I am trying to lighten up my touring setup and my Nomad MK2, and I recently removed the heavy Surley front rack (almost 2kg!)

Not quite what you are looking for, but the Thorn Low Loader front rack is quoted at 560g. This setup is rated at 12 Kg per side, which is twice the maximum recommended load for my Raven Tour forks. The way this rack is mounted makes it very secure on a Thorn fork designed for this type of rack.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/carriers-racks/thorn-mkv-cro-mo-steel-loloader-black-powder-coat/?geoc=FR

I use this rack with Ortleib Sport Packer Plus panniers, 30L the set, but it could be used with lighter and smaller bags. And some rear panniers - I sometimes use Ortleib Bike Packer Plus, which are 40L the set.

I do not know how much the Thorn rack weighs, I do not own one.  But that is smaller if you stay with conventional panniers.

With regular panniers, I use a different rack made by Axiom.  The rack is aluminum and does not weigh very much. 

I wanted my panniers mounted up a bit higher so I tried this rack.  And after I installed it, I did not like how it looked like it could be damaged in a crash, so I added an additional aluminum bar bracket to connect to the other side of the fork upper mounting to make sure that the rack could not easily bend if I had a crash.

In the photo I also added some plastic hose to protect the paint from chaffing.  The pannier brackets attach several inches above where the fork mounting is, which is the main reason I picked this rack.  Bottom of front pannier is almost as high as the rear panniers. 

On a different bike with the front panniers hanging down really low, I scrapped a curb with my pannier once.  Fortunately I did not crash, but that made me nervous about panniers being that low.

Top bar is not quite horizontal, but it is close enough that it does not bother me.

The extra aluminum bar brackets that I added are 3/4 X 1/8 inch, and i sprayed them black.

I have Ortlieb Frontrollers and Backrollers in the photos.

I had a Surly rack and after two tours, I donated it to charity and bought different front racks.  (I have three touring bikes, I have three different front racks for them.)

I am looking forward to when Dan has a photo of his mounting system.  I suspect it is something similar to something that I have considered doing with some aluminum bar instead of the stainless bracket that he used.  I was thinking using an aluminum bar (3/4 X 1/8 inch) and drill two holes, one hole for upper fork rack mount and one hole for lower rack or fender mount on the fork.  Then add two or three holes in it for a cargo cage.  Might be able to use the uppermost rack mounting bolt to also hold the cargo cage.  Would likely have to bend it slightly so it does not rub on the fork paint.

Good afternoon all,

I am trying to lighten up my touring setup and my Nomad MK2, and I recently removed the heavy Surley front rack (almost 2kg!) with the idea I could mount fork bags (like the Ortlieb 4.1L fork bag). Unfortunately it seems that the bosses on the Thorn steel fork do not line up to the Ortlieb QLS mounting bracket, but provided with the bag are 2 metal straps with rubber shrink tubing to strap it to the fork - however, I am not sure if this is more for a straight fork that has an equal diameter top to bottom, whereas the Thorn fork tapers and curves forward toward the bottom.
Does anyone have any experience mounting fork bags onto the Nomad MK2 forks without custom making adaptors? Whether it is the Ortlieb bags themselves or another product off the shelf, any advice would be much appreciated.
Thank you.

FOR SALE – Thorn Raven 565L with Rohloff Speedhub

Thorn Raven 565L touring bike with Rohloff Speedhub.

Bought in 2015 and has covered only approximately 3,000 miles. Very well maintained throughout, with the Rohloff hub receiving an annual oil change.

Excellent condition for its age.

£1000+£65 Delivery (UK only) + £35 Delivery box

Hello again

The previous owner sent me a link to the eccentric he installed on the bike: https://funecobikes.com/product/boitier-de-pedalier-excentrique-aluminium-pour-tandem.

The part is made of aluminium and my frame is made of steel. Isn't there a risk of corrosion.

I will try to remove the screws next week and tell you.

Thanks again

Dissimilar metal corrosion can be a problem with steel and aluminum, but the metals have to be in contact for that to be a problem.

For example, aluminum seatposts can bond to steel frames.  But if you grease the seatpost, that not only solves that problem, but the grease reduces the amount of water from rain that gets inside the frame as the grease acts as a sealant.

My Nomad Mk II has paint (or powder coat or something like that) on the steel shell around the anodized aluminum eccentric, the anodizing and the paint do a good job of preventing dissimilar metal corrosion.

I do not read French, I do not know if that is anodized or not.  But if the shell on the frame has a good layer of paint, it is unlikely that it would be a problem.

My Thorn Sherpa has an aluminum seatpost that I make sure is greased, but most of my other bikes have painted (or some other material) seatposts that prevent the metal to metal contact.