nevermore1701

hi
i really enjoy the site and all the pics of what everyone rides and builds. im gonna be building my first bike. one of the threads i saw was turning a mountain bike into a tourer.........thats my plan. i have a Giant yukon frame being powder coated now. what forks should i get? a rigid or suspension fork? and if rigid what material steel or aluminum? also wanna make sure what ever fork i choose i will be able to mount a rack,panniers,fender and a light
any help or input will be appreciated
thank you

fietsbob

DK, if your bike frame was designed to use a suspension fork,
you need one with long enough blades to keep the head tube angle similar..
the essence of what a suspension corrected fork is..

Suspension fork + Tubus Fly, if off road trips is your goal
rigid fork if a paved road is the plan.

V, rim or disc brakes?

nevermore1701

still in planning stages for rest of bike. for drive train im thinking deore probably deore brakes too. still havent figured the rest out yet,, this is just gonna be for road though i wanna stay with 26" and just run slicks

seeker333

If you don't know what you're doing, you can spend more building a bike than simply buying a new bike - and end up with an odd bike on top of the financial penalty.

Consider low cost alternatives before you delve into unknown territory.

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/tourist.htm

fietsbob

Yea go see what is in Your Bike shops
BD is for those who can replace parts that were chosen for their cheapness
to drive the price down..
since they are willing to cope with warrantee problems
with some one they never see.

IDK if the gratis shipping excludes AK and HI, it often does. AKA, CONUS only..

MassiveD

Normally people start with rigid frames for that. If you convert a bike with front end suspension, you run into several problems, that you will at least want to play with:

- Overall frame geometry. While MTBs can be good for a touring bike, and suspension can be good on a touring bike, an MTB hardtail is often quite different geometry wise than a touring optimal platform. You are far enough down the single track offroad trail, that it just isn't a road touring bike any more. If the frame you have is good for offroad, you may prefer to default it towards a road design, if you are planing to do road type touring.

- How is the frame outfitted for the use you now have in mid. Water bottle mounts, cable runs, brakes, stay lengths if you will be running panniers. etc...

- The whole front end thing.


1) Part one is to get an idea of what your ideal frame fit is. If you can get your hands on a road bike that you can test ride or borrow from a neighbour, your ought to be able to dial in your position so that you can come up with your numbers. Ideally on a 73, 73 head and seat tube angle frame. For me, when I get on a 58/58 frame it is a little short in the top tube length and a little high for best comfort in stand over, if the bike is at the high end of BB height. My ideal frame is 56/59, at 73,73. I like to have a 72 seat tube to accommodate my seat and seat post preferences, and I like a slack steering geometry, so I have to redraw to take those factors into consideration. But getting to some kind of starting point like this is easy with free online fit software, and measuring up a few rides. I think a lot of cyclists would do themselves a big favour if they spent some time trying to get their basic frame numbers.

2) So lets look at touring geometry in terms of five factors, as a starting point: Seat tube angle, reach, BB height, steering, and back wheel position. Of these the only ones that really mater a lot are the cockpit fit ones, the other 3 are relatively speaking, nice to haves.

Since you are going to be rebuilding your front end geometry you can experiment with the stance of the frame to see whether you can get close enough to your ideal geometry with the bike you have. Normally MTB geometry is slacker, and normally higher bb, so you may find that simply by tipping the frame forward you will be able to correct for those factors. What you are trying to do is get the cockpit right, and then find a rigid fork with the right crown height to secure these changes.

By angling the frame forward to correct the ST angle to about 73deg, you will also steepen the steering geometry, this will lower BB, and maximize top tube length. Now you want to take a snapshot and see where you are. Do you have the cockpit dimensions you need?

What is the steering geometry? It doesn't really mater as far as control is concerned, slack is fine on a touring bike, but slack shortens effective top tune length. You can also consider the rear wheel position, and whether it will accommodate your feet and bag, but a lot of people use work arounds, or just make do. There is bagpacking also. You can also measure the BB height and see where it is, but for the most part one can make do with that.

3) If you can find the right stance for the frame and work out the crown height, you will find there are quite a few available crown heights. If your original bike was a rigid, you will have a lot of choice. But you may find that you can only get the crown height you need at a compromise. Luckily there are options that will allow you to mount some front end rack on almost any fork.

nevermore1701

after reading the responses im thinking i should get the same suspension fork that came stock on the bike............if i lock it out would it give me the same ride as a rigid fork?

fietsbob

Go test ride a bike with a lock out fork and see..