seeker333

is there any way to bump up the a-c distance ~ 10mm using washers and/or bushing and some sort of steerer shim to provide for firm crown race fitting?

i can't be this first person to have thought of doing this...

but i can't find any shims listed anywhere so maybe this is a hairbrain idea.

thanks.

HillRider

I've never heard of doing this either. Is the fork's steerer long enough to allow a 10mm spacer between the crown race seat and the actual crown race? The other problem is the steerer won't be the correct diameter 10mm above the original crown race seat so you would have to shim it somehow.

I gotta ask, why do you want to do this?

roadfix

Actually, that exact thought entered my mind a couple of years back when I realized that my "suspension corrected" rigid fork was not quite so suspension corrected....
I found nothing so I mounted the fork anyway. The bike handles fine except for the slightly lowered BB due to the change in geometry.....no biggie....

seeker333

i agree, generally no big deal, except that
a. it makes steering a little faster. no big deal to me either.
b. moves saddle more forward over center of cranks, which you may or may not like, requires a setback seatpost and rearward saddle position to compensate. can be a big deal.
c. lowers bb enough that pedal strike may occur in leaned turns, especially with longer 175+ cranks.

i have had pedal strike several times, it usually just takes a bite out of my frog pedals. so it can ruin a pedal body made of plastic.

last time it happened, the pedal strike lifted rear tire. bike came down with some lateral motion. enough to deflect tire, land on sidewall, explode tube, and put me on the pavement for the first time in 7 years of regular riding. so i think this can be a big deal. (btw is there a bikespeak name for this particular stunt?)

i might just use some headset spacers, epoxy and some brass shim stock to lift her up a bit. should work.

the inexpensive forks i've found are either too short (375-390mm a-to-c) or too long (410-450mm). i think i want ~395-405. trying to match the seat/head angles on an old cannondale that was built without susp. fork. also thinking of putting an avid bb7 disc on the front.

someday i gotta break down and get some brass and a torch and learn how to braze.

AndrewP

Are you comparing the fork length with the suspension fork when it is compressed under your weight. 10 mm extra fork height would only give 5 mm extra pedal clearance. I dont think that this will reduce the number of pedal strikes. Look for thinner pedals at the outboard end.