Hi there!
This is a bit of a niche question. I've got a 23yo Trek Multitrack 7300 with an aluminum frame and a heavy CroMoly fork. The bike is great, fits me well and along the many upgrades it's gotten, I've learnt a lot.
The heavy fork is causing some issues however:
- it's heavy
- it's not ahead but quill-stem, so we installed an adapter which adds more weight
- it's got one screw on each side, intended for a front rack (heavy). I'd prefer two screws so I could mount a bottle cage or bike packing bags. Yes, zipties are a thing, but the fork is getting scratched up and it's not as resourceful and easy as screws would be.
- it is starting to rust.
For those reasons I would love to upgrade to a carbon fork. However, the only 1" ahead carbon forks I am able to find are for road bikes. While being a great option for retro and vintage bikes, it does not quite fit what I'm looking for. For bike packing, I am looking for more tyre clearance, v-brake/canti mounts, and 2 or 3 screw holes on either side, so pretty much a gravel-fork, but those usually come with disc brake mounts. I'd prefer to keep my mini v-brakes as I don't like the thought of mismatched brifters and mismatched brakes (frame does not allow for disc brakes).
I do understand this is probably not feasible or at least it's not a common problem, so there may not be a solution that caters to all the things I'm looking for.
Perhaps though someone here has an idea, a suggestion, or knows how/where to get a suitable fork?
Thank you so much in advance and for taking the time to read this.
Picture of said bike. The v-brakes have since been swapped for mini v-brakes with a nice bite!