Mounting a rack on your Softride beam-equipped bicycle.

Every Cappuccino and Cappuccino Co-Pilot (formerly “SkyCapp”) is shipped with a stainless steel U-shaped rack adapter. We suspect that many of them get tossed by the mechanic assembling the tandem. If you’re missing one, we’ll send it to you free of charge. The purpose of the adapter is to span the gap -between the struts that most racks are equipped with- and the rack bosses on the frame. The result is a rack suitable for small loads only. Our intent was to create a semi-universal solution, although rear carriers do vary a great deal.

If you will be carrying heavier loads, we recommend a sturdier rack, such as the Tubus Cargo, Robert Beckman, or Bruce Gordon, all of which can be ordered with long struts that will support the top of the rack better, thus putting less stress on the eyelets. Any of the Old Man Mountain racks, which attach to the cantilever bosses instead of the upper rack mounting bosses are a good choice for our AL Capp model. If you are mounting a rack on a tandem with a rear disk brake then the Old Man Mountain Sherpa rack gives you the extra clearance for the disk caliper.

No matter what rack you use, NEVER mount a fender strut inboard of the rack strut (between the rack strut and eyelet). Fender struts should ALWAYS be mounted outboard of the rack strut, and the bottom rack strut should be the first item mounted against the eyelet. Newer Cappuccinos and Cappuccino Co-Pilots have double eyelets; on these the rack should mount to the forward eyelet, while the fender struts should mount to the rearward eyelet.

Our AL Capp tandem does not come with standard rack mounting points. We suggest using one of the Old Man Mountain racks illustrated below, which mount to the AL Capp’s brake studs.

This is the Tubus Cargo rack with the available long Tubus struts. Tubus racks are very stable, well made, and an excellent choice for your Cappuccino or Skycapp. They are available from your Co-Motion Dealer or Ortlieb USA.

These pictures show a Blackburn XR1 Crossrack with its included Blackburn struts, mounted using the Co-Motion Cappuccino rack adapter. The adapter clears the Travel Agent cable adapter.

These pictures show a Blackburn XR1 Crossrack with Burley’s extra long rack struts, available from Burley dealers. To clear the Travel Agent cable adapter, the aluminum struts require a slight bend at the frame end.

These pictures show a Bruce Gordon rack set up with our Cappuccino rack adapter bracket. The rack is attached with the regular Gordon rack struts adjoining the Cappuccino rack adapter. The extension can be adjusted to pass by the Travel Agent brake adapter. Bruce Gordon makes several rack configurations. This one was not designed for this frame design, but is certainly adaptable.

These pictures show Pamela Blalock and John Bayley’s SkyCapp tandem sporting a Bruce Gordon rack set up with some custom adapted struts. The Bruce Gordon rack struts have been cross-braced by Peter White of Peter White Cycles, who also took these photos. Bruce Gordon makes several rack configurations. This configuration is probably his best for this frame design, with the front section angling down toward the frame.

The rack above is the Old Man Mountain White Rock rack. The struts used are provided by Old Man Mountain for use with Co-Motion Cappuccino, SkyCapp, and AL Capp models. Pictured is the AL Capp tandem. As you can see, the White Rock rack attaches to the brake bosses rather than to traditional rack attachment points. This rack also has great clearance for those who need to adjust the Softride beam at relatively low height. The White Rock is also the best rack to use on the AL Capp, since its frame doesn’t come with rack mounting bosses.

The above rack is a custom rack built by Robert Beckman designs. These racks are built specifically to the dimensions of the bicycle. The Beckman racks are built with tubular cro-moly, have a large platform and can support heavy loads.