Carrying bags on front of bike advice sought

[Joe_Rides]

@bikeworkshop anything is possible of course, but it would be a bit of a lash up. The eyelets are designed for a braze-on BEHIND the fork leg, like this:



(whereas mine are central in the fork)

Think I am going to find either a hooped rack (a friend may have one apparently...) or single sided ones.

Here's some photos of those that don't work on mine, available if anyone is in need - they seem decent quality and have a vertical 'anti-sway' bar which I haven't seen on others.





In other news I made some support bars for my Bagman support. Pretty rough but I enjoyed doing it using a very old pannier rack. Saved £20 or so too (Carradice sell them).




Cheers, Joe

 

[grantoury]

@bikeworkshop anything is possible of course, but it would be a bit of a lash up. The eyelets are designed for a braze-on BEHIND the fork leg, like this:

View attachment 858488

(whereas mine are central in the fork)

Think I am going to find either a hooped rack (a friend may have one apparently...) or single sided ones.

Here's some photos of those that don't work on mine, available if anyone is in need - they seem decent quality and have a vertical 'anti-sway' bar which I haven't seen on others.

View attachment 858489
View attachment 858490
View attachment 858491

In other news I made some support bars for my Bagman support. Pretty rough but I enjoyed doing it using a very old pannier rack. Saved £20 or so too (Carradice sell them).

View attachment 858496
View attachment 858497

Cheers, Joe

Those lowriders are very nice. Aren't they by Thorn? Should be worth a bit?

 

[RetroDavy]

+1 for a lowrider rack. I like panniers front and back. Heavy, dense things in front, bigger lighter things behind, balances the weight and gives spare capacity for food, drinks etc.

 

[doctor-bond]

Bagman support hack is excellent.

 

[Joe_Rides]

Those lowriders are very nice. Aren't they by Thorn? Should be worth a bit?

I can't find anything about these specifically, but they do look similar to other Thorn racks, so you may be right. I'll probably put them up for sale.

 

[bikeworkshop]

I can't find anything about these specifically, but they do look similar to other Thorn racks, so you may be right. I'll probably put them up for sale.

I thought you had the cheap aluminium ones (the fork topmount is often a slot) - those look like tubular steel and probably cost almost £100 new nowdays, like Tubus.
You could probably sell them and buy a nice fitting aluminium model with enough change to pay for a few extra cake stops on the journey

 

[Canuk]

I like your Bagman retrofit, it looks very solid. I remember touring with a chrome Terry's support, which was forever rubbing on the back wheel!

 

[Jamiedyer]

An Ostrich bag on the front of my Jack Taylor Super Tourist.
Some frames such as this and especially older randonneurs have a geometry that is made for more weight over the front. Some modern tourers are similar. This Jack Taylor frame handles far better with the bag and a medium weight than what it does solely with panniers. Front is planted and secure. Bag holds a tonne of stuff.
Surprisingly my Surly Long Haul Trucker in small with 26" wheels handles brilliantly with just small front lowrider panniers and a handlebar bag with just the small trunk bag on the back than what it ever does with an even load between front and rear panniers. Front feels secure and planted. Put the rears on when I need to but if I didn't need much, then the fronts are preferred.

I know that Lene at 7 Roads make a rack and a bag for for a very reasonable cost. Worth having a look. Great rack and different bags, plus they do bikepacking and normal handlebar bags where you don't need a rack.
https://7rbags.com/shop/
Untitled by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

IMG_6012 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

IMG_6043 by Jamie Dyer, on Flickr

 

[pigman]

The both-sides-of-the-fork lowrider does away with the over-the-top-loop, but you could make a loop from a length of 6mm(?) Alu bar and attach this to the rack with p-clips, as was often the case anyway.
If you look at the 2 designs, an inexpensive way forward should be possible.
Most budget tourists just use a rear rack, and super budget ones then have army surplus packs modified to fit as panniers.

Wow the army surplus bit came as a surprise. I still have some German gas mask bags, bought from an Army Stores that I modified into panniers as a teenager using a hand wind singer sewing machine. They actually work quite well and have been used on tours in France up front

 

[Joe_Rides]

@Jamiedyer that's very useful, thanks (on all of your points!)

Fitted a lowrider rack this evening - what a faff that was. Will need some final adjustments followed by a test ride, but the set up on the Surly (above) is similar to what I had in mind.

Will update once I've been out on a ride

Joe