How do you mount a bag that drapes over the sides of the wheel with clearance that’s *too narrow* for a modern pannier rack? Racks are too wide for this vintage swiss military medic’s bike bag, as they’re ~3 inches wide and the width of this bag’s channel is ~1.5 inches. What did they use back then?
by fluidshowpod
8 Comments
I’ve seen very old racks in pictures, hardly wider than the fenders and seat stays. Now, if that’s an authentic military item, it may not have been intended to mount on an off-the-shelf rack, it may have had a rack that was part of the bike they used. Fun subject to do some research on, though!
Relatively narrow racks do exist. [This Axiom one](https://www.amazon.com/Axiom-Streamliner-Road-Cycle-Black/dp/B0025UCXEO/) is one example, but [a Google search for “”narrow” bike rack rear”](https://www.google.com/search?q=%22narrow%22+bike+rack+rear) turns up a bunch of others. Maybe something like this would work better?
Axiom makes a pretty narrow rack
If it is made for the Ordonanzrad then use it for the Ordonanzrad. It’s a good stabil Single Speed.
Would you like to use a stand then show it on the internet. Standard mounting plates are bad for these old tubes.
There is a modern rack with a very very thin top. I don’t know what it’s called, I just know it exists. My ex had one in black.
Is using a friend’s sewing machine out of the question? If not, get whatever set of bags you want and cinch it on one side. I’d keep the excess on the underside and stitch it in a few places to prevent it from moving around.
In any case, I love that bike!
in ww2 British and German army bicycles used straight steel racks that the panniers were attached to the end of perhaps source a replica truppenfahhard rack
Someone on the Bikeforum neatly sawed off the outer rods of the standard Wald rear rack to make a narrow rack and it looks great. Came across this when looking for vintage Raleigh parts.
“*My favorite rack is the standard Wald rack.*
*It’s cheap, sturdy and it gets butchered quite nicely:*”
[https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/629227-rear-rack-recommendation-retro-raleigh.html#&gid=1&pid=10](https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/629227-rear-rack-recommendation-retro-raleigh.html#&gid=1&pid=10)