Front racks on a bike with no fork braze-ons

[ClayH]

I'm in the middle of the NT going west, and I've got all kinds of weight on my rear rack (Ortleib back roller classic panniers, tubus rack) and I've been having consistent problems indicating an overloaded back axle (broken spokes, chuckles from bike shop mechanics, etc.)  Unfortunately, the bike I'm riding, a Trek 370, has no braze ons on the fork for a front rack.  I put as much heavy food as I can in my handlebar bag in order to balance the weight, but there's only so much I can put in it. 

I've seen front racks improvised with hose-clamps around the fork, but with the amount of abuse my bike takes, I am concerned that anything short of a real mounting system will simply not hold up.  Does anyone have experience with custom-mounting front racks to their ride?  I would love to do it in order to increase the longevity of my rear wheel/axle/rack, to make my ride more stable, and to make the whole thing look a little less haphazard. 

Thanks in advance for your wisdom. 
-Clay

[waynemyer]

Tubus makes a clamp-on mid-fork mount(http://www.thetouringstore.com/TUBUS/Fit%20Solutions/FIT%20SOLUTIONS%20PAGE.htm).  I have never used it myself, but I tend to trust everything that Tubus does.  As long as your fork isn't carbon fiber, I don't see any reason why this solution shouldn't work awesomely. 

[harry]

Try old man mountain. their racks can fit anything.

[Tourista829]

ClayH, I agree with the above comments about Tubus (I have them on my touring bike) but, you are on a tour now and need a quick fix that will work. It happened to me during a tour, with our older Santana Tandem. The bike did have eyelets near the front forks, for fenders or racks, but no eyelets on the middle of the fork.  A temp fix that held up well, was to go to Home Depot and pick up a pair of super thick cable ties, the kind they use as hand cuffs. 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. It held the front Blackburn rack for hundreds of miles until I was able to make a permanent fix. Make sure you do not put more than 40 pounds on the rear rack, lighter if you can. Keep heavy items, very low. Depending, on your bikes wheel base, it will determine how much weight you can safely carry, in your front bags. The shorter the wheelbase the lighter the front bags. To be on the safe side, start with 6 pounds per side. If that works, add two pounds a side up to 10 pounds per side. I would pick up an inexpensive fishing scale, at Walmart, and weigh your bags. I would keep the handle bar bag very light. Finally, you may have to rebuild the rear wheel with a better rim and spokes. I feel for you, good luck. Bob

[JayH]

The Old Man Mountain racks (some of them anyway) allow one to use the brake arm/bosses on the front fork.. And if you don't have lower eyelets, a QR mount.  If you have a disc-brake bike w/o brake bosses, you can also go the way of the P-clamp which looks like a "P" which you can hopefully find in a hardware store.

Jay

[rvklassen]

Does anyone have experience with custom-mounting front racks to their ride?  I would love to do it in order to increase the longevity of my rear wheel/axle/rack, to make my ride more stable, and to make the whole thing look a little less haphazard. 

Thanks in advance for your wisdom. 
-Clay

Actually several - although possibly not all - low-rider racks come with u-bolt type fasteners that you throw out if you have the right braze-ons.  I used them on my first tour.  Plastic coated, and the back plate was solid and plastic coated as well.  The shop that sells you the rack should be able to help you out with mounting them (at the least dig up the necessary spare hardware if not included, and possibly loan you a tool while you work on the sidewalk out front [I speak from experience]).

I'm assuming you at least have eyelets at the bottom of the fork.