Re: [CR] TA Front Racks

I've been able to pick up a couple of these from the list. I mentioned, perhaps offlist, that this rack works as well with the old engraved Weinmanns on my 1962 Schwinn Superior as with the Mafacs on my mid 70's Gitane TdF. I discovered a couple of days ago however, that the TA rack is more difficult to fit on the newer Dia-Compe made Schwinn Approved CP's on my early 70's Schwinn Super Tourer. The problem is not with the spacing between the pivots to which the forward rack supports bolt, as the pivot spacing seems to be very similar for most classic CP's. Rather the problem is the depth of the brake from the front of the front caliper arm to the back of the brake mounting plate that bolts to the fork. Normally, the rear rack support is secured by the brake mounting bolt between the brake mounting plate and the fork crown. But when the rear rack mount is positioned behind the brake mounting plate on the Dia-Compe CP's, the front of the front caliper rubs on the rack.

I found this odd, as the Dia-Compes were very close clones of Weinmann 999's. The Dia-Compes are right at 30 mm deep. I measured a Weinmann 999 at just very slightly less deep, about 29.75 mm. I didn't try mounting the TA rack on this 999, but I doubt the quarter of a mm difference in depth would eliminate the rubbing. So why did the rackk mount with no problem on my 1962 Superior? The Weinmann 999 I measured at 29.75 mm was a newer 70's one with the foil label. I turns out the old Weinamnns with the Name engraved in the caliper are much different with a completely different caliper profile. They are also much less deep, only about 23 mm, compared to 29.75 mm for the newer ones, which are virtually identical to their Dia-Compe clone in dimensions and caliper profile. So the TA rack mounts easily on the old engraved Weinmanns, but not the newer ones or their clones.

I did however find a solution. If one uses longer brake pivot bolts and spaces the rack out from the front of the calipers, one can position the rear rack support against the front of the brake mounting plate rather than behind it. There is not enough clearance in this case to secure the rear rack support with the brake mounting bolt, but if the rack support is pressed ahgainst the front of the brake mounting plate, it can't move too much.

I found that the Dia--Compe brake pivot bolts (and probably the Weinmann bolts as well) are standard M6 x 1.0 and are 30 mm long. Using hardware store M6 x 1.0 x 45 mm long hex bolts with steel spacers to take up the additional length did the trick to position the rear rack support against the front of the brake mounting plate. Because the rear rack support is no longer secured by the brake mounting bolt, the rack is not quite as rigid in this configuration, but it is plenty rigid enough to supports a small to medium front bag and the weight one would normally carry in such a bag.

Despite the extra effort required to fit the TA rack to Dia-Compes and newer Weinmanns, I still find it the easiest rack to fit to a bike with CP brakes where on wants to use a small to medium front bag. And since the TA rack is too small to mount front pannier, a small to medium front bag is what one would normally support with this rack. The TA rack is small and light which still more than strong enough to support this load. Last night I installed a TA rack on the Dia-Compe CP's on my early 70's Schwinn Sports Tourer with the outstanding CA-made Acorn Rando front bag.

Regards,

Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA