Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

jemo27
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Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby jemo27 » Sun Mar 02, 2014 8:23 pm

Hello, I have looked in cycling shops but haven't been able to find water bottle holders designed to go on the front fork of my bicycle.
What do others use?
Thanks

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il padrone
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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby il padrone » Sun Mar 02, 2014 8:41 pm

I really don't like it as a concept. In the earlier days of clamp-on bidon cages, such a thing would be dynamite - cage clamps loosen..... cage slips around into spokes..... KABOOM!!

I carry all my bidons on the main frame tubes, with a big 1.5L bottle cage under the down-tube. Waterbags in the panniers (2X10L) carry far more than any bottles for remote camping tours. These days I have seen some bikes with bidon eyes on the forks, and any bidon could be fastened to them. Or are you after some other special type of water bottle holder?
Last edited by il padrone on Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jaffaman
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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby jaffaman » Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:11 pm

There are plenty of handlebar mounts if you need somewhere to put a bottle, but never heard of a fork mount, and agree, it doesn't sound like a good idea.

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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby m@ » Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:18 pm

Cable ties + standard plastic cages will work - do a search for warrenh's posts for some photos.

I guess it would help to keep the center of gravity low, but unless you're touring i.e. carrying a lot of weight, I'd lean toward the tri-style mounts - on the bars and behind the seat.
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il padrone
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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby il padrone » Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:22 pm

The sort of thing some cyclists do which I would be very, very wary of.

Image


Many years ago a good friend of mine mounted a rear-view mirror on his front fork - the old-style 'steel bar with rectangular mirror-type'. Going down a big hill at speed, mirrror came loose, swung the whole kabootz into his front wheel. He was lucky to come out of it with just a badly broken arm :(
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lard
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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby lard » Sun Mar 02, 2014 10:00 pm

Sound like a recipe for disaster to me, and imagine reaching down for you bottle and getting a finger in the spokes...

reminds me of this from the tour last year.. http://i.imgur.com/w2OH7.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby redsonic » Sun Mar 02, 2014 10:46 pm

lard wrote:Sound like a recipe for disaster to me, and imagine reaching down for you bottle and getting a finger in the spokes...

reminds me of this from the tour last year.. http://i.imgur.com/w2OH7.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
^^^
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il padrone
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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby il padrone » Mon Mar 03, 2014 12:16 am

m@ wrote:I guess it would help to keep the center of gravity low, but unless you're touring i.e. carrying a lot of weight....
Two fork legs - two 700ml bottles = 1.5L . Meh :|

When I'm touring I carry a 6L waterbag and if it needs to be full it goes between the panniers, under my tent pack on the rear rack. Much better water supply. Never experienced any destabilising effects from this.
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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby Baalzamon » Mon Mar 03, 2014 2:42 am

Surly nice front rack
Then get another Surly Rack Front Flat Sliding Plate
Now I can use that to put on 2 bottle cages. Will it come off, not with nyloc nuts.
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jemo27
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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby jemo27 » Mon Mar 03, 2014 10:45 am

il padrone wrote:The sort of thing some cyclists do which I would be very, very wary of.

Image


Many years ago a good friend of mine mounted a rear-view mirror on his front fork - the old-style 'steel bar with rectangular mirror-type'. Going down a big hill at speed, mirrror came loose, swung the whole kabootz into his front wheel. He was lucky to come out of it with just a badly broken arm :(
I would have any water bottles coming out 90 degrees to the wheel. I have a vivente world randourner, it already has a single hole on each fork for putting a front rack on. I would not imagine I would ever reach for the water bottle while cycling.

I was looking at the front to try and even out my weight from the back of the bicycle. I would aim to be able to carry two 1.5 litre bottles, giving me about 6.5 litres capacity without needing to carry a water bladder on my back rack.

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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby rifraf » Mon Mar 03, 2014 3:51 pm

Loads of people successfully utilise some old inner tube (to prevent paint scratching) and two hose clamps to attach a bottle cage to each leg of their forks.
WarrenH of this forum springs to mind.

