You can usually go by era in determining if the bike needs a suspension corrected fork. If the bike is from the late 90's, they will seldom need them. Forks of that era were fairly short trail...60 to 80mm. Early 2000 forks were still relatively short but a suspension corrected rigid fork might be warranted. By the mid 2000s, 100mm travel forks were very common and the bikes definitely need a suspension corrected fork.

Thats cool Cyco, you gotta love kids, I'm an empty nester now but I can remember times when mine out smarted me with their deviousness too. My youngest son used to do that to me with our snowmobile parts and modifications back in the day. :roflmao2:

Empty nester myself. She still gets parts in the mail;)

Well thats good, keep her riding. I have to convince mine that bikes are better than cars. I guess its their age:rolleyes:

Well, I installed the new "used" rigid fork after I got it all painted and was all excited about shaving another 2 pounds off the bike which would bring me down to a 25 pound commuter. The bad news for me is I didn't dry fit everything in advance and took too much for granted and discovered that my Linear V-brake arms will not work on that fork. Even canti's won't work. The problem is the brake bosses are set too high for modern V-brake arms and the brake pads will not go low enough to mate up with the rims. I still do not know what type of wheel this fork was designed to work with but it certainly isn't 26" nor 27". I always thought that 700c was a fairly new size but I could be wrong and this fork may be designed to be on 700c. Its a mountain bike fork, it should have worked for 26in just like it stated but that's Ebay for you, my mistake, live and learn. So I couldn't use it and scraped the idea for now.:crash:

I used a non-suspension, not corrected fork on my 97 Trek mtn bike conversion. This is the one that fits my bike and delivers greatly improved weight and handling. I went with the Surly Long Haul Trucker fork because of the multiple braze ons for all types of rack/fender combos. Or get the disc brake compatible one if you want that as an option.
I love this fork when combined w/ Schwalbe Big Apples or Big Bens. Doesn't get any better for a mtn bike commuter setup, in my opinion.

Surly and Soma both have excellent rigid forks available with 2 or 3 different levels of suspension correction and it looks to me as if you need some correction based on your frame (guessing 80mm).

All of these options are very worth checking out....

What are you measuring when you say 80mm. The suspension travel?

I wonder if you found an old U-brake compatible fork. They are rare but out there. The bosses are certainly in the wrong place for linear brakes and cantis.

It could be, it looks just like that Surly Long Haul Trucker one that AusTexMurf mentions except is a Tange CroMO.

Edit: Now that I think of it the U-brake mounting bosses are way above the pads so it couldn't be that either. With the V-brakes, the adjustment for the pads is just slightly too high for these bosses. If they were just maybe 1/4 in lower, it would have worked.

Edit:

Possibly forks from a hybrid w/ either 650c or 700c wheels...otherwise I don't understand.....even the old roller brakes had the same throw as the more modern vbrakes.......

For commuting/touring/loaded trails or even unloaded running single track, I love the LHT fork and BA's. The fork has the exact amount of rake and rigidity to suit my purposes. I do not think Surly makes the LHT fork, suspension corrected, but I may be wrong. You have more choice in suspension correction w/ a straight, modern mtn bike fork from Soma/Surly/Salsa, etc.....You should be safe w/ 80mm but it is also possible your bike was setup with 110m of travel in the front shock.

The bosses on this rigid fork are too high. Not by much but enough so when my pad is all the way down on the slide, it still rubs on the tire and doesn't quite hit the rim properly. Odd ball fork to say the least. The seller had no idea what he was selling me and my ignorance came through on this one. LOL. I took a look at those Surly LHT, and I really like those better. Really wish I would have known about them as I would have gone that route. I think I should do this using the Surly.

Measure to axle to crown height on the existing fork to get a good fit for the new one.

I had and that length is ok but the problem was the axle to brake bosses that is just about 1/4in off.

So my vote is for a rigid front end. Not that I totally hate front suspension systems - but because my last two builds included Schwalbe Marathon Supremes 700x50c tires on the front end and the ride over rough roads and grassy fields is every bit as good as what I get from a $1,200 DT Swiss 130mm travel carbon front fork. Don't know whether to be impressed or disgusted.

Unrelated to the topic but some interesting (I thought) pics of a carrot grown in our front yard.
Discovered them when downloading the camera for the previous post, related to the topic.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=300359http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=300360http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=300361http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=300362http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=300363

Thanks, Tex. I want to do the same thing as you did with your bike. And those are great looking carrots, a fine young chap you got there. My carrots were only half that size last year, although it was a bad year.

