Working around Front Shocks
 

I've looked for the Delta Shock Treatment front racks and it seems the places I'm looking have stopped carrying them. Liability issues?

Anyway, how are you guys and gals working with front shocks on mountain bikes, converted to touring use? I'm new to this touring stuff so I hope you'll excuse my ignorance. But I do like the softer ride with the RockShox on my bike. I would like to keep it in place, and yet be able to slap on a front rack and fender for doing some exploring inland.

Thanks,

speaking from ignorance it looks like the Tubus Swing is the other option.

http://www.tubus.com/en/suspension-fork-carriers/swing

Look into Old Man Mountain racks. They specialize in racks for suspension bikes. As far as fenders, they are a quite a few fenders in the market for mountain bikes. When I toured with my mountain bike in Colorado/Utah I only used rear rack panniers and a handlebar bag. I carried about 30-35 lbs of gear. I have a full-suspension bike but for touring I realized I preferred not having any suspension on my fork/rear to avoid bobbing and other pedaling inefficiencies. So, I locked my front fork and increased considerably the pressure of my rear suspension since it's not lockable.

If there are V brake bosses on the forks Tubus smarti is a Mid fork mount.

But the Swing hangs off the fork crown [& steerer tube Brace], so the suspension works more compliant
because there is less mass hung off it.
OMM moves with the wheel, not independent of it.

It is my understanding that you want to suspend the weight with the bike-side of the suspension (a la Tubus swing), rather than on the fork stanchions, for durability of the shock... it makes sense.

I dont think i would put a lot of weight on the bottom section of the fork, like the OMM racks do.

My bike's a GT Xizang - a titanium-frame hardtail with front suspension (RockShox Judy fork). So it's just the front I'm trying to figure out the best deal for a touring rack. I have a custom built rear rack that Black Sheep Bicycles out of Ft. Collins made for me last summer, out of titanium. It's rock solid.

But the front suspension can probably be dealt with in a number of ways. I'm just wondering what you well-experienced hands would do if it was yours...

I used a Tubus Swing with my 29er Fox sus fork on the GDMBR last year.

I used an SKS Shockblade for a front fender.

Worked great.

given the experience of my Ultimate 5 on my mountain bike with a Fox R80RLT... i tend to lock out the fork because the bobbing effect is probably compounded from the long lever arm if i consider the distance and weight on the handlebar bag from the rear hubs. this wasn't exactly what i liked - i'd rather some comfort with the fork unlocked.

all in all, given a choice i'd most likely choose the OMM lower-legs mounted solutions, instead of having the load laden "sprung" - i guess i'd need to further increase the air pressure in the fork to cut the excessive sag... more hassle!

i'm using a tubus rear rack, however i personally feel the Swing would kill my fork faster by causing more fork dive upon especially unseen potholes. i'm trying to marry from my current short-haul touring experience (read: limited!) and mountain biking. of course, if i'm a dimwit to go into a pothole with a sprung OR unsprung front end, i'll be asking for trouble... heck, i'd be in BIG trouble going into a pothole even without a front load! LOL

WHERE are you guys buying your front racks?

It's my understanding (which has been wrong before) is that a suspension fork functions by extending into a "pothole", then dampening the impact when one hits the other side and (hopefully) emerges from it. It keeps one's front tire more in contact with the ground so one gets the considerable advantage of the tire's traction. I think I can see it both ways, but it seems to me that a greater mass moving rapidly up and down at the end of the fork would be more stressful than if the suspension were allowed to operate unimpeded. I'm sure that that's what Tubus would argue anyway.

OTOH, those in my GDMBR party who rode rigids did fine also. Big front tires, not inflated to the max, with front panniers that helped the fork to flex. They're forks were lighter too.

I bought mine at thetouringstore.com. Talk to Wayne if you have any questions about fit.

It's preferable with a suspension fork to keep the load off of the fork lowers to minimize unsprung weight for better suspension compliance and to reduce stresses. So a rack mounted to the frame or fork upper, like a Tubus Swing, would be a better choice than an OMM.

Why not have the best of both worlds? Remember, the Xizang was designed originally for a rigid fork. I bought one of these for my '93 GT Zaskar (Zaskars and Xizangs have the same geometry). It has the same geometry as the OEM GT rigid fork. For $41, you can have a rigid fork for touring with a front rack and keep the Judy for the rough stuff. Swapping forks is a 15 minute job.

Cyclesafe, I get what you mean there. Ideally I should be able to spot ALL potholes before I send the front wheel packing into it, while I keep the front suspension "alive" and active throughout so that I don't kill my wrists. A little of XC riding skills - at least by leaning back on the bike to offload the front wheel at the point of impact, would help - i hope!

If I can sum up how I intend to ride ideally... it is to ride my bike as if it's a rigid, but always having the free travel on the front end to save the wrists. Ideally!

Sure like this thread. At home I ride on both pavement and Forest Service road in the course of a days ride. I was thinking about a hybrid type bike like the Giant Roam or Trek Utopia for my next bike. I would also like to tour toward the US SW during the winter. Big bend area in Texas and AZ south from Tuscon come to mind. There I would like to ride pavement to park or national forest roads and just keep going. I am not interested in serious single track trails. A regular hardtail MTB might service me better off the pavement, but the Roam and Utopia have a bit longer chainstay than must MTBs and may be better on the pavement.

Either would require a front rack that deals with suspension. I now understand better why the fork crown suspended racks like the swing make better sense. It is where the front load would NOT be moving up and down so much. The thing I don't like about them is carrying the weight so much higher. I think that can be worked out by reserving the front panniers for the lightest weight stuff in the outfit. Maybe clothes and lightweight food items.

It is true that carrying the load lower to the ground is more stable. But off-road a lower load is more likely to be hit by brush, rocks, or whatever. My two front panniers with the Swing each weighed about 9 lbs and I noticed no difficulty. I think that we sometimes conflate "less stable" with "unstable".

Cyclesafe!

What panniers did you use with the swing?

for truly crappy roads and speed I'd like front shocks but it seems to me that one can manage pretty well with a big fat front tire.

I adapted Arkel T-42's which are usually used as rear panniers.

+1