Fun with Racktime Rack

gringo

Active Member
Region
USA
City
Seattle
My family has not dined out in a restaurant since February due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, we find ourselves eating takeout meals more frequently now than we had in the past. Since I'm always looking for opportunities to ride my Allant+ 7s, I thought I'd come up with a way to simplify my takeout trips and avoid using the car while simultaneously getting some exercise to burn off some of the calories I was about to ingest 😂.

I usually use (and love!) panniers for carrying cargo. These are, however, not ideal for carryout food because of the dimensions and the fact that I don't want to spill some sauce or salad dressing in the same bags I use for work clothes and my laptop.

The Allant 7 has a Racktime Rack, which is compatible with the Racktime Snap-it system that is included on all Racktime trunk bags. I purchased the Snap-it adapter kit (system alone without a trunkbag):


I then used the included hardware to attach it to a Insta-Crate (I think we got from Costco for about $5). The result: A collapsible cargo crate that can be used for takeout and collapsed when empty for less wind resistance or a flat rack for pizza 🍕:

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It works fine for its intended purpose, but it is not ideal. I had to clip away some of the plastic stabilizing grid on the bottom to get the Snap-it system to mount flush. The Insta-Crate is a little flimsy and not as robust as the classic milk crate. I wouldn't overload it. Since it is not super sturdy it makes a bit of noise when you go over bumps in the road. When I have it extended up into crate mode it is right near the edge of the saddle, so I can feel it behind me when I sit on the bike. I could have mounted the hardware further forward to avoid this but that would mean even more overhang off the back of the rack (it is already not centered as you can see in the first photo).

It snaps in and out very easily and can be added or removed in seconds. The mount itself is very stable and I have no concerns of it falling off. It serves my intended purposes perfectly for now, but in the future I might repurpose the Snap-it hardware to mount on a different more robust crate or box or else mount to a bag (trunkbag).

Anyway, I thought I'd share this idea with others.


Overall, I like the Racktime Light-it rack on the Allant+ 7/7s and I like the Racktime Snap-it system.
 
The Racktime bags are hard to find right now. I ended up buying the adapter and putting it on this bag. The bag has a plastic stiffener in the bottom which made it work out good. It was a little tricky to mount adapter on it. Made a paper template and taped it to it, then drilled through the bottom layer of cloth and into the plastic plate so the shoulders around the screws would set into the plate. Used an awl to punch though foam in bottom of bag.
 

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The Racktime bags are hard to find right now. I ended up buying the adapter and putting it on this bag. The bag has a plastic stiffener in the bottom which made it work out good. It was a little tricky to mount adapter on it. Made a paper template and taped it to it, then drilled through the bottom layer of cloth and into the plastic plate so the shoulders around the screws would set into the plate. Used an awl to punch though foam in bottom of bag.
Yup, the Odin bag (with panniers) I bought for my Allant+7 is now out of stock. I wanted to get a matching bag for my wife’s new Lowstep.🤨
67DC6569-96BD-4975-B7A8-0AD18C5C351C.jpeg
 
The Racktime bags are hard to find right now. I ended up buying the adapter and putting it on this bag. The bag has a plastic stiffener in the bottom which made it work out good. It was a little tricky to mount adapter on it. Made a paper template and taped it to it, then drilled through the bottom layer of cloth and into the plastic plate so the shoulders around the screws would set into the plate. Used an awl to punch though foam in bottom of bag.
I just got my rack and did the install on the same bag as you LOL small world. Its something for now and Im still seeking the Racktime Odin Bag....I just measured each screw which is about 4 inches by 7 3/4 inch, drilled the hole through the plastic piece straight through the padding. Nice remedy to have something to carry things in.
 
Nic
My family has not dined out in a restaurant since February due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, we find ourselves eating takeout meals more frequently now than we had in the past. Since I'm always looking for opportunities to ride my Allant+ 7s, I thought I'd come up with a way to simplify my takeout trips and avoid using the car while simultaneously getting some exercise to burn off some of the calories I was about to ingest 😂.

I usually use (and love!) panniers for carrying cargo. These are, however, not ideal for carryout food because of the dimensions and the fact that I don't want to spill some sauce or salad dressing in the same bags I use for work clothes and my laptop.

The Allant 7 has a Racktime Rack, which is compatible with the Racktime Snap-it system that is included on all Racktime trunk bags. I purchased the Snap-it adapter kit (system alone without a trunkbag):



I then used the included hardware to attach it to a Insta-Crate (I think we got from Costco for about $5). The result: A collapsible cargo crate that can be used for takeout and collapsed when empty for less wind resistance or a flat rack for pizza 🍕:

View attachment 64694


View attachment 64695

View attachment 64696

It works fine for its intended purpose, but it is not ideal. I had to clip away some of the plastic stabilizing grid on the bottom to get the Snap-it system to mount flush. The Insta-Crate is a little flimsy and not as robust as the classic milk crate. I wouldn't overload it. Since it is not super sturdy it makes a bit of noise when you go over bumps in the road. When I have it extended up into crate mode it is right near the edge of the saddle, so I can feel it behind me when I sit on the bike. I could have mounted the hardware further forward to avoid this but that would mean even more overhang off the back of the rack (it is already not centered as you can see in the first photo).

It snaps in and out very easily and can be added or removed in seconds. The mount itself is very stable and I have no concerns of it falling off. It serves my intended purposes perfectly for now, but in the future I might repurpose the Snap-it hardware to mount on a different more robust crate or box or else mount to a bag (trunkbag).

Anyway, I thought I'd share this idea with others.


Overall, I like the Racktime Light-it rack on the Allant+ 7/7s and I like the Racktime Snap-it system.
Nice! Here's one I made while waiting for my ebike delivery.
 
The Racktime bags are hard to find right now. I ended up buying the adapter and putting it on this bag. The bag has a plastic stiffener in the bottom which made it work out good. It was a little tricky to mount adapter on it. Made a paper template and taped it to it, then drilled through the bottom layer of cloth and into the plastic plate so the shoulders around the screws would set into the plate. Used an awl to punch though foam in bottom of bag.
I did essentially the same thing using the BASIL MIK system. Built a template of the connecting bolts location of the piece of the connector that attaches to the bottom of the trunk bag or basket so that I would have correct alignment for attaching bag to connector. What I did to firm the whole thing up is purchase an aluminum clipboard from Staples (about $10.) and used a dremel tool to remove the paper clip. I then cut down the aluminum panel to be an exact fit for the inside of the trunk bag and smoothed off the rough edges. Poked holes in the bottom of the trunk bag using a sharp awl, put the aluminum panel in the bottom of the trunk bag, dropped the 4 connecting bolts through the aluminum panel, through the trunk bag and into the connector plate. Trunk bag now significantly more stable and connector on the bag easily snaps on to, and off of, the connector plate that is permanently attached to the bike rack.
 
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