Today I accomplished what sometime ago seemed like a very daunting task, if not an impossible one. I installed the Tubus Duo low rider front rack on my Surly LHT's front rack. I had bought it a few years ago. On my first attempt it seemed completely impossible that the rack would fit my bike. For the life of me I could not see how it could be done. There are three holes where the bolts have to be tightened to secure the rack against the frame. And it seemed impossible that the three bolts could be properly aligned.
But then the Tubus Duo is fairly well known in the touring circuit and so is the Surly LHT. Therefore surely it could be installed but I wasn't sure how. I even got a special skewer brought in from Happy Earth that does not have a key so that it wouldn't foul with the rack. I thought I would use it when necessary. In fact they are still kept safely in the cycling cupboard.
I couldn't find any youtube video on Tubus Duo. The Tubus Tara seemed more famous as a front rack.
Finally on a facebook forum for LHTs I saw someone's rig with a pair of Tubus Duos. His rig gave me the confidence that it could be done. In fact with this confidence I even bought a pair of Ortlieb front panniers from Stay Tuned.
I thought I would try installing the racks with the mudguards removed. And after mentally postponing the installation several times in the past few months today I thought I'd try my luck.
So I first undid the front mudguard's two screws on the two sides. Next I started fiddling with the rack. Not much luck. I was beginning to get worried. Next I opened the instruction manual. The diagram clearly shows placing a spacer with the bottom bolt. I did that and bingo the damn thing went in without fouling with the skewer key. Next were the two bolts on the top horizontal tubes. They also went in without much drama. And I was finally done. Later, I removed the spacer and placed the mudguard's anchor point which acted as a spacer and it worked too.
I even removed the front wheel with the rack on. There was no problem whatsoever. Of course you cannot turn or rotate the key with the rack on but then you can unscrew the skewer from the other end holding the keyed side steady, which is what I did and the wheel comes off nice and easy.
So here are the instructions for myself or anyone else who might have similar problems as me. For myself because I might soon quite forget what I did. Therefore it is prudent to write things down.