Whoops :oops: - already mentioned here:
m@ wrote:Cable ties + standard plastic cages will work - do a search for warrenh's posts for some photos.
I've even seen it done with four bottle cages per fork leg although I suspect 4 x 1 liter might have some affects on handling though less than a couple of panniers I guess. :)

Edit: Actually WarrenH has some pics somewhere of his Giant Anthem with 4 cages on his front suspension forks.
I'll let him link to any pics he wants up, although you will find them if you checkout his photobucket pages he's left links to elsewhere.

Alternatives might include stem and seat mounts. :idea:

I'm lucky in that my frame has three cage mounts with which I include 2x 1.5 liter bottles.
I utilise the third for fuel and like IP I have 2x 10 liter waterbags to be carried in panniers when needed.
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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby WarrenH » Tue Mar 11, 2014 1:22 pm

G'day. I'm happy with my biddon touring setup.

There isn't much water up high on the Great Divide, even at the best of times. So fitting a goodly capacity to the bike, installed as low as possible, is a wise move.

This shot from the August 2012 issue of BNT Tracks magazine. The article by Dave McLeod is about mountain biking on the BNT during extreme weather conditions ... like during heat waves. The photo shows from L-R Brad McCullach, Terry Montgomery and Jeff Coward hiking and hauling, Terry's bike and BOB up (what I think is) the nightmare called Lazareni Spur in the Victorian High Country.

Image


I fitted road cages, they're slightly lighter than MTB cages. I used hose clamps to secure the cages with strips of inner tube under the clamps to stop the issue that il Padrone has mentioned, about the set-ups on the fork possibly moving and fouling the spokes ... the rubber also protects the paint. On the round profile of the fat Fox fork the cages might sit better than on a skinny oval profile found on a road bike fork.

I tried how the extra weight felt when it was ahead of the fork, then behind the fork ... and without any issues apart from gaining some weight up front when the biddons are full (which isn't a bad thing on dirt with the load down the back) I settled on both sides of the fork, and set the cages as low as my speedo and brakes will allowed.

Image

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A use Velcro straps to tether the biddons. All up my bike has six 850ml biddons installed, about 5lts. I also take a 5lt bladder to fill when ever possible with creek water, to be processed, and two additional 1lt Nalgen bottles. It is thirsty work off-road touring. The Velcro straps I purchased from a Chinese dollar shop (from Hot Dollar) ... you can get Velcro straps from Bunnings Hardware. Bunnings has a wall dedicated to Velcro, but the Velcro at Bunnings is extremely expensive.

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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby rifraf » Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:50 pm

I was about to say "Thus endeth the lesson" but having heard the word velcro couldnt resist
throwing up a link I spotted today:
https://www.cyclingexpress.com/?lang=en ... ottle+Cage" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No idea if its any good or not but may save you a trip to Repco in search of radiator hose clips.
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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby Aushiker » Wed Mar 12, 2014 1:37 pm

Plenty of photos around the place of Salsa Anything Cages on front forks. They use nylon straps to attach the cage to the bike.

Image

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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby just4tehhalibut » Wed Mar 12, 2014 5:13 pm

I was under the impression that the Salsa cages bolt onto the fork and that they prefer forks with a 3-bolt pattern such as their own. The straps are actually for whatever the cage is holding since the cages aren't designed for bidons so much as tents, sleeping mats, thermos bottles, puppies.

Nice idea, if I upgrade forks there's several brands around that can take these cages, worth bearing in mind.

