the two eyelets on the rear of the trike. Then I trimmed the corner of the aluminum with a hacksaw so it could clear the rear quick release. Here's the results after cleaning up the cut with a dremel.


Then it was time to test fit. I mounted the flat on one side. So far, so good. Then I test fit one of the panniers. Again, good.



From there, it was basically lather, rinse, repeat. I bent the aluminum twice so the remaining portion went back toward the other side of the frame, cut it to length, drilled matching holes and cut a notch. Here's the whole thing bolted on.


And finally, the entire deal with both panniers mounted.


After about 65 miles, including two commutes, I'm quite pleased with the results. It seems pretty solid and the panniers are staying where they belong. And what's more, it doesn't even look like it was slapped together by a halfwit in his driveway.


Date: July 11
Mileage: 23
Ride type: Commute
July mileage: 66
Year to date mileage: 1888

6 comments:

KM said...

nice job.

Cheers

Matt said...

I agree. Looks nice. And you could even put a hitch on there to attach a trailer! That would rule!

Nathan said...

You go girl!

KM said...

Now you can do wheelies safely!!

Cheers

LvilleTex said...

Damn Pete. Nathan says "Yo GO Girl". I say, "You Da man!". Wish i had your mad skillz.

so, how does the thing climb? or should i say how do you climb on it?y

Sparky said...

Your neat pictures and description make this look like a script for DIY network or something.

Nice work! if you had me over to help it would have looked more half-witted.