Carrying weight on suss fork lower - Bad idea?

[mikeadamski]

Anybody tried this?  I've mounted two of those twofish bottle cages (http://www.twofish.biz/bike.html) with the velcro straps to the fork lowers.  (I tried to post a photo, but couldn't seem to get it to work.)  I've wrapped the fork leg with electrical tape to give the rubber mount a little more grip to (hopefully) eliminate movement.  The zip ties are a back up to the rather weak/vulnerable plastic buckle on the velcro, though I don't think they've got enough tension to hold the cage in place without the velcro strap.

Will this screw up the way the bike handles?  I've heard things like weight should be on the sprung part of the frame rather than the un-sprung part.  I guess I won't know until I get it on the trail.

I also worry that they'll rotate into the wheel, though as the wheel rolls forward, it would likely just push the cage back away from the wheel.

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this.

[AZTtripper]

The front panniers on this set up are hanging on the fork lowers, I think you just need to keep the weight balanced. I have seen people put water bottles there for the AZT 300 I think you would need them to be full or empty so you can't use it but need a way to move it somewhere else on the bike when you need to.

The rear rack is hanging off of the seat post and so it is suspended, I have also run a rear set up with the weight on the rear triangle, if anything I would say having the weight directly on the wheel was better.   

[mikeadamski]

Nice work on that setup.  How did you secure the front panniers?  Is there a rack attached to rim brake bosses?  That looks like quite a bit more weight than two water bottles and cages.  Makes me think I'm worrying too much about the handling effects.

I'm currently using a hardtail with a big saddle bag, but I tried an OMM rack on a FS once.  Man, did it screw up the way the back end tracked!  Enough such that I was worried about the wear and tear on the pivots.

I did a road tour once with that same seatpost mounted rack.  It worked pretty well with about 10 pounds, but I neglected to counter balance with weigt, so the front end wanted to lift.  Not good in the wind.  Did you have good luck with yours?  Do you have an idea of the weight back there?

[AZTtripper]

Nice work on that setup.  How did you secure the front panniers?  Is there a rack attached to rim brake bosses?  That looks like quite a bit more weight than two water bottles and cages.  Makes me think I'm worrying too much about the handling effects.

Ya that is more weight then water bottles there is a rack in there and it is just attached with hose clamps. Adding weight will change the handling but it doesn't take long to get used to most anything.

I'm currently using a hardtail with a big saddle bag, but I tried an OMM rack on a FS once.  Man, did it screw up the way the back end tracked!  Enough such that I was worried about the wear and tear on the pivots.

That is my current set up Epic bag on the seat and then sleeping pad is strapped to the bars.

I did a road tour once with that same seatpost mounted rack.  It worked pretty well with about 10 pounds, but I neglected to counter balance with weigt, so the front end wanted to lift.  Not good in the wind.  Did you have good luck with yours?  Do you have an idea of the weight back there?

I would say I had a least 20 pounds on the back rack at times even more when I filled that big water bladder the rack broke on the trip and then the frame cracked latter. Not a good way to go.

[mijome07]

Try these:



I've used them on rigid forks with great results.

[Marshal]

With my current set up I no longer need to do this but it works ok.  I used a bit of sticky backed Velcro to give the twofish mount some extra grip and slipped a strap around the bottles to help hold them in place and also to stop them from launching. Oh and I think the handling is better with the bottles mounted 180 deg from this old AZT 300 pic