Light bracket

[ourclarioncall]

I noticed the rear light is tucked under and it looks like A diy or unusual bracket ? Can you get these ? I’ve only ever seen the rear lights hanging off the end

I like how the light is tucked under and protected a bit. Not sure if that has a negative effect on the light or not but it’s cool

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-suit-woman-52-55-Rohloff-hub-gears-quality-build-light-usage-/284247807706?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

[JohnR]

If you look through the selection of racks at https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/rear-rack/ then you'll see that some have a mounting plate for a light / reflector at the end of the rack, some have the mounting place inset from the end and some have no mounting plate at all. However, it's not difficult to improvise something. I attach a photo of a home-made rack mount for a Garmin Varia radar (IMO an extremely useful safety accessory). All that's needed was a couple of P-clips, a T-shaped mending plate and some nuts and bolts (plus, for the radar a Garmin stem mount).  If you don't use a rack then a light can be fitted on the seat post, the saddle, on a saddle bag or a seat stay.

[PH]

I have three bikes with racks that have lights fitted, only one of them has the light tucked underneath.  It seems an obvious  thing to do, yet I've never had an issue with any of them, it isn't a place that's exposed to much damage unless you pack the rack badly..  if you think you'd rather have it underneath, put it on your criteria when choosing a rack, or as JohnR says, think about how you can add your own.  It's possible that if you make a bracket specifically for your light/rack combination it'll be better than a generic one.

[Andre Jute]

If you make your own, be sure you include fitting holes for all the lamp "standards", often two or more per manufacturer. For instance, Busch und Muller, here known as BUMM, a manufacturer of lamps much favoured on expensive bicycles, offers lamps with fittings at 50mm and 80mm distance that I have, and may offer other bolt separation centres as well.

My fave rack, the Tubus Cosmo, offers only 50mm rear lamp mounting and it is practically impossible to drill the plate for 80mm mounting because it doesn't extend that far, and the construction of the rack is such that you can't bolt on a wider plate either. All this beside the fact that it is anyway a huge pain in the posterior to drill stainless steel in a proper mill fitting under a pedestal drill, never mind in between a bunch of small diameter bracing tubes. I used tie wraps to tie a second rear lamp to the rack; that worked well, but causes "real cyclists'" mouths to turn down at the corners.

Choose your rear lamp before you choose your rack, so that you can be certain to be able to bolt one to the other. Safety first.

[steve216c]

You made me get up from my sofa and look at the bikes with rear lights to see what I have in the shed.

A good set of permanent lights fitted to bike is more common in Germany than in UK. When I first arrived in Germany I was convinced battery removable lights were  better than permanent fitted lights, but with the advancement of LED lamps and affordable hub dynamos I cannot imagine using battery lamps as my primary lighting any longer. Brighter lights always available allow me to ride 24/7 lights on. Be safe and be seen. Modern LED lamps also have a small energy store staying lit at traffic lights or short stops. So you are visible even when stopped.

When planning your bike purchase consider a hub dynamo. It doesn’t have to be a SON if your budget won’t stretch. A mid level Shimano can serve as reliable alternative without too many compromises.

Back to rear lights, only one of my bikes has the protection of being under the rack. All the others are Bethune the rack. One bike has mudguard lamp installed.

For visibility, lamps mounted on mudguards are lower and less obvious to cars the closer they are to rider. They are more prone to accidental breakage as you can easily clip against objects when parking. Saddle mounts are higher but can easily be obscured by riders clothing or from baggage on top of rear carrier. Back of rack is best compromise as light is higher and harder to obscure inadvertently with panniers or luggage/clothing . Rack mount lights still have rear wheel sticking out and protecting most rear end damage to lamp. The overhang on the rack adds belts to the braces of a fairly safe mounting point.

Does the rack block visibility? A good rear lamp needs to be visible from side and from the rear. The rack overhang doesn’t seem to affect  this as far as  I can see.

I’d not be put off a decent rear rack without an overhang based on personal experience. Nice to have but not critical in my purchase decision making.

[martinf]

If you're getting a Thorn frame or bike, get the Thorn expedition rear rack. The current model has a removable plate pre-drilled to suit various rear lamps. The removable plate on my 2012 model is simpler, but it does have several holes, if necessary it would be an easy job to unbolt it, drill more holes, touch up the black paint and refit.

It is also a very strong rack, made from "ordinary" steel (i.e. not stainless), so it could be repaired by a 3rd world blacksmith if it ever did get damaged.