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Some forks come with already drilled mounting points for bottle cages:

Marin Four Corners fork

I have exactly this one, CroMo fork and I wonder what is the maximum load of it (I am asking about single "leg", one side). I am looking at 1.5kg (3.3lb) -- it would solve my water resources problem -- but I am afraid of rotational forces and I don't want to damage anything during the trip.

So how much load I can put on CroMo fork without destroying it.

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These mounting points are (also) meant for front panniers. By the time you get to 5kg per pannier it's the handling your have to worry about, not the load. On my tourer I've been known to strap bottle cages above my front panniers for a total of about 6-7kg per side including rack.

The weight of a large bottle of water is tiny compared to the load of a rider, and small even compared to the off-vertical loads of riding. And because the fork is designed for a small bottle the difference of adding a large bottle is negligible.

There are (or were when racing bikes were steel) very light CroMo forks; even then that sort of load wouldn't have been an issue but drilling mounting holes might have been.

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    Thank you! Just to be sure, you used panniers attached to mounting points, not to strap ons (like EliteVip)? I am not that much afraid of entire fork might break, but that I can make a crack around mounting point and from there entire fork can be damaged.
    – greenoldman
    Commented Feb 3, 2019 at 12:20
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    Yes, I've got mounting points for the panniers, and used them. Only the bottle cages were strapped on. Factory-fitted mounts are meant to take quite a load, and are strong
    – Chris H
    Commented Feb 3, 2019 at 12:54

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