Changing front suspension forks to rigid forks

[dannyfrankszzz]

I've currently got a pair of front suspension forks on my Mari
Muirwoods bike. I've got the suspension turned off as much as possibl
i.e. with max stiffness but there is still a great deal of give in it

I'm thinking about changing to a pair of rigid forks

Will this make the bike quicker

Will I get a noticeable stiffness in the arms and shoulders as a result

What if I get carbon forks

My left elbow has a tendency to get stiff - perhaps I should keep to
front suspension


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[Peter Clinch]

dannyfrankszzz wrote:
> I've currently got a pair of front suspension forks on my Marin
> Muirwoods bike. I've got the suspension turned off as much as possible
> i.e. with max stiffness but there is still a great deal of give in it.
>
> I'm thinking about changing to a pair of rigid forks.
>
> Will this make the bike quicker?

Depends where you're riding it. On roads, very probably

> Will I get a noticeable stiffness in the arms and shoulders as a result?

Depends where you're riding it. Rough stuff, very probably.

> My left elbow has a tendency to get stiff - perhaps I should keep to a
> front suspension.

Depends what sort of riding you're doing.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, dannyfrankszzz
('[email protected]') wrote:

> I've currently got a pair of front suspension forks on my Marin
> Muirwoods bike. I've got the suspension turned off as much as possible
> i.e. with max stiffness but there is still a great deal of give in it.
>
> I'm thinking about changing to a pair of rigid forks.
>
> Will this make the bike quicker?

I don't think so. Not much anyway. If you're getting much bounce in your
suspension on flat roads as you pedal you're probably mashing - using
your legs as pistons - rather than spinning (using lower gears and
moving your feet in circles). Learn to spin, it's more efficient.

> Will I get a noticeable stiffness in the arms and shoulders as a
> result?

Probably not. I've ridden a lot of miles on road bikes and on mountain
bikes with rigid forks. I used to suffer a bit from tingly fingers, but
good track mits solves that problem (and are a lot cheaper than new
forks).

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Age equals angst multiplied by the speed of fright squared.
;; the Worlock

 

[dannyfrankszzz]

Most of the roads I go on are tarmaced and flat. I don't do an
offroad stuff

So in your opinion, it's worth changing over

Would carbon forks be a good compromise between the two althoug
probably a little pricier


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[Arthur Clune]

dannyfrankszzz <[email protected]> wrote:
: Most of the roads I go on are tarmaced and flat. I don't do any
: offroad stuff.

: So in your opinion, it's worth changing over?

Ah. In that case rigid is the way to go.

: Would carbon forks be a good compromise between the two although
: probably a little pricier.

Carbon forks aren't a compromise between rigid and sus. They are rigid
forks. Full stop. They may ride a bit smoother than a cheap Al rigid fork,
but they are in no way comparable (for good or bad) to a suspension fork.

Arthur


--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

 

[McBain_v1]

dannyfrankszzz wrote:
> Most of the roads I go on are tarmaced and flat. I don't do any
> offroad stuff.
> So in your opinion, it's worth changing over?
> Would carbon forks be a good compromise between the two although
> probably a little pricier.


Quite interesting. It sounds as though you are converting your bike int
a hybrid like the Marin Point Reyes

If you are going to get a set of rigid carbon forks (e.g. PACE) the
presumably you will be getting a set of slick tyres as well

The resulting frame will be a lot more responsive because less of th
power that you put through the pedals will be dissipated by for
compression

I doubt that you'll notice any marked increase in arm / shoulde
stiffness if you are going to be riding mainly on roads, because of th
"sit up and beg" posture that mountain bikes typically require - thi
tends to alleviate weight being put on the arms and shoulders, unlik
road bikes where you are in a "tuck" position

Let us know what you decide ;


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[Peter Clinch]

dannyfrankszzz wrote:
> Most of the roads I go on are tarmaced and flat. I don't do any
> offroad stuff.
>=20
> So in your opinion, it's worth changing over?
>=20
> Would carbon forks be a good compromise between the two although
> probably a little pricier.

