Heavy solid versatile front rack.
While setting it up is a little involved it seems to be solid once it's on offering secure placement of panniers and a nice platform for strapping stuff on. The rack is quite versatile in terms of fitting on different rigid forks and adjusting the height. Still, if I were doing some serious expidition touring out of the country I'd maybe consider going with a Tubus front rack. While you'd lose the platform you'd gain a more simple design that's solid with fewer parts that could break.
Pros: Solid. Adjustable. Platform.
Cons: Lots of parts.
Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes
Reviewed on: March 05, 2012
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Yes No Report as InappropriateI modified this rack and it is on my Surly Pugsley. I wanted a front rack that looked cool and that would keep a gangline from the front tire while "bikejoring" with my dogs! I was able to cut the lower portion off with a hacksaw, and basically wire tie it on to the fork. It works like a champ! The rack is built very strong and comes with a boat-load of mounting hardware. So with a little bit engineering skills you should be able to mount it to a wide variety of forks.
Pros: Strong and stable, nice diameter tubes, clean weld lines, looks great! I am sure it can handle the weight you throw at it!
Cons: Maybe... not the lightest out there. But... I cut mine down!
Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes
Reviewed on: May 11, 2011
Reviewed by: Brian H., Michigan
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Yes No Report as InappropriateA Burly Beast
I ordered both front and rear Nice Racks for my Surly Long Haul Trucker, since they were designed for that bike ... it just made sense.
Once installed, the front Nice rack is very strong, very stable, holds a lot of cargo, and doesn't seem to affect steering in a huge way. You can put almost anything on it. I have a large basket tied to the top, and routinely attach front panniers below on the lowe-rider rails. It takes everything in stride and does it well.
Installation, however, is not a simple task. The instructions are vague and there's so much hardware included for infinite mounting combinations that it's difficult to know which pieces to select. If you're an LHT owner, there are some good reference instructions on the web that are a HUGE help. Even so, it's not a quick task.
Also, the powder coating on mine made the slots for the mounting hardware too tight, and the rack wouldn't slide as it should for vertical adjustment. I had to use a dremel to remove a bit of the poweder coat before I could slide the bolts through. If that weren't bad enough, the stainless bolts that were included were pretty weak, and several of them snapped during installation before the nylock nuts were even tight! Fortunately, you can find them at almost any decent hardware store.
Once all of the initial issues were resolved, the installation went well, and it is now a very, VERY solid front rack that should stand up to whatever I can throw at it. And after the initial installation is done, the whole rack comes off and goes back on very fast with four bolts (no further adjustments).
If you can handle the installation, and need a heavy duty front rack, this one will not disappoint. I give it 4 stars instead of 5, only due to the poor installation instructions and weak bolts.
Pros: Very strong.
Supports a lot of cargo.
Very large top platform in addition to the lowrider rails.
Hardware included for virtually any kind of bike.
Rack acts as a nice bike stand when the front wheel is off, even with fenders!
Cons: A bit heavy.
Poor hardware quality (bolts only - everything else is solid)
Poor installation instructions.
Would Buy Again: Yes
Would Recommend: Yes
Reviewed on: October 21, 2010
Reviewed by: Gregory M., California
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3 customer reviews
