Delta Front Racks on Suspension Forks
Many people are now using mountain bikes and hybrid style bikes for touring. Many of these are now fitted with front suspension forks, and unless the fork is fitted with lugs for racks, many people tour without front panniers, which puts a bigger load on the rear wheel.
There have been several kits made to fit front racks to suspension forks. One cheaper style uses radiator hose clamps to hold the brackets onto the forks. The set I have used is made by Delta, and uses four metal clamps encased in plastic which clamps around the fork tubes.
View showing two plastic encased metal clamps around fork tube.
The rack set also comes with a top bracket which attaches to the V Brake mountings. This extra bracket stops the entire rack from slipping down the fork tube.
View showing small bracket that attaches to V Brake mount.
I have toured on a mountain bike with this set of racks both on and off road. I have also ridden through scrub with bushes dragging against the front panniers, and the racks held up beautifully. They did come with a warning about not being suitable for off road use but I have had no problems with them.
I have also found that Ortlieb panniers with their lock on mechanism sit perfectly on these racks because of their thicker diameter tubing. The racks also come with the lower hook attachment point for panniers that use an elasticised hook lower mounting.
