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cradduck
11-01-09, 11:18 AM
I have a single speed cruiser with a spring fork and I am trying to figure out how I can make/mount a basket that will fit on the front.
I am basically looking at adding a "wood panel" basket or rack capable of carrying two or three bags of groceries or my bag of clothes for work.
Does anyone have any pictures of this?
Have you seen the frame mounted front carrier at WorkCycles?
http://workcycles.com/workbike/bicycles/accessories/pickup-frame-mounted-front-carrier.html
The platform/basket/load is attached to the frame and allows the wheel to turn independently. The rack wouldn't attach to your front fork at all.
I am not sure it would fit your cruiser, but a solution along these lines might work
you can see one mounted on a bike in macfred's post in the "Post your utility bike thread"
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2622/3883965698_e172f7dcb1.jpg (http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=9582338&postcount=423)
cradduck
11-01-09, 03:09 PM
That is a very cool design but unfortunately I don't think it will work. Having the support bars attach directly to the bikefram would prevent the the spring fork from turning....
It might be good to see a picture of your set-up. What Jubal suggests seems pretty good, and I'm not sure I can picture how your fork would hit it. When I first got my front rack, I was using a suspension fork and also found my options pretty limited. The problem you're going to find (or have already found) is that any front frame that takes any weight will have to attach up near the top of your fork and again near the bottom, which you can't do if there's some flex in your fork between mounting points.
I used, and am still using, a Nashbar front rack. It mounts to the V-brake posts and the center fork mount. Since all of the mounting points are above the part of the fork that moves, it's functional on a suspension fork, but it also doesn't take much weight (5 pounds, I think). It's not large, either, although I've considered mounting some kind of basket on top of it, but I haven't. And a wooden slatted basket would look cool (I've had my eye on some, too), but if you're limited by how much weight you can load on to your rack, like I am, they may be more extra weight than you want to carry, and might detrack from how much you can carry.
The other way to go is a handlebar-mounted basket. I have a hard time picturing one large enough to hold more than one bag of groceries, and I wonder how steering would be with even that, but it might be an option.