26" conversion

[randonneur1944]

I have an older Rans V-Rex with a 700c rear wheel. I keep reading about "high racers" and wondered if I could put a 26" fork on the front to replace the 20". I think I can handle the higher BB but wonder about the effect on handling. Has anyone done anything similar? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

[BlazingPedals]

For virtually every tire combination you can think of, someone has probably done it on a V-Rex. As long as the seat isn't too high to let you reach the ground, it will probably work. Raising the front end will increase trail somewhat, but a V-Rex has minimal trail to start, so it might actually make the handling feel better.

Mine has a 24-inch rear wheel, and tires have become nearly impossible to find. I've measured, and a 26x1.25 will *just* fit, and with disc brakes I don't have to worry about the brakes lining up, so I'm thinking of adding a nice light 26" fork and converting to 26x26. Riding it as a 26x20 makes it just a bit twitchy, but it's an option if the 26" front puts the seat too high, especially if I find a fork with less rake.

[Bud Bent]

I did the conversion to my Tsunami T-1 SWB. When I bought it last September, it was my first bike in 40 years, and a great starter bike. But, I also became fascinated with the high racer configuration. I am still 3 years away from being able to buy the expensive high racer I'd really like to have, so I decided to do a cheap conversion of my T-1.

The rear wheel is a 700c, so I added a cheap 700c wheel to the front, with a light (but cheap) carbon fork to go with it. I like it so well as a high racer that I'm going to do more upgrades to the bike, including a lighter seat and new wheelset, and enjoy my remaining 3 years with my cheap bike ($650 new).

I think a hard shell seat is more suitable than a mesh seat to the more extreme position that a high racer puts you in, but I've never had a mesh seat on my bike, so that's just conjecture on my part.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[737driver]

I've done the same conversion to my Burley Hepcat. My riding buddy has a V-rex with 26/20 wheels and his bike is quite similar in layout to the Hepcat. I bought a take-off mountain bike fork at the local bike store for $20 and borrowed the front wheel from my wife's mountain bike to do the conversion. One problem was that the brake pivots on the new fork are on the front. This moves the brake from the rear of the fork to the front, whick causes an interference between the chain and the brake cable. By using a stainless steel 180 bend tube to route the cable around the top of the fork this problem was solved. So how does it ride? Very nice. The steering feels fine and it seems to roll a little easier. My average speed picked a bit. The reach to the ground is farther, but this hasn't been a problem for me. I'm 5'10' tall. I liked it so well that I decided to try the 700x25 wheels and tires from my old road bike. This required robbing the Shimano 105 brakes off the old bike too. Not a bad project, and wow what a difference! My average speed picked up over 2 mph. The down side.... I'm on my tip toes at a stop and there is slight interference between the front wheel and the crank arms when turning. Similar to the the heal strike problem all these bikes have but a bit worse. In normal riding it isn't an issue, but you have to be careful in a slow speed u-turn. I plan to get a set of 650c wheels to compromise, as the seat height is a little much.

Bruce

[737driver]

Since my last post, I've gotten a set of 650c wheels. This is really the way to go as now the reach to the ground when stopped is reasonable and the heel strike potential is less. A pair of 26" mountain bike wheels would be a good choice also, for those ridding on less than perfect pavement.

Bruce