Wot Arthur said. Plus if you want to go faster then you may wish to=20
assess different handlebars as well as a fork change (though you may=20
need to change your gear shifters and brake levers too...). Drops=20
and/or aero bars should allow you less air resistance in a tuck, and=20
that's what will affect your speed most as you get progressively faster.

If you want just a wafffeeeeere of suspension effect then something like =

a Pantour suspension hub may well be worth looking at. These give you=20
12 mm of travel and are there for road type continuous bump-ettes, not=20
absorbing Big Air. I've not tried one though I've heard good words=20
said. But they ain't cheap at =A3135 each :-( (see=20
http://kinetics.org.uk/html/pantour_hubs.shtml)

Pete.
--=20
Peter Clinch University of Dundee
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Vic.]

On Wed, 26 May 2004 11:35:02 GMT, Simon Brooke <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>I don't think so. Not much anyway. If you're getting much bounce in your
>suspension on flat roads as you pedal you're probably mashing - using
>your legs as pistons - rather than spinning (using lower gears and
>moving your feet in circles). Learn to spin, it's more efficient.

Spinning is "More efficient". That's a big bold claim: Care to back
it up somehow?

Cheers,

Vic.

 

[Jon Senior]

Vic. [email protected] opined the following...
> >I don't think so. Not much anyway. If you're getting much bounce in your
> >suspension on flat roads as you pedal you're probably mashing - using
> >your legs as pistons - rather than spinning (using lower gears and
> >moving your feet in circles). Learn to spin, it's more efficient.
>
> Spinning is "More efficient". That's a big bold claim: Care to back
> it up somehow?

Basic principle follows:

High gear, low cadence: Force applied vertically (Up and down movement).
Dead spots at top and bottom of crank motion. Equivalent to low leverage
(Large force over a small distance). Bad for your knees.

Low gear, high cadence: Force now applied in a more circular manner.
Dead spots at top and bottom of crank motion significantly reduced.
Equivalent to high leverage (Small force over a large distance). This
makes it easier to pedal in circles rather than up and down. Much much
better for your knees.

There is a point at which you are no longer able to apply a useful force
to the pedals when spinning. With training, you can make this point
faster, but an optimum will usually lie a little slower than this point.
Be kind to your knees.

Jon

 

[dannyfrankszzz]

Mmm, interesting reading. Seems a little gimmicky the Pantou
suspension thing

I'm beginning to lean more towards a rigid fork

Any recommendations

Cheers


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[Simonb]

dannyfrankszzz wrote:
> Mmm, interesting reading. Seems a little gimmicky the Pantour
> suspension thing.
>
> I'm beginning to lean more towards a rigid fork.
>
> Any recommendations?


How much do you want to spend?

 

[Peter Clinch]

Vic. wrote:

> Spinning is "More efficient". That's a big bold claim: Care to back
> it up somehow?

Notice you you get a pogo effect minimised. Though pogoing is mainly a
problem with suspension bikes, you've got some suspension through your
tyres in any case and the suspension merely illustrates you're creating
waste energy jumping the bike up and down better than your tyres do.

Or watch a pro spinning up a /long/ climb rather than mashing it.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[dannyfrankszzz]

I guess my maximum budget is about £100

I've been on the Chain Reaction site and they seem to have a few decen
ones on there

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/categories.asp?category=Forks+Rigid_
Rigid%20Forks&thumbnails=tru


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[dannyfrankszzz]

I was wondering if there were any forks available made of carbon for
MTB size bike


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[Marten Hoffmann]

[email protected] schreef ...

> I was wondering if there were any forks available made of carbon for a
> MTB size bike.

Yes there are: https://www.pacecycles.com/product.asp?catID=2&subcat=433

--
Regards,
Marten