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Looking to add some fixings for gorilla cages etc to aluminium rigid forks & figured it shouldn't be too difficult, any tips or tales of woe?
I've never fitted them to a bike but when I put loads of them in my van I covered them in Sika Flex before I squashed them into place. Just to give them a bit more grip and hopefully prevent spinning.
As for technical difficulty of actually fitting them, it's very easy.
I've bodged them into place using nuts, bolts washers and a couple of spanners. After drilling the hole with a cheapy battery drill (one battery per hole).
The only remotely expensive thing was the drill bit. Though, with the speeds the drill could hit, i'm pretty sure i wasted my money...
They are still firmly in place in the frame(s) i fitted them to. Not all mine either.
Running a strip of masking tape down the side of the fork before marking out and center punching can help ensure holes get drilled accurately without damaging surrounding paintwork.
Drilling holes in the forks though, is that safe?
Drilling holes in the forks though, is that safe?
Drilling them will be safe enough, gloves & eye protection willing, it's riding them after I've drilled 6 holes in them that I'd be worried about*
* I'm not, even at the height of drillium I don't recall that many failures....
Lidl were recently selling Rivnut kits if that is any help to anyone.
I just cant grasp the idea of drilling holes in aluminium forks
Get some band on nuts
I just cant grasp the idea of drilling holes in aluminium forks
Plenty of Ali frames get drilled & rivnuts fitted for bottle cages etc, doesn't do them any harm
band on nuts
Could have warned me not to Google that 😬
mine too, but not forksI just cant grasp the idea of drilling holes in aluminium forks
Plenty of Ali frames get drilled & rivnuts fitted for bottle cages etc, doesn't do them any harm
Safety did cross my mind but I assumed the OP had made their own assessment.
A 7mm hole takes up a larger percentage of a forks circumference than a typical alu frame tube. Forks also see more bending stress across their length. Manufactured fork fastening points are typically done with a sleeve that is brazed or welded in place to help preserve strength.
Missed that they were aluminium forks, i've done it on aluminium frames and *steel* forks (1" constant diameter blades, so massive!)
I'd be wary of aluminium forks.
I wouldn't drill into aluminium forks - but then I wouldn't run aluminium forks period! I've actually just bought a set of Zefal Gizmo adapters for a set of (steel) forks to see how they get on with light loads.
Thanks I've opted for ordering some of those zefal gizmos for now, failing that I'll get my drill out - it's for a fairly meaty Cannondale fatty rigid forks.
Thanks I've opted for ordering some of those zefal gizmos for now, failing that I'll get my drill out - it's for a fairly meaty Cannondale fatty rigid forks.
if you are going to do it, then I’d be making sure it’s properly deburred and no stress risers.
im pretty sure that stock calculators must exist for the size of a hole in a beam (a fork being essentially a round beam)