BlueskyinMaine

Hello,
I have only been riding for a couple of years and not seriously (yet). I have a Cannondale Terra and I HATE it!!! I didn't know any better when I bought it but now I have this lumbering, crappy shocked, beast of a bike! HELP.... I can't switch out the shock because this model is the beta of the bike world: a larger front tube so I can'r replace the single shock with a forked one. Any suggestions for a long legged, short torso having newbie. This bike is dampening my enthusiasm.

Tom Pedale

For the sake of your cycling pleasure...sell or trade your present rig...carefully shop for your next rig so you don't repeat the same mistake..many of us who have cycled for decades have at one time or another ended up with a less than satisfactory bike even when we should have known better.

khuon

The suggestion to sell the current bike and buy a new one is good. however, if you're happy with the rest of the bike barring the fork and would really like to convert the front suspension to a rigid fork then you can always use a headset reducer that will allow you to use a standard 1-1/8 steerer. You then of course need a suspension-corrected rigid fork. Try and pick one with the proper correction by matching to the travel of your suspension fork. Check out the Surly 1x1 or Surly Instigator.

late

Hi,
Bath Cycle and ski (www.bikeman.com ) sells forks like that.
ALthough your local LBS can order you one. If you can get to Portland, there is a good selection of bikes to try. My fave shop
is Back Bay Bike. You can find many similar threads in the Womens Cycling Forum at this website; and can also post questions there.
Luck.

BlueskyinMaine

I really appreciate the help. I went to the LBS and they said they can take the "guts" out and put better "guts" in. They were closing in 10 minutes and getting ready for a group ride so I didn't have a chance to find out what the "guts" consist of. Does anyone know of a website that might have a diagram or any info on the head shok P-bone? You guys have made my day. I am feeling much better about having some choices other than not riding! Thanks mucho

khuon

The Headshok P-Bone is a coil/MCU fork with hydraulic damping. The "guts" the guy was talking about are probably MCU bumpers and coil spring. Perhaps he was referring to changing the spring rate to make the fork stiffer and tuning the damper to make it squash out pedal-induced bobbing. This will help some but you will still feel suspension action... whether you like it or not. If you want to totally eliminate bobbing then you need to get a fork with a lockout or switch to a rigid fork. Work the numbers but if you're mainly riding on the road, you might want to consider a different bike altogether.


You can find a copy of the Headshock Owner's Manual on Cannondale's website.