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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby il padrone » Wed Mar 12, 2014 5:49 pm

Aushiker wrote:Plenty of photos around the place of Salsa Anything Cages on front forks. They use nylon straps to attach the cage to the bike.
I would never be entrusting anything on my front forks to the "security" of a velcro or nylon strap mount..... no matter how trendy it seems :|

I really don't see what the problem is with a well-loaded and balanced pair of front panniers, and a waterbag (up to 10L) in the rear panniers or on the rack top. Each to their own I guess. In Central Australia, where we needed water for 3-4 day stretches, we carried two 10L bags each.
Last edited by il padrone on Wed Mar 12, 2014 6:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby Aushiker » Wed Mar 12, 2014 6:02 pm

just4tehhalibut wrote:I was under the impression that the Salsa cages bolt onto the fork and that they prefer forks with a 3-bolt pattern such as their own. The straps are actually for whatever the cage is holding since the cages aren't designed for bidons so much as tents, sleeping mats, thermos bottles, puppies.
My bad. Thanks for correcting.

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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby Wingnut » Wed Mar 12, 2014 6:50 pm

il padrone wrote:I would never be entrusting anything on my front forks to the "security" of a velcro or nylon strap mount..... no matter how trendy it seems :|

I really don't see what the problem is with a well-loaded and balanced pair of front panniers, and a waterbag (up to 10L) in the rear panniers or on the rack top. Each to their own I guess. In Central Australia, where we needed water for 3-4 day stretches, we carried two 10L bags each.
il padrone,

Theres "Touring" and then there's "Bikepacking" which is basically travelling lighter so the bike feels less like an aircraft carrier and more like a mountain bike to ride single trails etc. Refer below...

Image

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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby il padrone » Wed Mar 12, 2014 7:10 pm

Wingnut wrote:il padrone,

Theres "Touring" and then there's "Bikepacking" which is basically travelling lighter so the bike feels less like an aircraft carrier and more like a mountain bike to ride single trails etc.
You won't get too far in the outback with that rig :wink:

I am aware of the idea of bikepacking. I personally do not see it as impossible to do using full panniers. I have ridden some fairly extreme stuff with panniers.
Mawson Trail north of Hawker
Snowy Mts and the Nine Mile Pinch. Not full-tilt single track I know, but remote and rough enough.

But even with bikepacking, if you are going to need water supplies (ie. in dry country) you would be better off carrying a water bag that can carry anything from 0.5L to 10L as you desire, and stashing it securely in a bag or under a gear strap. I guess the loaded frame triangle does prevent frame-mounted bottles.
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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby Wingnut » Wed Mar 12, 2014 7:17 pm

Bikepacking is suited to more readily available water sources...it seems to be more popular in North & South America...minimal is the intention.

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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby Wingnut » Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:45 pm

These are interesting...

http://joecruz.wordpress.com/2013/05/09 ... hing-bags/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Image

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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby rama » Sun Mar 23, 2014 8:36 pm

il padrone wrote: ....I would never be entrusting anything on my front forks to the "security" of a velcro or nylon strap mount..... no matter how trendy it seems :|
Excellent point. I have seen speed & cadence sensors tie wrapped to the fork/frame get hit by spokes, and they luckily broke in pieces and turned around because of their small size without causing a crash.
A larger component like a water bottle & its cage would definitely jam the wheel instantly.
Sensors, pumps, bottles etc should be mounted to your frame & fork "downstream" of the wheel turning direction.

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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby jeremy11 » Tue Jun 17, 2014 6:48 am

Wingnut wrote:These are interesting...

http://joecruz.wordpress.com/2013/05/09 ... hing-bags/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Image

I make and sell these bags... and have a couple pairs over in Australia. They can hold 2L of water on each side just fine.

Any questions, please ask away.

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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby Mugglechops » Tue Jun 17, 2014 12:28 pm

I have about 1000kms on my set up now. Just used some big cable ties and a hair elastic to stop them bouncing out.

Image

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Re: Water bottle holder on front fork of bicycle

Postby Wingnut » Tue Jun 17, 2014 8:55 pm

jeremy11 wrote:
Wingnut wrote:These are interesting...

http://joecruz.wordpress.com/2013/05/09 ... hing-bags/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Image

I make and sell these bags... and have a couple pairs over in Australia. They can hold 2L of water on each side just fine.

Any questions, please ask away.
Do these bags just screw directly into the standard Anything Cage mount holes? Are there any choices with regard to the bag materials too?

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