Suspension forks
 

Hi, new person, etc... I'm seeing a lot of raleigh 20's with suspension forks... Where do you get 20" suspension forks from? I quite fancy some on my Specialized Globe- ever since i put riser bars on it seems to want to ride off kerbs for some reason, silly thing. I'm getting bumped around..!

Hello there docktoravalanche (nice nickname btw!)

My Twenty has a pair of pretty bottom-end 'Chili-Works' supsension forks that I got off eBay UK for about £15 GBP (approx. $25 USD). They do the job but are pretty heavy and clumpy.

http://www.universalcycles.plc.uk/Me...all/fchi24.jpg
Chili Works 20" forks

Choices for the Twenty are fairly limited because of the 1" threaded headset and its 'longer-than-most-bikes' headtube. This influenced my decision as at the time I could find no-sources of the RST 200k 20" forks that seem to be the popular choice on US upgraded Twenties. (See pic)

http://www.gaerlan.com/bikeparts/fra...ks/forkrst.gif
RST 200k 20" forks

A good place to start looking is at a specialist folding bike or recumbent store that is used to dealing in forks for 20" wheels; places like Gaerlan in the US, Optima Recumbent Parts in the Netherlands and Kinetics in the UK being good places to start. In my experience there seems to be quite a gulf in terms of mid-end components - being either über cheap forks with polymer bushes doing the damping or 'full-on' carbon affairs with disc mounts and lockouts, like the Meks Carbon AC fork - a snip at £225 GBP!

http://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/ass..._carbon_ac.jpg
Meks Carbon AC 20" forks

If you change the headset on a Twenty it opens things up as you can then fit forks with an unthreaded 1" steerer. Alternatively you can get unthreaded forks threaded at your local bike shop — or even get someone who can weld/braze to replace/extend the steerer — but this is where things get more advanced [and of course - more expensive].

You could trawl small ads and eBay for kids' mountain bikes with no-name suspension forks. This would be a good cheap way of doing it though you may need to get the steerer extended to fit the long Twenty headtube.

Finally - I think there are two other potential options open to you:

One is to get a Pantour suspension hub. These are a cool alternative that have up to about 30mm of travel built into an eccentric wheel hub that means you can use an unsuspended fork - you just need someone that can build the hub into a 20" wheel for you.

http://www.pantourhub.com/movies/hub-anim1.gif
Pantour Hub animation

The other is to get a pair of Schwalbe Big Apple tyres that have inbuilt cushioning and a wider tread that can roll safely, quickly and efficiently on lower inflation than narrower tyres making a softer and smoother ride.

http://www.bentrideronline.com/Schwalbe_Big_Apple.jpg
Schwalbe Big Apple Tyre

Hope that's some help!
Huw

Thanks for that answer to Dr. Avalanche, excellent discussion. I'm forwarding it to my store manger as education lesson #44.

Yeah good post Pixel, nice one.

Thanks - I think it's always helpful to put hyperlinks and images in to best illustrate things.. :)

Thanks for that.. :-) I should clarify, i'm not actually riding a raleigh 20, i just see them all over the web with boingy forks on.. :-D My bike is a Specialized Globe, which is basically a Dahon Roo frame with a selection of Specialized components...

I did get that your bike isn't a twenty but got a bit carried away as I often do ;)

All you need to work out is what size the headtube on your bike is - 1" or 1 1/8" and whether you have a threaded or aheadset type of headset. Once you know that you should be able to source the kind of fork that suits the bike and your pocket best - or go for the suspension hub or wider tyre options.

Just to add some wings to imagination:

http://www.german-a.de/99grad/conten...20_luft_gr.jpg


Now available in 20".

Rafael

(and if you read German, right to the source: http://www.german-a.de/)

RAf- looks nice but HEAVY! I'll read the specs though when I get a chance.

over a 1000 bucks before the fork is over here ....I have asked them for a deal, and how heavy the fork is.. Lets see if they answer

Thor

While reading the German description I liked the anti-dive design of the forks. They also have an electronically controlled version as well. The air shock version is sweet too and it would give a natural rising rate as well but I don't know that I would have it on my turing bike in case it failed. The ones I want are the Flame (full telescopic forks) and they are 999Euro! Cheapest set starts at $799 so take out VAT add in shipping and probably at $900 here. Still pretty spendy...but I'd love to have a set!

If you visit the german a site is says the 20 inch version weighs 1240g

ok what a dissapointment .. German A doesnt want to sell the fork to the USA because of product liability. I wrote them back and basically asked them if they themselves think that their quality is not up to snuff... Thats the only excuse I will accept for a lame answer like that.

looks like a lot of insurance agencies over there dont know what they are talking about and quoting european companies a lot to include the USA in their existing liability insurance....( same as all insurance they try to make a lot of money)

Anyhow, that means you can only get them in Germany and that means that you will not be able to deduct the 20% or so vat either....

it baffles me and makes me angry.... they hear something about a hot McDonalds coffee and than they give up without even really trying

thor

You still can apply to get some of the VAT back at the airport. I do this all the time. I keep my little "Tax Free Card" that I got at the airport. It has my country of residence, passport, address and other info. Then I get all the documents I need and present them for a refund at the airport. I don't get all the VAT returned but it is worth my trouble to do so. Just have to make sure I am at the airport early enough to get it done. I have to show my items to customs before I leave (but not always).

Are they only available through the manufacturer? Can't you find a friendly deutschebikenshöppe that would get hold of some without all the faffing of getting from the source?

I am a distributor/importer ... I cannot pay retail from a shop, pay freight,customs, clearing, and what else not.... than sell it to a dealer here, and than the dealer to the consumer.... would make that fork so expensive , it would be cheaper to find a cheap ticket and fly over there, pick one up and fly back ...

thor...

investigating further to find something cool flexy up front

Ooh, that's BRUTAL... Want one! :-D

I thought these might look cool on my new Swift and retro to match. They are a "springer" fork.

http://63.239.115.228/nondealer/prod...p=2737&large=1

Got a few bids running on some nice stowaways on Ebay at moment. If one comes off, I'l be looking to play around with a few mods. Sourcing bouncy forks for 20" in the UK seems well nigh impossible. But I guess could import one of the RST forks from these guys http://www.jensonusa.com - who only charge $35 for post to the UK on top of $65 for the fork. At current exchange rates doesn't seem to bad a deal. Maybe £60 all told (if customs and excise forget to take their pound of flesh)

But what thereafter...got to change bars, saddle, maybe gearing. And I'd like to powdercoat it some extreme colour and try to stay this side of £200...hmmm priorities, priorities. But got to win the bike first....

doktoravalanche,
If you're in the US and you want to keep it inexpensive, check this link out:
http://www.nycbikes.com/item.php?item_id=484
It's a low end for,, but at $9, what do you expect,
Juan