attaching front rack to fork
 

I am attaching my Cannondale front rack to the braze-on eyelets of my fork on my 2013 Surly Cross-check. Unfortunately, the CC fork has only 1 eyelet on each side, & the eyelets are below the fork arms. The arms bulge out, so that the posts on the rack are about 1cm away from the eyelets & cannot come any closer. Thus, the bolts to fix the rack posts to the eyelets must be longer & I think the weight of whatever I’m carrying is more likely to stress & break off the bolts. This is an issue because I need to carry some heavy stuff in my front panniers.

Any advice, please, on how to attach the rack posts to the fork eyelets as securely as possible?

No idea of what your X brand rack looks like .. nor the fork . w/o pictures ... they may be incompatible ..


a rack that uses the fork tip eyelets , and a fitting behind the brake bolt behind it that goes thru the fork crown may be what you need..

if no fork tip eyelets , you need one made to use the wheel QR skewer.

OK, sorry for not being clear. Each fork tip has a single eyelet, but the problem is that the eyelets are below the fork arms. This placement makes the eyelets perfect for fender stays, but problematic for my rack. Maybe this helps:
https://www.google.com/search?q=bicy...w=1440&bih=743
See the last image in the top row.

The posts of the rack are completely straight (though with flattened ends); that is what prevents the ends of the rack posts from coming closer to the eyelets. The rack style resembles that of the “Soma Mini Front Rack” advertised here:
Universal Cycles -- Racks - Frame Mounted > Front Mounted

Attaching the rack to the fork crown is no problem; I took care of that easily. Thanks, Fietsbob, for the advice.

add spacers between the eyelet and the mounting point on the rack , a stack of flat washers will do , or go to a hardware store ,
you will find nylon ones .

or hack saw off a piece of tubing to be there right length/thickness. the original 70s blackburn rack that one copied
included the spacers in the parts bag.

of course the rack will negate some of the way a carbon fork feels as it will dampen its motion ..

Understood about the possibility of adding spacers, but I don't see how that would increase the strength of the entire setup. Maybe you're saying that the distance from the bottoms of the rack posts to the eyelets doesn't significantly increase the risk of my load breaking the attachment bolts?

Use good bolts when in doubt the hex head black, 8.8 marked bolts, are stronger than mild steel or most stainless .


if it is a carbon fork .. I cannot say whether the forces acting on the bonding

between the dropout and the fork blade will hold up , with the extra mass on the rack .. YMMV

Front racks.. I've always toured on bikes with steel forks.. :50:

That makes sense. I'll look for bolts like those. BTW, my fork is steel.

not plated or stainless, once you tighten them on, add a dab of paint on the bolt head to reduce the rusting.

Cool. Would spray-on Rust-oleum primer be as good?

You going to spray it after you screw it down? if you paint it and then install it, the wrench will remove some of the paint , Obviously.

Right. Thanks again.