Jul
05
2010
Sunlite Bicycle Welded Spring Rear Rack,
Posted by Blogmaster in Bicycle Accessories, tags: Bicycle, Rack, rear, Spring, Sunlite, Welded
- Tubular 6061-T6 alloy construction
- Fits 26″, 27″ and 700C bicycles
- Max load of 50 lbs
- Adjustable design
- Includes spring retention systems
Product Description
This rack fits almost any bike and is one of the best racks out there for the price, 815g with hardware.
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This is a great rear rack.
Once it is on the bike it is on there very good…no rattling around, etc.
Very easy to strap almost anything on to it. I purchased one of their bags at the same time so it is a very nice fit.
I agree with the other reviewers that the instructions (if you can call them that) that come with the product are just worthless.
The only reason I did not give it Five Stars is because of this. And their website also does not have anything else to fall back on.
Rather than frustrate yourself with the supplied directions make sure you have your bike right in front of you along with the online picture of the rack itself itself…it is really easier to figure it out on your own.
So let me try to explain best I can…
FIRST –Attaching this to your bike is dependent upon the frame having pre-threaded holes on it for the bolts that come with the rack. This must be some kind of industry standard. But I did not understand this part going into it which is why I was frustrated
So look at your frame and make sure you have the pre-tapped holes both at the top part of the rear frame where it starts coming down to the rear tire and down where the rear tire itself fits in. My bike had “place holder” bolts already in these holes to stop debris from getting inside so I removed them and used the longer screws that came with the rack.
See the silver/chrome parts of the rack in the picture…
First you will have to attach the angled parts to the top of the rack with the little U-shaped bracket pieces. But don’t tighten it down yet. They should remain loose and flexible at this point.
Magnify the online photo to see this more clearly.
The bottom silver parts adjust up/down depending on the type of tire you have…
Notice at the end of each of these four silver pieces are holes where the bolt will go through.
These holes line up with the pre-theaded holes on your bike frame.
So slip the bolt and washer through and tighten them down to the bike frame first but still just a tiny bit loose.
Then push the rack around a bit to make sure it is level and straight. This is the reason why we did not fully tighten the top silver parts to the rack itself earlier so that we would have this flexibility.
Once you are satisfied everything is level…crank ALL down bolts very tight.
At this point go ahead and grab the rack and pick up your whole bike that way….you will see how solidly it is on there.
Enjoy!
Rating: 4 / 5
The rack is lightweight, a nice matte black, and fit perfectly over my 700cc wheels – it’s nice to have the ability to switch among three wheel sizes. I was able to attach a couple of pannier baskets with very few problems.
However, the installation process was something of a pain. The directions are not totally clear – they consist of an exploded view of all the components and some very basic instructions on how to install the rack over the back tire of the bike. One of the screws stripped immediately when we started installing the rack. There were also no directions on how to fix the “arms” of the rack (the silver ones on the left side of the rack in the image) to the main body of the bike – it took a lot of guesswork and some tinkering to figure out what we needed to do since we hadn’t installed this kind of bike rack on a bike before.
Rating: 4 / 5
It fits my extra sized Motobecane. and my wifes womens Schwinn Sidewinder 24″. Had a funny thing happen on the trail . It (The rack) fell backwards pivioting on the rear axel, With the sunlite bag full of “stuff”.(which the bag is cool too) The screw had worked loose on the bike attachment . After many mile on bumpy trails I might have tightened all the screws/bolts up . The ones under the bag also worked loose, helping the mishap along. Anyway fine product.
Rating: 5 / 5
This has been the best rear bike rack I have used so far. Delivery was extremely prompt. Unit is sturdy and came with instructions, fits over 700c tires, mounting hardware is fully adjustable and came in two lengths. Very happy with this purchase.
Rating: 5 / 5
Everyone has said it, and they’re right. This is a great rack; the instructions are awful.
I had some installation troubles that were largely related to the moronic diagram included with this rack. It comes with two sets of mounting arms: short and long. I stared at this hunk of metal for 15 minutes before I figure out that I was supposed to end up with extra parts. I also had a heck of a time keeping the arms from falling apart as I was attaching them to the bike.
However, once you’ve figured out which arms to use (with no suggestion from the idiot-sheet), and adjust the height at the bottom of the rails, it turns out to be a great little rack. It’s very sturdy, doesn’t rattle or make any noise, and it’s pretty inexpensive. I don’t really know what to do with the spring-loaded back end, but I know it’s there, waiting for me to find something useful for it to do.
I also bought a Sunlite pannier to go with it. It fits pretty well, but the clips are a little long. To correct this, I flipped over the two clip points on the bottom of the rack so they’re lower to the ground. Piece of cake.
Now that I know how to put it together, I’d certainly buy another one. For the first go-around, though, have patience or find one that tells you how to put piece A into slot B.
Rating: 4 / 5