Hinged mechanism on rear pannier rack

thenumber3

I’ve a pannier rack that came with my new bike and it has the strong hinged flap that would nearly take the fingers off you. I’ve no idea of a functional purpose for it. Anyone know? Thanks.

kenmc

Carrying a newspaper. Or other stuff. Think you can also get panniers that are held in place by this but I might be dreaming

Brian?

thenumber3 wrote: »

I’ve a pannier rack that came with my new bike and it has the strong hinged flap that would nearly take the fingers off you. I’ve no idea of a functional purpose for it. Anyone know? Thanks.

Holding stuff down? I have one on my commuter, sometimes it holds a rolled up jacket.

thenumber3

Fair enough, thanks. Yeah, beyond holding something that’s pretty flat can’t see the point.

John Hutton

You can wedge a fairly large item between the hinge and the saddle/seat post. I used to wedge a large rucksack in there.

It's handy to have bit certainly not necessary.

tomasrojo

The original Kryptonite u-locks were, I've read, designed specifically to be held in place by those spring-loaded retainers.

Not what the mechanism was designed for, obviously, but I thought that was mildly interesting.

They're ok, as said, for holding newspapers in place, and satchels, for example. Something that can lie down with a shallow profile.

tomasrojo

There's that story:

https://sheldonbrown.com/kryptonite.html

A Pletscher rack is what it's called, it seems.

tomasrojo

Add basketballs to the list of things already mentioned here:

The key feature is the mousetrap, which lets you carry small loads—basketballs, newspapers, clothing, like that—on top of it.
It's a stupendous saddlebag support. Even without the optional rails, it holds most panniers no problem. The rails are good if you plan to use panniers often.

https://www.rivbike.com/products/pletscher-clem-rack