Lightweight limited travel sus forks for 700c wheels
Discussion
I found some interesting CF forks with a disk-only mount for ~£130. They are made and marketed by Trigon who make exactly the same stuff for Ritchey at over double the price.
I'm tempted but I have never had a bike with any sus and I fancy trying that.
No recommendations then? Not really surprised as people here either have road bikes or full-on MTBs I guess.
I'm tempted but I have never had a bike with any sus and I fancy trying that.
No recommendations then? Not really surprised as people here either have road bikes or full-on MTBs I guess.
Ah, is that the problem? I certainly haven't found any that identify themselves as compatible with 700c wheels and disks-only at any price.
Just about to buy my wife a Whyte Malvern Women's - it has an RST Neon Pro fork - exactly the spec (no idea about weight) I would like but I can't seem to find anyone who'll sell it on its own. Might just send her away for a day and swap the forks over for a trial. Don't tell..!!
Just about to buy my wife a Whyte Malvern Women's - it has an RST Neon Pro fork - exactly the spec (no idea about weight) I would like but I can't seem to find anyone who'll sell it on its own. Might just send her away for a day and swap the forks over for a trial. Don't tell..!!
Threadless 1 1/8th steerer:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RST-NEON-2010-700C-CROSS-TRE...
Threaded 1 1/8th steerer:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BANKRUPT-700c-ALLOY-DISC-SUS...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RST-NEON-2010-700C-CROSS-TRE...
Threaded 1 1/8th steerer:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BANKRUPT-700c-ALLOY-DISC-SUS...
OK suspension forks for 700c come in two flavours with disc mounts
1. Cheap (Suntour) V&Disc brakes mounts look ugly perform worse 63mm or more of coil sprung travel and weigh about 1,500g or more
2. I think you can still get a (rare as I think it's still Non-UCI compliant) Carbon Cyclo-Cross Disc tab fork but will cost over your budget but weigh a lot less.
Option 3 if you must have suspension is to look at 29er forks, however anything light enough will cost too much and 99% of forks will probably have too much travel for your geometery.
If I were you I'd look at a familiar name Redline, they do a carbon Cyclocross disc only fork. You could also search for tandem one but will probably cost twice as much and be over engineered and weigh half as much more than the cyclo version.
ooh! 680g of lovely redline-ness
1. Cheap (Suntour) V&Disc brakes mounts look ugly perform worse 63mm or more of coil sprung travel and weigh about 1,500g or more
2. I think you can still get a (rare as I think it's still Non-UCI compliant) Carbon Cyclo-Cross Disc tab fork but will cost over your budget but weigh a lot less.
Option 3 if you must have suspension is to look at 29er forks, however anything light enough will cost too much and 99% of forks will probably have too much travel for your geometery.
If I were you I'd look at a familiar name Redline, they do a carbon Cyclocross disc only fork. You could also search for tandem one but will probably cost twice as much and be over engineered and weigh half as much more than the cyclo version.
ooh! 680g of lovely redline-ness
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 12th April 09:30
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/eXotic-700c-Carbon-Trekking-...
Though you'll need to check the a-c height. If you need longer then they have mtb forks in 425, 445 & 465 lengths.
I have a set of 445 forks on my HJ and they ride very well.
Though you'll need to check the a-c height. If you need longer then they have mtb forks in 425, 445 & 465 lengths.
I have a set of 445 forks on my HJ and they ride very well.
Wow, fabulous options.
The RST forks are the same brand that Whyte uses on the other 700c bikes. I am definitely going to try these (I am happy with the mix of components on my Whyte so I have some "trust" in their selction).
The price of those RSTs is fantastic. I see they're V AND disc compatible which I'm perfectly happy with - thanks for that.
Those CF forks look nice but after noting the Trigon forks, someone has offered me a set at about 1/4 discount making them well within budget.
Thanks everyone. I'll let you know which way I fly.
The RST forks are the same brand that Whyte uses on the other 700c bikes. I am definitely going to try these (I am happy with the mix of components on my Whyte so I have some "trust" in their selction).
The price of those RSTs is fantastic. I see they're V AND disc compatible which I'm perfectly happy with - thanks for that.
Those CF forks look nice but after noting the Trigon forks, someone has offered me a set at about 1/4 discount making them well within budget.
Thanks everyone. I'll let you know which way I fly.
Hi Mars, did you get anywhere with this, I was looking at Kinesis frames the other day and saw this and thought it may still be relevant to you
http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/products/forks/cross...
Available for £130 at CRC.
http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/products/forks/cross...
Available for £130 at CRC.
Not yet but I've been testing a few. I have narrowed it down to two completely different solutions:
1. The Trigon CF "disc only" fork. It's 100% CF. I'm suspicious of part-CF/part-alloy forks. I've read a few accounts where the two materials part company.
2. An air-sprung limited travel 700c sus fork.
The problem with point 2 is that I haven't found anyone who will sell either the RST Neon Pro or the Suntour equivalent. And I haven't found any others which would suit.
