Eyelets for a touring fork

[veryredbike]

I'm going with 1.0 walls, raked for stability... curious about the eyelets halfway up the blade. I'm not sure if I'll end up even mounting a rack, but I want the option open for light use. How necessary are reinforcements on something like this? I'm leaning towards using them, but would love to expand my knowledge.

Thanks!
Jim

[Jonathan]

I'm going with 1.0 walls, raked for stability... curious about the eyelets halfway up the blade. I'm not sure if I'll end up even mounting a rack, but I want the option open for light use. How necessary are reinforcements on something like this? I'm leaning towards using them, but would love to expand my knowledge.

Thanks!
Jim

Using bottle bosses with or without reinforcements will not be as strong as drilling a hole completely through the blade and brazing in a small tube for a through bolt. That's the way I prefer for a touring bike that will be loaded down and see big and maybe rough miles.

[Curt Goodrich]

I'm going with 1.0 walls, raked for stability... curious about the eyelets halfway up the blade. I'm not sure if I'll end up even mounting a rack, but I want the option open for light use. How necessary are reinforcements on something like this? I'm leaning towards using them, but would love to expand my knowledge.

Thanks!
Jim

What does raked for stability mean? The technique Jonathon mentioned will likely yield the strongest result but perhaps might be overkill. Only you can decide what light touring means. For some, that means 10# while for others it might mean 40# of gear. Personally, I've built a lot of touring bikes and have had good results (i.e. zero failures) with hour glass mounts for racks. I prefer that to drilling the fork blades because I like to seal up the vent holes. Whatever you do, figure out what rack you are intending to use first so that you know where to put the mounts.

[Curt Goodrich]

P.S. If you intend on carrying more than say 20# of gear on that fork I'd suggest some heavier fork blades. Of course, there's a trade off with heavier blades in that they can ride a little harsh when not loaded. Again, only you can fully understand the use this fork will see.

[Andrew R Stewart]

022_19A.JPGHere's how i've done low rider bosses a number of times. Never had a problem over 20+ years and with up to 75lbs+ total (front and rear, never bothered to weigh the split). Andy.

[Zimmermanbicycle]

Using bottle bosses with or without reinforcements will not be as strong as drilling a hole completely through the blade and brazing in a small tube for a through bolt. That's the way I prefer for a touring bike that will be loaded down and see big and maybe rough miles.

This is how I do it unless I know that it is for a light duty rack that will carry little.
-Eric

[veryredbike]

Thanks guys, all good info!

My guess is that it'll probably never see a rack, but if it does we'll be talking around 10lb on the front. I'll measure it up against a rack I like so that I know it'll work if I go that way.

The hourglasses would be pretty visible, and since the rack is a contingency thing, I'll probably shy away from that. I like how they space things out from the fork blade though, maybe if I do a heavier duty touring bike at some point.

So, I guess I need to decide if I want to do it the thru-bolt super sturdy way, the kind of lazy and not as strong "well, it's not going to be that much weight" water-bottle boss way, or the "I can always make another fork if I want to do real touring" way.

[echelon_john]

Process is the same whether you're putting a bottle boss on the outside or a through bolt; you just drill the hole all the way through instead of on the outside. Pick up a couple of these: LOW RIDER BOSS :: LOWRIDER BOSSES :: RACK :: STEEL SMALL PARTS :: BRAZON/SMALL PARTS :: Nova Cycles Supply Inc. and you're good to go. Just braze it in, then file whatever is sticking through the inside down to 1-2mm protruding from the blade. If you haven't built the fork yet, do the drilling on a drill press so the holes are straight. Looks clean, is strong, Robert's your mother's brother.

Thanks guys, all good info!

My guess is that it'll probably never see a rack, but if it does we'll be talking around 10lb on the front. I'll measure it up against a rack I like so that I know it'll work if I go that way.

The hourglasses would be pretty visible, and since the rack is a contingency thing, I'll probably shy away from that. I like how they space things out from the fork blade though, maybe if I do a heavier duty touring bike at some point.

So, I guess I need to decide if I want to do it the thru-bolt super sturdy way, the kind of lazy and not as strong "well, it's not going to be that much weight" water-bottle boss way, or the "I can always make another fork if I want to do real touring" way.

[afwalker]

I like the low rider boss idea, is it a sealed boss? Like no water gets in?
Maybe add a reinforcement to dress it up
WATER BOTTLE BOSS REINFORCEMENT PLATE STAR SHAPE :: REINFORCEMENTS :: H2O BOSSES :: STEEL SMALL PARTS :: BRAZON/SMALL PARTS :: Nova Cycles Supply Inc.
cheers
andy walker

[echelon_john]

Sealed boss; it's basically just an unthreaded tube with a lip. You'd have to enlarge the hole in an H20 boss reinforcement (the lowrider boss is slightly larger diameter) but easily done.

I like the low rider boss idea, is it a sealed boss? Like no water gets in?
Maybe add a reinforcement to dress it up
WATER BOTTLE BOSS REINFORCEMENT PLATE STAR SHAPE :: REINFORCEMENTS :: H2O BOSSES :: STEEL SMALL PARTS :: BRAZON/SMALL PARTS :: Nova Cycles Supply Inc.
cheers
andy walker

[afwalker]

Oh, I was thinking it was like a sealed end H20 boss, it is open, unthreaded and goes all the way through the fork, that's why you said use a nut. Wouldn't need reinforcer to keep it from torquing and twisting. (maybe that's not a word:)
gotcha
thanks
andy walker

[Andrew R Stewart]

Andy- A through sleeve/tube will be supported on both ends so no twisting or bending is likely. A simple water bottle boss that attach's to only the outer wall of a blade might have some torquing around but with the light loads the OP suggests I doubt this would be an issue. Many Thousands of production bikes use this type of boss mounting with good results.

My reason for using an hour glass type boss (mounted to the outside of the blade) is more to stand off the low rider rack. More room for the pannier attaching hooks and the low rider sits closer to vertical. The next touring bikes I build will use a through sleeve, likely with a built in stand off.

Andy- Thanks again for the help with the couplers. I brazed them into the tubes the other day and finished filing them last night. This time around I placed a ring of 56% silver inside and sweated the filler out. Two joints came out darn near perfect, two needed a touch of extra filler and had a bit of flashing to file off. Andy.

[veryredbike]

Andy's... Andy's everywhere!

[afwalker]

Yep, never was a Drew.
Other Andy, NY Andy, I'm glad they worked out so well. hey when you're done with those fabricating nuts for the couplers, they only sent 1 pair so I'll need them for my turn.
I got the plan now on the rack attachment. I, like you also ask some of my questions to help others get the picture. It's always hard over the internet to see all what's going on. It's not clear from the nova site it it was a tube or a blind boss, figured someone would know. Through would be strongest, one sided might get stressed, torqued. Maybe do a reinforcement for that application.
cheers
andy walker

[veryredbike]

Yep, never was a Drew.
It's not clear from the nova site it it was a tube or a blind boss, figured someone would know. Through would be strongest, one sided might get stressed, torqued. Maybe do a reinforcement for that application.
cheers
andy walker

Would 45% silver be sufficient for the through application? 56?

[afwalker]

Lightly loaded, sure!
andy walker

[echelon_john]

Either; I'd use 45.

Would 45% silver be sufficient for the through application? 56?