26" touring forks advice....

[greencat]

depends how much you want "the look". personally I've always found no need to load up the front for 90% of the touring I've done. It seems the norm now to load out like you are doing a round the world trip, when in reality you are doing 2 or 3 days.

I nice rack up front is always a good idea if you are doing longer though, but not loads of mounts for bottles and the likes, lets face it, in the UK and Europe you are rarely further than 5 miles from a clean water source, so why lug it with you?

Very much agree with this. I cycled in Tunisia for 3 weeks with only rear panniers and the tent, sleeping bag etc strapped on the rear rack in the 90s. But I was with a friend, so we split some gear between us. In my earlier days, I did have front racks (Blackburn IIRC - and it could be mounted without fork bosses) - but after a couple of runs decided they were more hassle than they were worth.

As I've got older (I haven't cycle toured for 20 years), travelling has become more and more minimal. There's not many countries I'd want to go where problems can't be solved with a credit card so you can travel light. I use carry on only for flights, for example.

 

[hamster]

It depends a lot if you are touring on your own - generally then I never need them on the front, certainly not in Europe. However, if touring with my wife or a weaker ride then they are handy to make life easier for the other.
Last summer I did a ride in France with friends who had never toured and ended up with a trailer full of their camping gear, plus a few bottles of cider and calvados.
So never say never!

 

[Lostcause]

It depends a lot if you are touring on your own - generally then I never need them on the front, certainly not in Europe. However, if touring with my wife or a weaker ride then they are handy to make life easier for the other.
Last summer I did a ride in France with friends who had never toured and ended up with a trailer full of their camping gear, plus a few bottles of cider and calvados.
So never say never!

It will be with Mrs.Lostcause so I'll be a pack horse to make her experience easier.
Sounds like you had a great time in France, I bet that trailer sounded like a 1970's milk float with all those glass bottles rattling around lol

 

[hamster]

Here you go...with the lowriders plus trailer the thing was trying to kill me, so I shoved it all in the trailer. Definitely the handling did not inspire confidence downhill above 18mph. Brakes are Magura HS77s, so still it has plenty of stopping power, even with 50kg of luggage.

 

[greencat]

BTW if you value your frame - don't attach anything stronger than it to it. Also in Tunisia, I had a hard stop at a junction and my friend went into me. The bottle cage (a super tough blackburn) was fine - but ripped out one of the bosses on my ritchey tubing frame's down tube. The resulting micro-cracks became much bigger ones over the next year and eventually resulted in frame failure.

 

[Lostcause]

Here you go...with the lowriders plus trailer the thing was trying to kill me, so I shoved it all in the trailer. Definitely the handling did not inspire confidence downhill above 18mph. Brakes are Magura HS77s, so still it has plenty of stopping power, even with 50kg of luggage.

Looks a fantastic outfit. Seems you had a classic case of the trailer paradox. The extra weight of the cider and calvados made the trailer scarier downhill resulting in the need for a tipple in order to calm your nerves before the next decent requiring more booze, increasing gravity’s affect on the trailer which requires even more booze to calm the nerves. On a touring holiday of more than a couple of days the bodies ability to metabolise alcohol increases, meaning the nerves need more than the day before to settle leading to more weight in the trailer. It’s a spiralling problem and sounds like my kind of holiday. Where did you get the trailer?

 

[Lostcause]

BTW if you value your frame - don't attach anything stronger than it to it. Also in Tunisia, I had a hard stop at a junction and my friend went into me. The bottle cage (a super tough blackburn) was fine - but ripped out one of the bosses on my ritchey tubing frame's down tube. The resulting micro-cracks became much bigger ones over the next year and eventually resulted in frame failure.

Good advice, shame about that poor Ritchey frame…

 

[hamster]

The frame is a 1990 Marin Palisades, it's certainly solid, probably totally overbuilt for the task. I've been loading it up for 30 years and toured on four continents.
When Chas May did the extra braze-ons 20 years ago he (politely) said it was certainly solid enough for big loads.

The trailer is a genuine Bob Yak, not one of the heavy Chinese copies.

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

Blackburn outpost fits to cantilever posts and mudguard eyes. Nice rack

 

[Lostcause]

The frame is a 1990 Marin Palisades, it's certainly solid, probably totally overbuilt for the task. I've been loading it up for 30 years and toured on four continents.
When Chas May did the extra braze-ons 20 years ago he (politely) said it was certainly solid enough for big loads.

The trailer is a genuine Bob Yak, not one of the heavy Chinese copies.

Wow 30 years of touring service, that is testament to how durable those are!!
I’ll have to research the trailer but possibly get my liver checked out first just incase lol