When George H.W. Bush was Ronald Reagan’s vice president, some press wag nicknamed him “You Die, I Fly” because his chief duty seemed to be attending state funerals.
Now, I hope nobody starts calling me “You Die, I Write” after reading this post.
A few days ago, I reported the death of Cannondale founder Joe Montgomery. Now I’m going to tell you about the passing of another titan of the bicycle industry.
If you were embarking upon a fully-loaded bicycle tour at the dawn of the 1970s North American Bike Boom, and you needed something stronger and stabler than a Pletscher “rat trap,” you had to beg a shop to order an English or French rack made from steel rods—or order it yourself. Then you had to hope you could fit it to your bike, especially your frame didn’t have brazed-on fittings.
A young industrial designer saw one of those racks and thought, “I can do better.”
He then created a rear carrier from welded aluminum rods that could be fitted to braze-ons, clamped to the seat stays or secured with an adjustable stainless steel “tongue” that attached to the brake bolt.
He would introduce his new rack on the night “Saturday Night Live” premiered. OK, that’s not quite true, but you have to admit it’s a good story. But his creation first appeared in shops and mail order catalogs around the same time, in 1975.
The timing was fortuitous. The following year, thousands of cyclists participated in Bikecentennial. They needed to carry panniers and sleeping bags (in some cases, both from Cannondale) across mountain passes and prairies to the ocean white with foam.
The creator of that rack would use the same design basis to make sturdy water bottle cages. In the meantime, he studied the ways French randonneurs and other long-distance touring cyclists carried their loads and used his training to determine the best ways to balance weight. He used that information to design front pannier carriers that lowered the center of gravity, which made for a more stable ride without sacrificing handling.
You know that front carrier as the “Lowrider.” And if you are using a rear rack, its design and construction is influenced, at least in part, his rear rack—if you aren’t riding the “real thing.”
The man responsible for those bike luggage supports, and many other fine bike accessories, was none other than Jim Blackburn, who passed away on Monday. He was 86 years old.
You might say that seeing that English steel rack was his midlife “crisis.” And the cycling world is better for it.
(I never met him but it seemed that everyone who did, liked him.)
Photo of Jim Blackburn by Greg Hine
