From: Paul Priest

One of the chief pleasures of my position as Recycled Cycle's used parts processor is the ocassional instance of ingenuity that passes through my workstand.  Sure, most of what I see is formed more by the exigencies of vanishingly small margins and international economics than the wonders of elegant effectiveness, but from time to time a rare piece that has managed to satisfy or surmount these exigencies appears  I share one such instance:

Witness the Pletscher Model CS rack:  it doesn't get much respect in the cycling industry--despite being made in Switzerland-- because its single-strut design is only rated to 10kg and the mounting system is less than ideal.  Nonetheless, many people like it because it comes with a "rat trap" style spring-loaded clamp that can hold anything from a book to a basketball reasonably securely.  Nothing special there.  I've stripped hundreds of the CS rack off bikes that were originally sold in the 70s and 80s.  But recently I came across a variation of it.  In addition to the forward facing clamp, this rack has a smaller, opposing,  rearward  facing spring-loaded clamp.    What was the purpose of this additional clamp?  I pulled it up; i put it down.  I pulled it up, then also pulled up the larger,forward facing clamp and noted their relation.  Something about the space defined by these two clamps was familiar...ah hah!  I immediately sent my colleague to the fridge to fetch that which would confirm my hypothesis.  We placed the item between the raised, opposing clamps; a perfect fit where it securely sits.  Cheap and effective.