Tubus Tara Lowrider Front Rack Mounting Question

[Nyimbo]

My REI touring bike is a full size to large and probably a bit dangerous to dismount safely as I get older. I rationalized buying it and toured with it because my budget was small and I was able to buy it used for amazing price. It came with a generic rear rack and I put a put a Tubus Tara Lowrider on the front.


The time has come and I’m ready to sell my over sized bike for whatever it’s worth and get a new properly fitted bike, and am planning on ordering the new funky green Surly Disc Trucker.


My question is this: can I keep the Tubus Tara and mount it on the new Surly with disc brakes or should I just add a few dollars to the selling price and sell it along with the old bike?

[John Nettles]

You should be able to.  Most touring bikes in the last 20 years that have mounts on the fork, have them placed in the "standard" position.  It might be slightly off level but should work.  Definitely keep the Tubus rack as it is a great rack. 

John

[Nyimbo]

 that’s was my guess but in the back of my mind I thought I remembered discussions of difficulty with certain racks and disc brakes. 
Thanks

[jwrushman]

Website https://global.bluelug.com/tubus-tara-front-rack-silver.html shows a Surly with disc brakes (doesn't appear to be a disc trucker) with the Tubus rack mounted.    Trying to mount my Jandd rack on my Surly Disc Trucker, I needed to use a spacer to get clearance around the brake mechanism.  Jandd sells a spacer specifically for this but the threaded section stripped out after about a month of use. 

[dkoloko]

I had to sell a new Tubus Tara rack I planned to use because it would not fit on my late model Trek 520 touring bicycle. The bicycle has disk brakes; the brakes were not the problem. The problem was the limited adjustability of the Tara rack. I could not get it level. I called the USA distributor for help; they had no solution (I suspect others have reported the same problem). This rack was the new version with drilling on top for mounting a headlight. I used an earlier version of the rack on a different bike with V-brakes with no problem. I do not know if the new version of the rack has less adjustability than the old version.

[Pat Lamb]

FWIW, I've been using a not-quite-level Tara rack with Ortlieb panniers for over 10 years.  The Ortlieb system hasn't resulted in an unintentional unmount yet.  YMMV, especially with other, potentially less secure, mounting systems.

[dkoloko]

FWIW, I've been using a not-quite-level Tara rack with Ortlieb panniers for over 10 years.  The Ortlieb system hasn't resulted in an unintentional unmount yet.  YMMV, especially with other, potentially less secure, mounting systems.

My attempt to mount a Tubus Tara resulted in a more than a  slight angle from horizontal. Really unacceptable.

[John Nelson]

It took me a bit of fiddling around, but I eventually got the Tubus Tara mounted dead level on my 2009 Trek 500.

[ezdoesit]

will I have any problems attaching the Tubs Tara to my 2008 Fuji touring bike with my new Avid Shorty Ultimate brakes??

[hikerjer]

I had problems getting the Tara level on my Kona Sutra.  After a lot of fiddling, I got it pretty straight. Not pefectly level but good enough.

[ezdoesit]

Just to let everyone know I had received my Tubus Tara and it installed perfectly on my 2008 Fuji Touring bike and really like the way it looks and handles.

[CJR2020]

Just started to install Tubus Tara Lowrider on my Surly Disc Trucker.  None of the stainless screws and bolts in the Tubus mounting kit have the right thread angle to fit the lugs on the fork. (Thanks Tubus!) The thread angles on the stainless screws DO NOT match the receiving threads on the lugs. Not wanting to strip the fork, I stopped.  Anyone else encounter this problem?  Here's a question I need answered to proceed:  Are the threaded receiving holes on the lowest tip  of the fork the same diameter and thread angle as all the rest of the lugs on the bike frame?  It seems like they might be a smaller diameter and have a different thread angle than the allen screws already on the fork (Those screws are all the same as bottle cage mount screws).