BlarneyHammer

Let's say I want to attach a Nalgene to both sides of my suspension fork. What do you recommend as the best method?

Happy Feet

I don't know about others but I just mounted my fender using a hose clamp (worm gear clamp) and covered it with tape so it wouldn't snag stuff. https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/p...w.ds#store=434

My only concern with larger water bottles would be the back and forth centrifugal movement of the weight working the cage loose in the clamps so I might use three depending on how big the bottle is.

Tourist in MSN

I have never attached anything to a suspension fork, but I have seen photos that used hose clamps to attach cages to suspension forks. Can you fit a Nalgene in a water bottle cage? Nalgenes are a bit wide.

There are a couple of off-the-shelf disposable water bottles that do fit in cages, the one liter size Smart Water bottles for example. I have started to use those for touring, on rough terrain I sometimes put a velcro strap around the top of the bottle and the frame tube to make sure it stays there, I always do that with the bottle below the downtube.

In the photo I have a velcro strap around the top of the under-downtube bottle.

djb

I once had a front rack on my old mtb made specifically for front suspension tubes using a large plumber clamp type system that I'm sure would be robust enough for you to clamp on "anything cages" or that sort of thing on your forks.
Would be a bit of a bodge, but don't see why it wouldnt work out.

BobG

For conventional bike bottles up to 25 oz I use the Blackburn competition cage snugly attached with four wire ties to each blade of my unicrown fork. That particular cage has a mounting bracket that will accommodate the wire ties without interfering with bottle. Might be too light duty for taller bottles on rough terrain unless you strap it in as Tourist MSN did.

Rob_E

King Cage makes clamps to add attachment points where there are none. I don't know that it would be better than just clamping a cage directly to your fork, but it's an option: King Cage - Bicycle waterbottle cages handmade in Durango, CO Look for Universal Support Bolt.

If you used the bolts to attach something like the Problem Solvers Bow Tie, you could possibly just strap the bottles on there without a full cage solution: https://problemsolversbike.com/produ...-strap-anchors

djb

goes without saying to put tape under any bodged clamps, to not damage the paint.
Also helps with stopping slipping etc.
I personally would go with a cage thing that has a clear bottom lip, to keep bottle from going down, even with lots of straps.
A one litre nalgene is 2.2 lbs full, I wonder how/if sloshing noise is annoying when not full?

skookum

Velo Orange have Mojave cages made specifically for Nalgenes. They are a bit pricey, I managed to pick up a few on sale a couple of years ago

Velo Orange

BlarneyHammer

More generally, how do you mount anything at all to a boss-less suspension fork? I know I've seen people using hose clamps before, but what exactly gets clamped to the fork? Nearly all fork mounts I can find require bosses.

Tourist in MSN

Decades ago no frames had water bottle brazed on fittings, all cages were held to the bike tubes with straps that came with the cages. Now those cages come without straps, but for example the Blackburn cage shown above in post 5 can be strapped onto a bike frame tube, or in your case part of the fork.

In the photos, I wanted to add an under-downtube water bottle cage to hold a jar with my spare tube, small multi tool, etc. There were not brazed on fittings, so I strapped a cage on. Not all cages are built that way, but the Blackburn road cage is and that is what I used on my bike.

Rick

TwoFish has a couple of strap on cage sizes. I have used these cages before

Leebo

^^^^ This.

djb

those are cool.

chrisx

salsa nickless cage
note the holes for hose clamps

MarcusT

This works on any part of your bike

BlarneyHammer

...and it's called a ________________?

Tourist in MSN

I was curious too. It says Decathlon on the side, i did a google search and found this:
https://www.decathlon.com/products/u...le-cage-mount?

Read the reviews, some felt that the durability was not great.

Happy Feet

My concern with that system in particular (and with any fork mounted cage really) is the torsional or centrifugal forces created by the water bottle.

A Nagalene 32 ounce bottle full weighs 2lb's which is a lot to whip around on a fork on rough terrain (assumed because of suspension fork).
Unlike most water bottles that line up with the frame the fork mounted cage is arcing and flexing all over the place.
I would be afraid the cage would work loose the rubber straps and rotate into the spokes or slide down the fork.

A couple of years ago we debated the Trek 720 fork mounting system here and I raised the same issue of torsional force. That user is gone so we don't know how his Trek held up but I see Salsa Anything HD had some similar issues of cracking around the plastic fork bosses and have gone to a beefier three boss system now.

Here's a good page that lists fork cage systems https://www.bikepacking.com/index/car...anything-bags/

Happy Feet

This is a Blackburn Cargo cage mounted to the frame but you can see the channels for other attachment methods and how a 1.5L (50oz) Nagalene fits into it. The 32oz would be shorter by about 4 inches but the same diameter. Like Tourist in MSN note how I secure the top of the bottle so it doesn't flex out of the cage.
One thing good about cargo cages, or Salsa anything cages etc... is that you are not limited to water bottles in them. Some people put light rolled up items like sleeping mats or bivy sacks there.

Rick

The two fish design for the larger bottle uses two wide Velcro straps.

MarcusT

It is from Decathlon, which is why I did not name it, as Deca is not in the USA. But a quick search of Amazon revealed a number of similar types.