Porteur Rack
$165.00
The VO Porteur Rack is a traditional-style rack as used on the famed Parisian newspaper delivery bikes. Those Parisian delivery bikes were reputed to carry as much as 110lbs. of newspapers on similar racks (of course, the bikes had strengthened frames and forks, not just racks).
Our Porteur Rack is made from strong stainless steel tubing and polished to a lovely shine. It won't rust like painted steel racks or fatigue and crack like aluminum racks. The quality is actually superior to that of many custom racks. In short, this is a real load-carrying rack, not an aluminum "style-rack". Yet total weight with rail, nuts, bolts, etc. is only 1.079kg.
The platform is about 36cm x 29cm. A removable rail attachment is included and very handy for smaller packages.
The tangs are pre-drilled to fit 700c, 27", 26", and 650b bikes. There are four bosses for a light attachment. There is a boss for securing your fender to the rack -- no rattling! Please also note the elegant pannier/tie-down loops above the mounting tangs.
Mounting hardware is included. The Porteur Rack mounts to the dropout eyelet and the brake bolt (or fork crown hole). Max weight with this configuration is 25 lbs. You can use our Straight Arms for Campeur Racks, Compression Hardware, and a pair of p-clamps around the rack's tube if you are running super heavy loads and want more stability. You can load it up with 40 lbs of gear if you use this configuration.
Note: Oversize charges may apply when this item is shipped outside the contiguous US (e.g., Alaska, Hawaii, international, and military addresses). Free shipping discount may not apply. We will notify you of shipping charges prior to shipping.
This thing is a beauty! Very nicely constructed and a classic design. Ease of installation will vary a lot depending on your bike, I have centerpull brakes and it was tricky to bend the strut just right, totally worth the effort though
This rack is very close to the ideal of what a front rack ought to be. Good weight, good looks, good compatibility across frame and tire setups. The included side rails make it extra useful. I use it to carry a bag as well as front panniers.
However, two issues which kept me from making it a five star review.
One, the mounting hardware is very good but does not include a bolt long enough (and an accompanying acorn nut and other items) to mount the rack through the fork bridge hole of a bike running cantilevers or disc brakes.
Two, the struts of the rack are beautiful. But (as another reviewer noted) there is no good way to non-destructively mount the rack lower on a number of frames. I.e. I’d have to saw off parts of the rack struts in order to mount it lower.
Overall very good rack.
It holds the bag and anything I put in it! No sliding or falling out. It's perfect!
Holds everything I need it to, doesn't make a sound when riding. I thought it was going to be too small, but with the right bag it's perfect!
This is the second porteur rack Ive had on my second build including one. Im riding a Jamis Aurora right now and this was the first thing I threw onto it. Once I replaced the road drops with a flat bar my world changed again for the better. The construction is solid, looks great, the removable guard rail is a perfect feature. I've carried all sorts of stuff with this rack almost two years later and its still holding just as strong as it did out of the box.
