Suspension commuter?
 

Hey everyone. saw an image of a really cool road/hybrid bike that had a suspension fork, but not some lousy urban suntour thing, a real rockshox fork. I was wondering if putting a nice legit suspension fork with a sweet hydraulic disc brake for the front would be sick! It's a 2014 or 2013 trek 7.1 so it's a 3x9 with v brakes and wide risers. I've been told maybe putting cantilever brakes would be cheaper, more fun upgrade but sounds like a lot more hassle than good ol' v brakes.

thanks!

Some people commute on a unicycle too. Anything goes dude. Hey if you want to ride on a sweet Kona Supreme Operator... that's cool too. Should make short work of the Mount Royal steps!
Lots of folks ride hardtail to work. You use what you got. Then the addiction kicks in and you end up with something more balanced to your riding condition. Most folks' commute on paved roads or packed trails. So riding efficiency is a consideration.

My Dad actually saw this the other day.

My wife saw someone in Calgary this morning on their unicyle heading to work.

I seem to recall seeing an article about an extreme urban bike with suspension, must have been a C'dale because the fork was a Lefty

That bike was never intended to have front suspension,so adding a sprung fork will mess with your geometry. You may not like the way it handles after the mod.

Not a fan of suspension personally. Lots of weight,sucks up power when climbing,and you get fork dive when braking. We've been building some fat bikes at the shop lately;I'd go with a bike with fat tires over suspension. Built a Med Surly Krampus Ops that weighed 30lbs 1oz with pedals,that's the same as my Safari. Pretty good for a monster like that.

Bikes with suspension forks are designed to handle the extra height of the fork. Retrofitting a suspension fork to a bike designed with a rigid fork ends up with the head tube too high and alters the bike's geometry and handling, and is not recommended because of it.

Replacing V brakes with cantilevers sounds like a wasted effort to me.

How about a Moulton bike ? MOULTON Bicycle Company fast and dually suspended .. can be bought separable to go in car boots.

link

So the suspension is limited, I think the same effect could be got just from larger tires, although if you want to spend $$, there's no end of ways to do it!

Somebody brought up Moulton on another forum. They sure look nice, for those who can afford them. That sweet looking New Series Double Pylon is only &13,000.

Cannondale Slate?

I love the suspension fork on my MTB, can't see the need on a dirt road though. The Cannondale Slate's Lefty has 30mm travel, what the hell is the point of that on a bike with 42mm tires? Slate 105 retails for $2980, even though their aluminum MTB with XT and a Lefty (F-Si 1) is $2340 and a CAADX 105 Disc is $1570. Maybe that's the point.

Cannondale also had some bikes about 10-15 years ago (XS800 cyclocross & Silk Road touring) that had Head Shok forks.

I know, right? I think my Reba shock travels 30mm even when 'locked out'!

Cheap forks suck power but then so do super wide tires. And wide tires have a lot in common with cheap forks...they are basically pogo sticks with no control of the suspension.

A good fork that can be locked out doesn't suck power on climbs and is useful is some situations. But a "good" fork is going to cost a fair chunk of change.

In my experience with a Reba fork, the "lock out" is more a suggestion than a reality. Mine traveled a whole lot more than 30mm when "locked out". More like 90mm for a 100 mm fork. I've found that Fox and Manitou forks have a much more positive lockout than any of the Rock Shox forks I have experience with. The Manitou's lockout has less travel than the Fox but the Fox is a much better fork.

I'm happy though, if I stand and climb without lockout, I'm bouncing all over the place. If I stand and climb with "lockout", I can see by watching the stanchions that I'm moving, but I don't feel like I'm going all up and down. So it makes a difference.

Cannondale Silk Road 500, steel fork with a pretty bend and Head Shok suspension.

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