The most eccentric perk of owning a mountain bike is to be able to travel with it on all types of terrain regardless of any significant repercussions. And the best part is that you can use it for regular mundane tasks as well.
There’s no holding you back if you just want to deploy your hardtail mountain bike regularly on asphalt roads simply for everyday transportation around the city.
This begs to pose the question, can you put a basket on front of mountain bike?
Well, the short answer is yes. But for the long explanation, read on through this article and find out!
Front Basket as a Bike Accessory
No matter what the case is, you will find that there are various nifty accessories that you can add to your mountain bike to make it more accessible and resourceful. While some people opt for small bags or pouches wrapped around the central axle to carry small goods, the most common way to go is a basket on the front.
This is widely popular among commuters, couriers, and messengers who regularly carry parcels on their bike journeys.
Why Put a Front Basket On a Mountain Bike?
Besides the regular perk of having a nifty accessory installed on your bike, putting a basket on the front gives you two significant advantages:
- You can visualize and keep track of the parcel you are carrying
- You can easily access the cargo in the basket
Installing a Basket in Front of a Mountain Bike
Let’s talk about the installation here;
Precaution
When you want to install a basket to the front of your mountain bike rather than on the rear end, it will be best if you have one of those rigid bikes without any suspension.
They might be hard to come across nowadays, especially since modern mountain bikes all come with built-in front-wheel suspensions. But finding such a pioneer mountain bike model will let you install almost all types of front baskets without any issues.
There are three primary variants of baskets to install in front of your mountain bike. Here, we’ll break them down one by one.
Support Strut Attachment Baskets
This type of baskets usually connects directly to the handlebars and forks. Most bikes have forks with fender outlets that you can use as attachment ports for the support struts on the basket. Otherwise, you can simply use P-clamps to attach the basket to the front-wheel axle or fork legs.
Quick Release Attachment Baskets
The unique mechanism of such baskets makes it the most accessible and favored by commuters. These baskets use the stem of the bike as a connection point. But the major drawback is that you can’t use it if your bike features a threadless stem.
Front Rack Attachment Baskets
The first step in installing this type of basket to the front of your mountain bike is to set up a front rack that attaches to the V-brake mount. These baskets are built quite sturdily so that they can hold cargoes weighing up to 9 kgs. For this reason, this is most popular among couriers and messengers.
After setting up the front rack, you can easily attach the basket to it using regular planks, nuts, or bolts. The frame and basket can be sandwiched between that planks, and the whole setup can be tightened using bolts.
Alternatively, you can use zip-ties to accomplish a makeshift setup when you don’t have all the tools needed at hand. The thick UV-resistant zip-ties can, in fact, be quite sturdy even after extreme exposure to sunlight.
Nonetheless, it’s still a temporary solution. Lastly, some racks offer built-in attachment ports for the baskets.
Installing A Basket on The Front Of A Mountain Bike Front Suspension
Although having a front suspension can be limiting in terms of installing a basket on the front, it does not mean that it’s quite impossible. The only variant of the basket that can’t absolutely be used with front-suspension mountain bikes is the support strut attachment basket.
These baskets generally have a thin strut and tend to bend under pressure when the fork sinks.
You can either install a handlebar basket with attachment clamps having connection ports that are wide enough to fit the bars. Alternatively, you can utilize a front rack to attach a basket. But this option can leave you with a relatively narrow array of choices since these are generally designed for panniers.
Bottom Line
Baskets on the front of a mountain bike can serve numerous advantageous purposes. Although the notion is not quite widespread, it’s still not quite uncommon either. So, you can definitely consider opting to install one on your bike today!
We hope this article was informative enough in answering whether can you put a basket on the front of a mountain bike or not. Happy biking!
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