Hi all, I have an old MTB with a truly worn out elastomer/spring front fork (that wasn't even much fun to begin with) that I'm thinking about turning into a commuter. And one step of doing that is switching to a rigid fork.
Now it just so happens that I have some frame tubing that actually would fit into the crown of the old sus fork (pinching action, not cryo- or press fit or anything like that) and I can easily manufacture some steel drop outs(real pieces, not simply squeezing the ends flat and slotting them...) as well, so I'm thinking about making some new fork legs instead of buying a whole new fork. Assuming my handiwork holds up, is frame tubing likely to be strong enough to use as fork legs?
(yes I know buying is safer and simpler and all that, but making is so much more fun! )
Hi all, I have an old MTB with a truly worn out elastomer/spring front fork (that wasn't even much fun to begin with) that I'm thinking about turning into a commuter. And one step of doing that is switching to a rigid fork.
Now it just so happens that I have some frame tubing that actually would fit into the crown of the old sus fork (pinching action, not cryo- or press fit or anything like that) and I can easily manufacture some steel drop outs(real pieces, not simply squeezing the ends flat and slotting them...) as well, so I'm thinking about making some new fork legs instead of buying a whole new fork. Assuming my handiwork holds up, is frame tubing likely to be strong enough to use as fork legs?
(yes I know buying is safer and simpler and all that, but making is so much more fun! )
Normally I'd agree, but in this case I really don't think that's a great idea.... Unless it's real low-end tubing it'll be very thin wall and just not intended to be stressed in that way. When it fails it won't just bend a little, it'll fold, probably just under the fork crown, and probably when you're hard on the brakes and REALLY don't want your forks folding up! Look on Ebay, spend the price of a beer - much better solution.
(yes I know buying is safer and simpler and all that, but making is so much more fun! )
Just think how much fun you could have researching the strength or thickness differences between frame tubing and fork tubing, or the stress concentrations resulting from using a suspension fork crown!😄
Remindes me of an Arctic Cat mini bike I got as a kid. It didn't have a fork so I ordered one from the local dealer and installed it my self. After the installation I took it for a test ride around the block and being the daredevil I was, pulled a nice wheelie on the curbing in the school bus circle. Up I went and off came the fork and front wheel. It was a spectacular flip.
