I just finished replacing both the suspension fork and rear shock on my 2002 Rans Vivo. For the
fork, I chose the Meks Carbon AC and find it to be an excellent choice for road riding. I don't do
any off-road riding, so can't say how it might perform there.
Both the pre-load and damping adjustments are easy to use and produce the desired results. The
problem I was trying to correct was the pogoing of the Vivo front end while cranking uphill. Not
only did it totally eliminate that, but I also found it was much more stable when spinning down
steep hills - guess some bobbing was occurring even then.
I bought the fork from Hostel Shoppe and found their advice and assistance valuable. Here are a
couple of tips that I learned along the way. First, the steering tube is pretty easily cut by using
a pipe cutter, available from Lowes or Home Depot. In appearance, it's just a larger beefier
version of a tubing cutter. Second, the guys at the local bike shop informed me that the inside
diameter of the steering tube was rather odd, and they had a hard time locating a star nut that
would properly fit into the tube. If I had it to do over again, I'd have asked Hostel Shoppe to
provide the proper one. My first threadless stem, didn't think about that nut. Third, I ordered the
heavier springs for the fork, thinking they might be needed. I later found out that the Carbon AC
has springs in only one side, with the damper in the other side. So, I didn't need to order two
sets of springs - only one. After quite a bit of testing, I find that they aren't necessary anyway,
at least if you're less than 200 lbs. Last, with the fork comes a single sheet showing a blow-up of
the parts assembly. Not a clue about adjustment or how to maintain the fork. For that, go to the HP
Velotechnik website and look at the owner's manual for the Street Machine GT, which uses the fork.
That document has loads of info on adjustment and maintenance, including the procedure for changing
out the springs if you need to.
FS in Angier, NC 2002 Vivo with a REAL suspension now
"Tom Nicholson" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Anyone have any ideas on what is the best (lightest,smoothest and most adjustable, to fit SWB
> bike) 20" suspension fork.
>
> For what its worth I consider the Ballistic to be low end...
>
> Tom Nicholson
I'd get the White Br.
