There isn't a lot of choice for front racks that might conceivably fit a small-wheeled bike. There's the Nitto M-12 that I already tried, at $49.95. There's the Nitto "mini front rack" as sold by Rivendell for $65 +$10 for the fork clamps (non-member prices). Then there's the Nashbar front rack, for $14.99, now sale for $9.99.

I would sorely have loved to try the "mini front rack", as 1) Nitto racks are beautifully made and 2) it clamps to the forks rather than the brake bosses. But I'm sorry, $75 for a tiny front rack is just way beyond the pain-barrier..

So I ended up ordering the Nashbar front rack, wondering what I would get for $10.. As it turns out, I'm quite impressed! Painted black aluminium obviously looks very different from polished stainless, but I don't think it looks too bad on the bike. The fitting hardware supplied with the rack is great - all stainless steel and even included locking nuts. (Nitto couldn't be bothered to include anything at all..) Fitting it was a doddle, and any doubts I had about it's aesthetic appeal have become secondary to how practical it is. I hate having a bike without a rack, since I can't stand riding any distance with a bag on my back. So far I've bungied all kinds of loads on the front, up to and including almost 20 lbs of groceries. The handling is fine, since the load is so low (20" wheels rule!). Obviously noticable, but no worse than panniers on lowriders.

Ironically, the box in the picture contains the Nitto rack, taken as I was delivering the box back to UPS ;-)