panniers in front / suspension fork

[youhaditcoming]

Hello,

Im preparing my MTB for some touring. Is it ok to mount panniers on front wheel with suspension fork ? (InSync Grind 1 w/preload, 70mm). I won't have enough room for all the camping stuff at the rear. If i install a straight fork, would it damage my frame ? it is an aluminium frame,

Thx

 

[1id10t]

You should be able to get pannier racks specifically for suspension forks. Old Man Mountain, Tubus and Carradice are some brands to look for.
By straight fork I take it you mean rigid? If so, no it won't damage your frame if you install one. I have done this a couple of times on my bikes. Be aware though that it could change your frames geometry if it's not a suspension corrected fork. Personally, I have never found this to be a problem handling wise. Given your current fork has 70mm of travel I doubt there would be a noticeable difference.
Another item you could look out for is BOB trailer. As the name suggests you can get a trailer which attaches to your bike on which you could load up all of your gear. Here's a link to the site

http://www.bobtrailers.com/index.php

Good luck with whatever option you choose.

 

[HowardSteele]

Hello,

Im preparing my MTB for some touring. Is it ok to mount panniers on front wheel with suspension fork ? (InSync Grind 1 w/preload, 70mm). I won't have enough room for all the camping stuff at the rear. If i install a straight fork, would it damage my frame ? it is an aluminium frame,

Thx

I did a multiday ride with rear paniers and a couple of kilo's attached to the handlebars and vowed only to do it ever again with a riggid fork or sus/fork with lockout.
The sus forks flex uner the load and the handlebars shudder so you end up with pins and needles in your hands from gripping the bars.
There is a little bracket availible that bolts to the sus fork between arch and brake mount that turns the fork into a rigged.

 

[cruisin]

I recently toured with suspension after 15 years of ridged fork touring and the first thing I did when I got home was order a set of ridged forks for the new bike.
The suspension fork was a Manitou Relic with lockout and the rack was an Old Man Mountain Cold Springs. I found that the only way to stop the wobbles was to take half the gear out of the front bags leaving only my clothes and even then I had an occasional wobble. Lockout helped slightly but it was only marginal.
The two best forks I could come up with were the Surly Instigator (axle to crown race about 447mm) and the Salsa Cromoto (axle to crown race about 425mm).
I chose the Surly which is stiffer and heavier than the Salsa but still seems to absorb some road shock.
Even though the Relic is an 80mm travel fork and the Instigater is sold as a 100mm fork replacement it is still about 12 or 13mm shorter than the Relic.
Both ridged forks are disk and cantiliver compatible.
Low rider racks may be better with suspension but I doubt they would help much as the main problem seems to be twisting flex which once started can get hairy. The heaviest strongest pair of suspension forks you can buy should also help.
I have also toured with a Bob trailer but found it to be a bit harder to pull up mountains where I like to tour (I have several friends who love Bobs and wouldn't use anything else).
Anyway if you go ridged measure your axle to crown race distance, allow for sag if you like and make your decision. The Salsa tapers at the bottom and may be easier to mount a rack if you want to use the eyelets, as apposed to the Surly which is straight bladed and would require quite a long bolt and spacer to use the eyelets. This is not a problem for me as the Cold Springs Rack attaches by use of a longer skewer.
I have assumed you have 26 inch wheels but both Surly and Salsa also offer 29er ridgid forks.
Food for thought.
Cheers