So, correct me if I'm wrong. If I had a low end RockShox with about 100mm of travel from what I can tell, and replaced it with a rigid, I should not miss the suspension if I commute and ride some rough roads and gravel trails but mostly good roads. The fork weighed 4.2 lbs and I think a rigid is about 2 lbs for the most part.

That's my experience - particularly with low end forks. Coure you might miss some of the negatives in a good way - like the front end not diving anymore when you brake, or the bike being lighter.

Is that fork so low-end there's no lock-out on it that you can ride with and confirm that?

There is no lockout. I only see lockouts on better forks. It was very stiff though and the rebound was very fast and harsh. It did not dive when I braked. Too stiff for that. I never liked it.

I checked those out, the only thing is I couldn't find any with the 1in steer tube. I contacted them to see if they can even get them.

Edit: So do you know if the LHT fork is suspension corrected? The Troll is I believe.

Wow.....one inch steerer tube with a 100mm travel suspension fork......haven't seen one of those, myself.
Does make your search more problematic. What suspension fork with 1" steerer tube and 100mm of travel did the bike originally come set up with ?
And no....don't think the troll fork comes in a 1 inch steerer.
You might try checking into Velo Orange solutions. Sometimes they provide weird work arounds.

And no, the LHT fork is not suspension corrected because most touring/heavy duty commuting bikes are not designed w/ front suspension. The ones that do are usually designed very efficiently and not with traditional suspenion forks. For example, my wife has a fully loaded cross country touring bike from cannondale, but it uses a low travel, energy efficient Headshock system to absorb some of the feedback, not provide true suspension. Great system but not applicable to your situation.

If you are sure that you need a steel fork with a 1 inch steerer tube w/ eyelets for fenders, racks, etc for a 26 inch wheel, I can pick one up for you for dirt cheap from the YellowBikeProject, our local coop. I could also get it shipped to you. However, it will not be suspension corrected and this will affect your geometry significantly, therefore your handling. Don't know if it is possible, but can you sneak at least 60 mm of spacers under your head tube somehow ? Never tried it........ or thought about it.....might be ugly as well.

Check fork offerings from Soma and Velo Orange.......

Alternately, just pick up any old steel mtn bike frame that fits you off of Craigslist and build it up around a quality wheel set, drivetrain, forks, tires, and saddle.

Well, I built up this nice 7005 super lightweight frame with mostly all nice components except for the fork which is what I had in my parts bin. It worked out fine to this point but I had this brain cramp that was telling me to swap out that old heavy suspension fork that never really sees any rough duty for a lightweight rigid one. I have reducer collars in my headtube to reduce for this 1in fork that could be removed and then I would have to get a new headset, new stem, and the suspension corrected fork. That Surly Troll looks like it would fit the bill for this project if I decide to go ahead and replace all those items. My frame was designed for something around 100mm of travel so I don't know what the LHT would do for the handling. This has been very informative for me, thank you very much.

Now I got you. Cool.

My advice.
Do you know anyone w/ a dealers license to order parts from QBP ? Seattle Bike Supply ?
Or you could find what you need on craigslist or your local bike coop. Do you have access to Frankenbike ?

You're exactly right, you need a new headset, stem, and suspension corrected fork for your conversion.
If you can find high quality, cheaper used or repurposed parts from a bike swap, go for it.
If not:
Order the headset, stem, and bars, all Origin8. Best quality for the best value. Ergon grips. Surly Troll fork. You will be happy.
Get a mechanic or LBS to order them, cut your steerer tube, and set your star nut, if you have never done this before. Pretty easy to make that happen.
Run Schwalbe Big Apples, Big Bens, or Marathon Supremes for the nicest, cushiest ride.

You could also sort of do this Frankenbike style w/ quality used parts, as I noted.

Best of luck.

Cool, thanks again.

Ah the 1" steerer , suspendion fork problem , again.. frame headtube is smaller too, I guess..

non suspension corrected forks from before sus forks, steepen the steering angle..
as the axle to fork crown race seat is less..

You mention "again". Does this happen often? My frame headtube has reducers that can be removed. I just happen to prefer the threaded tube that takes a quill stem.

new, previously unsaid, details.. have you considered getting a custom fork made?

the duplex handle bar kit Harris has ( rohloff demo bike) fit a quill stem in the top of a threadless fork.

you have to deal with the threadless headset separately, adjust and clamp that adjustment as a stem would,
around the steering tube..

Quill needs to be The 1" , rather than 7/8" .. it possible, but definately swimming against the current.

Yup, I believe I have to change out stem and headset and go ahead with 1 1/8 to gain the use of a new generation suspension compensated fork. I would do that before getting a custom made one. I wasn't concerned with cost or anything, just wanted the easiest way to get rid of the old worn out heavy fork and retain the use of existing good components.