29er for commuting - advice on forks required
 

Hi, am now back cycling after several years away and got myself a mint 2nd hand GT Karakoram 2.0 in XL as I thought it would provide a versatile option for occasional offroad stuff, but mostly at the moment commuting/school run cycling on roads and pavements.

I have taken the knobbly tyres off and put on Continental Contact II 700x37 which are ideal for what I am doing. The only problem is one which may sound superficial, but these smaller profile tyres looks terrible on the stock Rockshox X28 100mm suspension forks. I have the forks locked for better road preformance, but they are quite high so the gap between the tyre and the crown looks ridiculous (looks fine with the offroad tyres). There are a few options to correct this issue that I can see:

1) Use larger commuting/road tyres (Schwalbe Big Apple 50s say) so that it will have a similar profile to the original look of the bike. Disadvantage I suppose is that I will still have the heavy susp. fork which isn't that necessary for what I am doing 99% of the time.

2) Get a say 80mm spring rather than 100mm? Would that effectively lower the crown by 2cm? It would possibly be a cheap option, but maybe 2cm isn't quite enough. What would the other implications of this be?

3) My preferred option would be to get a rigid fork, I guess either one dedicated to commuting or actually run a rigid for any offroad/trails I may wan't to do. How does the geometry of these work - if I got a suspension compensated fork, would that not have a similar looks issue to the problem I am trying to remove - ie a big gap between the tyre and the crown, or ane they sized to be more like a loaded susp. fork?

I am more inclined to go with the new rigid fork. I see someone local is selling a Orange F7 which seems ideal (it is cheap and I don't have much to spend!) and apparently it is able to accomodate a 700 tyre. Would this work in terms of geometry with what I have? Is this actually a for for a 26" MTB?

Any suggestions?:cheers:

If you are looking at changing forks, and it's for a commuter, dump the suspension, and get rigid. No point with suspension for use on the road, and rigid will work fine off rod.

For your questions

1 - Why spend more money? function over form.

2 - 20mm! most 100mm forks can be shortened to 80mm using an internal spacer, could you do this rather than paying for a new fork?

3 - Forget suspension correction, this was/is an issue for 26" bikes which were designed for 40-60mm travel forks, the Karakoram 2.0 was only available for MY2011, and as a 29er, so a non-existent issue.

For the Orange F7 fork, being a 26" this will throw the bike's geometry off, if you can even get the wheel to fit. Would look for a rigid fork, plenty of options at multiple budgets out there.

hi jim, thanks for that - a rigid fork was always my preference....

2. - ah, that sounds feasible (i am not really clued-up on the components within suspension forks). so a shorter spacer would do the job you reckon?

3. there are a few suspension correction 29er forks out there. strangely though, their AC seem to vary between 470 and 500mm (which is the dimensions of my current locked-out rockshox). i am thinking that I should stick to the lower end of the range, or I will have the same issue of the commuting tyres looking rubbish so far below the crown.

would a rigid fork with say a 470 AC be fine for an XL framed bike? presumably forks are a fixed size - ie a manufacturer doesn't make a S,M,L range of the same fork?

Forks are designed with specific clearances in mind. Some leave room for taller wheels, fenders, and fatter tires, while others do not. It is very specific to what bikes they are intended to go on & the tasks that bike was designed to do. If you do change the fork out, do plenty of research to make sure you're getting the right type of fork for the use you intend for your bike as some can take more punishment than others.

- Andy

You need a 29'er specific rigid steel fork. There are many different brands out there. I like Surly, their forks are rugged and have a lot of clearance for big tires and fenders...Many years ago I also bought a 29'er rigid fork made by KHS and it's been excellent, a little cheaper then Surly or Salsa forks.