Anyone use one of these? I've had the one from Velo Orange on my bike for about a year now and the spring failed. I tried replacing the spring with one from the hardware store but it only lasted a couple of days. At first I wondered how effective it was, since with most of my loads being fairly heavy the front wheel still moved around a fair amount, but now that I'm operating without it (on my commuter, but I have one for my tourer too) I definitely notice the difference and miss it.

Any other brands out there? Anyone had the same experience and successfully replaced their spring? I may just order another one from Velo Orange, but it seems wasteful to order the whole kit and just cannabalize the spring out of it. My eyes are bugging out going through Tacoma Screw's online catalog to see if they might have something suitable.

BTW, although it failed after a year, this was with use 3-7 days a week on my commuter, often with a heavy pannier only on one side of the front rack.

In case you aren't familiar, here's the link to VO's: http://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...tabilizer.html