rack mounting on tabless bike

EpiphFreddy said:

Hi, I am considering commuting to work and was thinking I would turn my 1998 Litespeed Catalyst into a commuter. I have a seatpost mount but was wanting to put a different type of rack on the bike to get the center of gravity lower. I was wanting to put a saddle bag type rack on, but I don't have tabs on the frame. Does anyone know of a way to install something to the seat tubes for attachment of the rack or maybe some way to connect between the skewer and drop outs?

You do have a couple of options ...

With dropouts that are open (similar to a cast steel dropout), Blackburn used to sell a plastic plug (similar to a reduced size Velox bar end plug) which held the bolt that secured the ends of the rack's legs. No doubt, you can fabricate/MAKE something like this, yourself ...

Blackburn also used to sell vinyl coated U-clips which were intended to be used at the upper portion of the seat stays (that is, near the brake bridge) to secure their 4-point racks. You could use something similar on the lower part of the seat stay to secure the rack's legs if your dropouts are solid.

EpiphFreddy said:

Hi, I am considering commuting to work and was thinking I would turn my 1998 Litespeed Catalyst into a commuter. I have a seatpost mount but was wanting to put a different type of rack on the bike to get the center of gravity lower. I was wanting to put a saddle bag type rack on, but I don't have tabs on the frame. Does anyone know of a way to install something to the seat tubes for attachment of the rack or maybe some way to connect between the skewer and drop outs?

Another option is to use P-Clamps (also called insulated pipe clamps). They can be found for small money ($1.5-$2 US) at hardware stores.
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I used them to connect my rack and fenders on my commuter because my internal hub blocked the eyelets on my frame.