Originally posted by Guillermo
I'm wondering how much, if at all, upgrading a rigid fork to a suspension fork would affect the intended geometry of a frame. Several mtb's, particularly some single speeds are sold with rigid forks. If you swap that out for a suspension fork, will you be affecting the handling, etc at all?
Dax
I suspect that most current SS bikes have rigid forks which are 'suspension corrected'. That is, the axle to crown height is about equivalent to a 3-4" travel fork (440 mm give or take). A non-suspension corrected rigid fork would measure about 400 mm axle to crown.
If you are changing the geometry by changing forks then yes, it will have an effect. A longer fork slackens the head angle and increases 'trail' or 'caster', effectively slowing down the handling of the bike. It will also affect your weight distribution on the bike and perhaps make it more difficult to keep the front wheel down on steep climbs.