Why two totally different requirements? Well I started off wanting a low-weight bike with little compromise but as I'm getting a bit fitter each time I go out, I find myself wanting that "glide" experience that my cycling partners have. I don't ride quickly. I'm not time-limited. I only ride for recreation so compromising the weight for "The Glide" seems like a nice idea.
I have "forks" on my birthday list for September. If my wife agrees in principle, I'll make a decision then.
1. The Trigon CF "disc only" fork. It's 100% CF. I'm suspicious of part-CF/part-alloy forks. I've read a few accounts where the two materials part company.
2. An air-sprung limited travel 700c sus fork.
The problem with point 2 is that I haven't found anyone who will sell either the RST Neon Pro or the Suntour equivalent. And I haven't found any others which would suit.
Why two totally different requirements? Well I started off wanting a low-weight bike with little compromise but as I'm getting a bit fitter each time I go out, I find myself wanting that "glide" experience that my cycling partners have. I don't ride quickly. I'm not time-limited. I only ride for recreation so compromising the weight for "The Glide" seems like a nice idea.
I have "forks" on my birthday list for September. If my wife agrees in principle, I'll make a decision then.
The Trigon fork has a 415mm Crown to axle measurement, the sus forks will probably be longer, the kinesis ones are 405mm. be interesting to see what your current ones are on the Whyte, I'd imagine about 400mm on a 700c hybrid. You don't want to be lifting the front end too much as it will upset the geometery, the trigons should probably be ok and look fantastic and light (XC06A).
As you say it's not for out and out speed but more comfort, not quite sure what you mean by "glide", but on a road surface the sus will only help if your crashing through pot holes & whacking kerbs etc.. and add lots of weight in doing so, also in the end every time the suspension compresses that's lost speed, the Carbon fork should help immensely with the road buzz over the old alu disc forks. And having a potentially stronger and lighter front end will help you avoid those pot holes & kerbs in the first place.
Anyway good luck.
As you say it's not for out and out speed but more comfort, not quite sure what you mean by "glide", but on a road surface the sus will only help if your crashing through pot holes & whacking kerbs etc.. and add lots of weight in doing so, also in the end every time the suspension compresses that's lost speed, the Carbon fork should help immensely with the road buzz over the old alu disc forks. And having a potentially stronger and lighter front end will help you avoid those pot holes & kerbs in the first place.
Anyway good luck.
OneDs said:
The Trigon fork has a 415mm Crown to axle measurement, the sus forks will probably be longer, the kinesis ones are 405mm. be interesting to see what your current ones are on the Whyte, I'd imagine about 400mm on a 700c hybrid. You don't want to be lifting the front end too much as it will upset the geometery, the trigons should probably be ok and look fantastic and light (XC06A).
As you say it's not for out and out speed but more comfort, not quite sure what you mean by "glide", but on a road surface the sus will only help if your crashing through pot holes & whacking kerbs etc.. and add lots of weight in doing so, also in the end every time the suspension compresses that's lost speed, the Carbon fork should help immensely with the road buzz over the old alu disc forks. And having a potentially stronger and lighter front end will help you avoid those pot holes & kerbs in the first place.
Anyway good luck.
More often than not, at them mo, I have my daughter in the trailer behind me, so I'm in one of the three lowest gears. Speed isn't an issue. We all just mimble around. I'll keep my alloy forks if I buy some sussers, mostly for when I get opportunity to go for a faster run. I could change them in 10 mins.As you say it's not for out and out speed but more comfort, not quite sure what you mean by "glide", but on a road surface the sus will only help if your crashing through pot holes & whacking kerbs etc.. and add lots of weight in doing so, also in the end every time the suspension compresses that's lost speed, the Carbon fork should help immensely with the road buzz over the old alu disc forks. And having a potentially stronger and lighter front end will help you avoid those pot holes & kerbs in the first place.
Anyway good luck.
When I first got back into cycling (a year ago now), my son didn't ride (now he's on his third bike - he has grown about 9cm in the last year) so I just went out with a group of guys at higher speeds than I manage now. Road buzz was more of a problem then but now my family are interested we all join up with other families and take it easy. We're not on roads, and the cycle paths we now use are poorly surfaced.
It's true that a sus fork will weigh more than my current ones but watching the other people on their converted MTBs and sus hybrids has made me realise how much easier their rides are than mine which is quite jarring on occasions. I can anticipate holes and stuff but sometimes it's just easier to glide over it like they do.
But I'm not going to buy any old cheap fork. I definely want an air sprung fork for a 700c wheel with a disc only brake mount.
Also (now I'm home and have more time to consider your post), about altering the geometry... I'm not averse to increasing the height of the handlebars in truth. I have already replaced with the original handlebars with some "cruiser" type to gain an additional 5.5 inches there. I'm just not interested in the laid foreward position.
There's a Swedish website which shows a cyclocross bike with the Trigon forks. They don't look too disimilar in height to my own:
http://happymtb.org/forum/read.php/1/1242743/12439...
But any sus forks will probably raise the crown height a fair bit more.
There's a Swedish website which shows a cyclocross bike with the Trigon forks. They don't look too disimilar in height to my own:
http://happymtb.org/forum/read.php/1/1242743/12439...
But any sus forks will probably raise the crown height a fair bit more.
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