magohn

Hello all,

My wife has a CAAD3 - M500 mountain bike from the mid-nineties that she loves. She doesn't want to sell the bike as it is a perfect fit for her and it has served her very well over the years. However, I recently purchased a new mountain bike and she now wants a suspension front fork like mine - a Rock Shox brand.

Is it easy to switch out her front fork for a Rock Shox? Im handy with the wrenches but Im lost in regards to:

What fork?
Is there a certain length of fork stem etc?
Do the bearings come with the fork?
Will there be mounts for her existing caliper brakes?

Thanks so much.

jimc101

XC, Recon, Reba or SID dependant on your budget

Stem length isn't determined by the fork. For fork travel length, any XC bike from the mid 1990's will take an 80/100mm travel fork with no major issues in changing in handling over 120mm travel will probably adversely affect handling.

A few things you need to check before going ahead with this, is the headset 1 1/8th", if so, upgrading will be easy, if 1" (unlikley), you will struggle to get a current fork in this size.

Headset or Aheadset, if the M500 has a Headset (threaded) budget to replace with an Aheadset (threadless) + a new stem in this case. If the M500 has a Aheadset, all you would need to do is swap the crownrace from the old fork, although, as the old headset is getting on for 20 years old, it may need a complete replacement (replacement is often cheaper than just replacing the bearings)

You will need to research this, there are multiple version of most of the Rock Shox range available, with multiple options, some have v-brake mounts, others don't, check when purchasing that the version you are buying has what you need. For the brakes the bike has, take it that you mean either Cantilever or V-type brakes, not calipers as in road brakes, if the bike has road calipers, no modern fork will work with them.

FastJake

Jim pretty much covered it.

Check steerer tube diameter: 1" or 1 1/8". Rare case it could be 1 1/4" on a Cannondale, I had a road bike like that. I would not put much effort into looking for a fork unless you have 1 1/8". Other sizes you're mostly screwed. If you have 1" you might get lucky on an NOS Rock Shox fork from that time period.

My most firm piece of advice is: don't buy a cheap suspension fork. I've used them, I hate them, they suck. They're very heavy and generally provide a poor pogo stick ride. Better to keep the rigid fork than get a cheap suspension fork. I would not buy an RST, Suntour, or bottom of the line Rock Shox fork. But once you start getting into $200-300 forks it probably makes more sense to just sell the bike and get one with suspension, unless you really love it. Or find a decent NOS Rock Shox fork from the 90s, like a Quadra, Mag, or old Judy model. Those were pretty good IMO.

jmeier64

But don't most bikes come with some lower version of a suspension fork anyway, unless you are getting into the more serious bikes? The one thing I would add in addition to above is to find one with at least adjustable preload. I would recommend though one where you can adjust the air pressure as well as a lock out. This way you can tailor it for her ride as well as turn it off for road riding if you want.

magohn

Hi all,

Thanks so much for getting back to me. I finally had time to go take a look at the bike and it is an AHeadset type. However, I cant see anyplace where it states the size of the headset (whether 1 1/8th" or 1" etc). How would I measure this. Do I have to take off the handlebars etc?

And yes, the bike has 'V- Brakes'

THANKS so much for all the help so far.

jimc101

As it has an Aheadset, you are almost guaranteed it has a 1 1/8th steerer tube. The quickest way to confirm this would be to get a set of vernier calipers, although a ruler will do, undo the topcap of the aheadset, and measure the steerer tube. No need to do anything else.

Looking at Bikepedia, their records show only the 1998 model having an aheadset, and the 1998 models was also the last year of the M500 as an MTB, this had a 1 1/8th aheadset. https://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...e#.UIQ5eW_A-So

If it is that bike, looks nice, have a look here to see what someone has done with one ​https://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=102103

jimc101

Only problem with that, is the headshok needs a specific frame design, if the frame wasn't designed for it, it won't work as an aftermarket fitting. This being the case for the OP, as such they are 'limited' to normal forks.

mconlonx

Is the bike designed to take a suspension fork? If there's not at least a couple inches clearance between the top of the tire and the underside of the top of the fork, if the tire is an inch or less away from the fork, you will be affecting the geometry, in essence raising the headtube and slackening the head angle = slightly less standover, slower steering.

jimc101

From the description the OP has given of the bike, and what can be found on-line from this given info, yes fitting a suspension fork will not affect the handling of the bike. As I noted in an earlier post, anything upto 100mm travel will not adversely affect the handling / performance of a bike from this age (I currently use a 100mm travel fork on a 1997 GT Bravado XC bike and it feels great, better than when I ran 60mm forks). Over 100mm, then yes there will be issues with handling.

For the steering, a shorter stem can fix this, BITD running a 120mm+ stem was common, now 90mm is very long, and stems are getting shorter every year, the same with handlebars, but they are getting wider, BITD 560mm was standard, now anything less than 680mm is extremely narrow.

Fred Smedley

I disagree, mid nineties Cad 3 needs no more than a 63-80 travel fork or the steering will be like a wheel barrel. Ask me how I know.

magohn

Thanks guys. Sunday we started shopping for a fork (approx $200) and then my wife mentioned she also wanted disc brakes. I wasnt aware of this so of course its an issue as the Cannondale has no way to mount a rear disc.

Long story short - we spent $600 on an entry level Specialized with the assumption we will upgrade the fork in the future. It came with Avid disc brakes. Upgrading the Cannondale to both fork and (though not possible) disc brakes was too cost prohibitive.

She loves her new bike as its women specific and sized correctly. Both she and I THANK YOU for helping us making the decision even though it wasnt our initial direction.

FastJake

I think you made a good decision. There's always room for one more bicycle!

magohn

Thanks!

Very true - I have 4

Shes very happy with how far MTB technology has come in almost 20 yrs. The specialized frame has excellent geometry and even though entry -level it has a SRAM x4 derailleur and components etc. Very snappy and tight machinery for $600. The 'Sun Tour' fork will work for now. We intend to sell the old cannondale to help pay for a Rock Shox Silver or similar.