wagathon

I am thinking about swapping out a 80 mm Psylo suspension fork for a rigid, suspension-corrected fork, e.g., Kona Project 2 (triple butted, CrMo, 1 1/8 inch, 26").

This would be on a Salsa Bandito hardtail. I'm more interested in a hill climbing beater with high pressure street tires--maybe a mini tourer--than an off-roader.

However, I'm wondering about a possible lack of comfort of the Scandium frame for much road use over, e.g., 20 miles. Maybe soften up the ride a little with a carbon MTB fork and some seatpost suspension?

Just curions if anyone else has done this with good results?

Thanks

Velo Dog

Haven't done an exactly comparable swap, but I've ridden lots of pavement, including many 50-60 mile rides, on three different rigid mountain bikes (I got back into cycling on MBs after a long post-college layoff, then gradually began doing more road riding until I finally bought a decent road bike).
At least from my experience, on a couple of steel Bridgestones and a very stiff Cannondale, I don't think you'll have a problem. The tires and pressure make more difference in comfort than the frame, and on MBs you have plenty of room for larger rubber if that turns out to be an issue. I weigh 240, and I generally use 1.4 or 1.5 tires at 75-90 psi. My son is around 150 pounds, and he uses 1.25s at ~100psi (he's young; he can stand more discomfort than I can). I've also used a cheap suspension post, which was marginally helpful in reducing the buzzies on harsh pavement, but didn't do nearly as much as the tires. FWIW, changing saddles didn't seem to make much difference, either--if you have one you like, stick with it.
For comparison, my road bikes are an Atlantis on 700x35 Paselas usually around 75 psi (for commuting and general riding) and a Rambouillet on 32s or 28s at 95-105 psi.

stapfam

A scandium frame is stiff, but not as stiff as some materials and I am thinking of aluminium when I say this.
I actually did this change on a stiff Steel frame a few years ago , thanks to not liking suspension. The Project2 Triple butted fork is probably the best rigid fork you can get, so good choice on that. If you are staying on the road, then You will be fine. I had to put very stiff Suspension forks back on to replace my project 2's after I found that it was beginning to hurt on the fast downhills offroad at eye sight "Blurred" speed. The suspension forks helped downhill but I still curse them uphills and on the flat.

For my road rides on the Solo- Bianchi Aluminium frame- I tighten up the suspension forks so that they almost do not work, and am fine for around 60 miles on the road. Further than that and I would think about a suspension post or different saddle. I use the continental Grand Prix tyres at 100psi and they are a superb 26" road tyre.

jeff williams

The rigid fork should be 'suspension corrected?'...has to do with the headtube angle I believe.
Or maybe not, an 80mm forks what i'd put on mine. Check.
Maybe a mechanics forum post, the website would have the headset angle.

I run my bikes original Ritchey unicrown, chromoly forks are nice.
Can you imagine an Alu hardtail with Alu rigid fork....you'ld rattle and hum I imagine.

I'm not so into CF for mtb forks....road sure, I do some 'offroading' rigid.
I tend to overbuild, but I'm not getting wrecked from stuff failing either. No CF for me.
A mostly commute -light trail....maybe.........

I'd get a nice set of CF handlebars and a chromoly fork.
Steel fork will flex and absorb, the bars will do the same and I've read -quite well.
I was to buy CF bars this year, but spent on the other bikebits I need more.

From what i've read here, the only good suspension seat was a parallelogram hinge.
Kinda pricey, the cheap ones give a lot and the bob robs you of the force needed on the pedals.

Comfort =bigger tires.
A Maxxis Hookworm if a fairly fast rolling tire road with higher psi.
And they are really hard to flat, ride over broken bottles etc.
Usually 24, 26 inch are made.
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...x?ModelID=5847 Not really 'offroad'.

The weight reduction will be great for climbing. A 20 lb mtb is a rocket.

Some thoughts.




......(I'm only 40, shhhhh.)

531phile 

Damn man, I just passed up a good opportunity to buy a Richey Logic fork for $5. Was this a good price?

jeff williams

Was that a good price, past tense.

stapfam

Project 2's will replace an 80mm psylo with no problems on head angle + the fact that on road a steeper angle would not go amiss. In fact on my Tandem that has 150mm suspension forks on now, but initially started with a rigid fork, I am thinking of putting a Project 2 on next year, but the double butted version,for road use.
On the aly frame and rigid forks- No problem on the road, but this can be down to the tyres. If it is that stiff, then I would run a 1.5 slick tyre with about 80psi in them. As it is I run the Conti Grand prix tyres which are a 1.0 at 100psi. This is a full slick tyre, just like the roadie's, and rolling resistance is as good as the roadie tyres, and grip is phenominal- even in the wet. The project 2 fork is an unusual beastie. It is tough, strong and gives. Then again- it does look the business to those that know on a mountain bike. (Plenty of kudos for fitting one then) It is a chromoly fork so all the attributes you want are there.
On the seat post- I do have a Cane Creek Thudbuster with the 3" suspension and this is worth its weight in Gold- which is about what it costs aswell. I need that on the Tandem where my Pilot tells about a bump just after we have hit it. It works superbly well, but on a solo will be well over the top as you can see the rough bits on the road and lift out of the saddle. Will agree about seat bob on any suspension post but with the Thudbuster this only comes in at high cadence. (Above 110)

Now if you want to use this bike for road use only, then the setup that is planned will be fine. One thing that may be wanted to take advantage of the faster speed is a lower handlebar position. I do this solely by reversing the stem to lower the bars. Then again you may want a longer stem to bring your weight forward. I no longer have the bike, but This is exactly how I used to set up one of my mountain bikes for road use. It was a stiff frame, Project2's, thin slicks, long low stem, and an investment in a better helmet for the possible high speed contacts with tarmac. Never had any, But this was a mountain bike that could keep up with the club racers uphill on the 100 milers that I did on it. Only disadvantage was at high speed where I had to get a tow, but this was down to 50 front ring instead of their 52/3 but at least I learnt to spin on this beastie.