Is this clever or just a terrible idea?

[Shane]

So I recently bought a new lock for my bike (Bordo 6000 alarm). It’s good but I hate carrying a backpack and have run out of space on my bike.

So can I attach it to my fork?

Before you reply, know that I probably will never have it on the bike on trails but only when riding around town or to a cafe/shops/etc.

The holder barely weighs anything but the lock itself is 1400g. I’d need to put some grip tape on the fork to make sure there’s no chance of it slipping around and getting caught in the spokes.

Apart from this though are there any reasons I shouldn’t do this? Such as weight for example. The bike and I together weigh around 100kg so I’m guessing that adding less than 1.5% of that to the front shouldn’t change handling much should it?

Anyway, I thought this might be a clever place to store my lock. I also realised that I’ve never seen anyone store anything here and that there might be a reason for this so figured I’d get the opinions of the brains trust

 

[Injidup]

You are adding to the unsprung weight which may not help handling.
Could you fit it to the seat post?

 

[Shane]

You are adding to the unsprung weight which may not help handling.
Could you fit it to the seat post?

No, too long for seat post when dropper is down and I don’t trust myself to not forget that it’s there when riding with it.

 

[Northumbrian]

You must use a Backpack !..... gorgeous Fox 36’s with a carbuncle attached to a leg....nooooooo. Then what happens if it comes adrift, wrecked wheel and rider....again, Backpack please !

 

[bissona]

There's a Fox designer out there somewhere quietly crying into his soup....

As noted, adding to unsprung weight will have an unpleasant effect, doubly so as it's adding so much weight to a wheel / fork-lower combo that is otherwise pretty lightweight.

 

[Gary]

I'm just surprised anyone would trust leaving their (I assume from the fork) £5k Ebike locked anywhere in public

There's a Fox designer out there somewhere quietly crying into his soup smiling at his bank account....

 

[Dax]

Don't ride it to the cafe/shops. Unless you like in a crime free utopia.

 

[Gary]

By all means ride it to the pub/cafe/pub/shop/pub/pub. just don't leave it unattended and out of sight. Same advice as with any other easily stolen expensive piece of kit.

 

[R120]

Personally I think this is a very bad idea - never attach anything to your bike in a position where it has a chance to fowl the wheels if it comes loose. Chances may be slim, but if it came off you would be looking at over a grand in damage to the bike and probably a large bill from your dentist.

 

[ULEWZ]

Can you put it on the back side of the fork? Chances are if it is going to rotate, it will rotate back. Unsprung weight will not come into play here (not significant I should say) if used just to commute or go to the pub. Bad idea if riding on any trails or on a bumpy road.

 

[njn]

 

[MattyB]

Personally I think this is a very bad idea - never attach anything to your bike in a position where it has a chance to fowl the wheels if it comes loose.

Agreed. His local wheel (re)builder will definitely recommend he goes ahead, but his Doctor may have a different opinion...!

 

[Shane]

Haha, so it look like the people have spoken!

"I'm just surprised anyone would trust leaving their (I assume from the fork) £5k Ebike locked anywhere in public"
"Don't ride it to the cafe/shops. Unless you like in a crime free utopia."

Adelaide is a pretty nice place. There are shitty areas of course, but if you leave any bike locked up there you deserve to have it stolen. Most of the places I would 'leave' it would be high traffic or in sight (and always where there's cctv). As for the video of the people breaking the Bordo with a pair of 30 inch bolt cutters, there's not many locks they wouldn't go through. It's a deterrent, plus the alarm would attract a lot of unwanted attention. At the end of the day, the bike is insured and I bought it to ride it.

"Can you put it on the back side of the fork?"

Wouldn't this be WAY worse? With the direction of the rotation of the wheel, if it rotated into the spokes on the top side it would get knocked back to where it began, or out of the wheel. If it was on the bottom it would get 'sucked' into the spokes and jam the wheel. Meaning from the top it would need to rotate over 180 degrees, while it on the bottom it would only need to deviate by a few degrees to cause chaos.

"Personally I think this is a very bad idea - never attach anything to your bike in a position where it has a chance to fowl the wheels if it comes loose. Chances may be slim, but if it came off you would be looking at over a grand in damage to the bike and probably a large bill from your dentist."

I honestly think that with grip tape and a couple hose hose clamps that it wouldn't be going anywhere, BUT I also acknowledge that there's always something that hasn't been thought of and I don't really wanna find out about it the hard way. All you're concerns are pretty much what has been at the back of my mind but helps to see it in black and white where it's harder to ignore.

I still don't think I'll ride with a backpack if I can avoid it. Might need to think of something else. Back to the drawing board! Cheers for the input.

 

[Doomanic]

How about a top tube bag?

 

[Shane]

I had a top tube bag, but it's too small/doesn't stay in place with that much weight. However, I don't usually keep too much in it, so at this stage it looks like I'll be ditching the bag and putting the lock there.

 

[Welshman]

I had a top tube bag, but it's too small/doesn't stay in place with that much weight. However, I don't usually keep too much in it, so at this stage it looks like I'll be ditching the bag and putting the lock there.

what about a frame bag? or even a rack with a bag?

 

[steve_sordy]

Just don't leave it anywhere unattended; problem solved!

 

[MattyB]

I had a top tube bag, but it's too small/doesn't stay in place with that much weight. However, I don't usually keep too much in it, so at this stage it looks like I'll be ditching the bag and putting the lock there.

You have a Trance E+1, right? There is loads of room in the front triangle for that lock if you put it underneath the top tube with an enduro strap, just behind the head tube. Yes it raises the CG, but given you will only be using it for pub runs that should not be a problem.

 

[Shane]

Won’t fit with a bottle in there.

Used some grip tape and put it on the top tube. Not ideal for standover but far less likely to kill me, so that’s a bonus.

 

[MattyB]

Won’t fit with a bottle in there.

Earlier you said... "Before you reply, know that I probably will never have it on the bike on trails but only when riding around town or to a cafe/shops/etc". You don't need a water bottle for a trip to the pub!

 

[Lewis]

Just watch you tube on the lock Pick Dr he picks any lock in minutes and shows you how, so now i don’t trust any lock unless you use many so it takes them longer to get past

 

[R120]

I have been thinking about your predicament, and I think your best option would actually be to buy a frame bag, something like the Alpkit Possum, and put it in that, it will also fit other items you might need on your commute:

Possum 47 - 3.5 litre mountain bike ½ frame bag for bike packing - UK made - Alpkit