Switching to ridgid fork
 

I have a 2020 Cannondale Quick CX1. Overall I like the bike but not happy with the front suntour suspension fork. Has anyone switched to a rigid fork, if so what would you recommend?

Before anyone could answer your question, you would have to measure the ft. axle to fork crown distance. If you replace the fork with a different height fork, it is going to affect the steering, So it's critical to have the same height.

Generally there is 'suspension corrected forks', usually longer blades so bike's head tube angle wont drop,
and bugger up the handling~feel..

whats to be found in your favorite Chicago bike shops ?

A few aspects to keep in mind:

• what is it that you don't like about the fork? The weight, the handling, the performance? Perhaps you want a better suspension fork not a rigid one? Unfortunately there aren't that many options for hybrid-specific 50-75mm travel forks, but the higher end Suntour (NRX) and RockShox Paragon forks would come with a weight reduction, air spring and possibly adjustable damping.
• If you are going to rigid fork, there are generally 3 material options: carbon - expensive, light, pretty good vibration damping; aluminum alloy - pretty light, but also stiff; steel (CrMo) - slight weight penalty over aluminum, but more forgiving ride; prices for both metal options are varying but generally are about half the price of quality carbon fork.
• steering characteristics are mostly determined by two geometric factors: headtube angle (which depend on the axle-to-crown height) and fork offset. Both should be taken in consideration.
• to get the correct axle-to-crown measurement, you need to measure it with yourself on the bike, to account for the suspension sag
• slight axle-to-crown differences (say +/- 10mm) most probably wouldn't matter much. Furthermore, it's not certain that you will dislike the changes in steering that result from the slightly different head angle, but there's only one way to find out for sure.

I have a Giant Roam with a Suntour 63mm fork. I've recently started experimenting a little bit to see how forks with a different height (the axle-to-crown measurement) will feel. As noted above, a shorter fork will increase the head tube angle because the front of the bike will be lower to the ground and the head tube will become slightly more vertical. I don't really like the looks of so-called suspension corrected forks and "standard" forks are much more common (and less expensive). So I wanted to try to see what I could find out without actually buying anything...to see if I could approximate the height of a standard fork with my suspension fork.

To test how dramatic of a change this is on my Roam, I just removed the springs from the fork and rode around with the fork in full compression. The axle-to-crown measurement fell from about 475mm fully extended (which is how I typically ride it, locked at full extension) to about 425mm or so fully compressed. Yes, the fork is advertised as having a 63mm travel, but it's really about 50mm in practice. Anyway, I rode around with it at that height and it actually didn't feel dramatically different, aside from the much lower handlebar height. This is the geometry that changed:

• The head tube angle increased, from 70.5 degrees to about 73 degrees. With the same fork offset (that didn't change), the trail was reduced from 71mm to about 57mm. This makes the steering feel a little lighter (easier to turn). There are pros and cons to this, documented comprehensively on the internet. I liked the change (I prefer less trail to more trail).
• The seat tube angle is increased, from 73 degrees to about 76 degrees. This requires a seat angle adjustment on top of the seat post, but was otherwise relatively unnoticed by me. I am moved a little further over the pedals which, in theory, provides a little more efficiency. Again, whatever theoretical advantages or disadvantages exist, I didn't feel much change by this.
• The bottom bracket height decreased, from 28.9mm (11.4") to 26.7mm (10.5"). This lowers the cranks and increases the chance of pedal strike.
• Because the head tube is about 50mm lower (about 2 inches), the handlebar is also about 2 inches lower. I already have a riser bar on this bike and prefer the grips to be a few inches higher than my saddle. This change put them at or just slightly lower than my saddle. If I kept this configuration (a shorter fork), then I would need a stem riser to compensate.

So...what is the take-away? Well, that turned my Roam's "hybrid" geometry closer to that of a traditional "road bike". There are obviously other frame differences, but Giant's Contend (a basic all-rounder road bike) has similar head tube angles (in the 72-73 degree range), similar seat tube angles (in the 73-75 degree range), similar bottom bracket heights (about 10"), and similar trail numbers (in the 55-66mm range). I rather liked how the bike handled and felt, aside from the really heavy rigid fork (!), and I think I'd like it a lot if I had a stem extender on it. I wasn't particularly comfortable with it without a stem extender, so I have the springs back in the fork and I'm riding it at full extension again.

One of my challenges is finding a style of rigid fork that'll look nice with the Roam. It has an aluminum frame with relatively large frame tubes. A chromo steel fork with thin tubes probably won't look quite right. Forks with larger blades are generally aluminum (poor ride quality) or carbon (fairly expensive), so I haven't really pursued it much beyond initial curiosity.

The point of my post is that you CAN experiment a little bit if you're really curious about what a standard fork would do to your bike. You may end up liking the result.

So after writing all that above, I was inspired to try my Roam with a compressed fork again. I rode it for about eight miles tonight and quite enjoyed it. There's really not a ton of difference in how the bike feels -- it still feels fairly natural to ride. The response seems just a little sharper all around (a bit less relaxed), but it's really not all that notable. In other words, a much shorter fork wouldn't ruin this bike. If I replaced it, I'd hunt for one with an axle-to-crown distance of about 430-440mm. This Soma fork offers a 440mm measurement -- that'd probably be right on the money.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0b5a55740e.jpg
Stock height (about 475mm fully extended)

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b68a4120ad.jpg
Lowered height (about 425mm fully compressed)

Website shows CX1 with a tapered headset and QR wheels - an odd combination that disqualifies all of the many repurposed 26" forks that have the suitable short A-C length required. To run those, you will need to change your lower cup on the headset or run a reducer (more money). Any tapered steerer fork will be longer and have thru axles. OTOH the Paragon suspension fork fits your bike as-is and is an upgrade for sure. I have a dual air Sid XX; its the real deal.

Note, the manufacturer took the time to spec a custom fork crown to aesthetically match your headtube size.

Fork swaps are expensive in tooling; chances are you are not going to do this yourself, ask the shop that will do the work what forks they can get.

Not too sure the OP will like the Paragon as an upgrade. I believe (might be wrong), the NCX fork on that Cannondale is an air fork....I think: https://www.srsuntour.com/products/fork/NCX-E-5897.html

If Cannondale installed an airfork, the OP might not feel much of a difference between this and the Paragon. If it is a spring fork, then there will be a big difference and be a bit confusing as well as why a $1250 bike that is as nice as that Cannondale has a spring fork. :foo:

If the OP really doesn't like the fork on this bike, it might be a good idea to sell bike and purchase a bike that does not have suspension.

Ok, Cannondale's site is showing this bike's NCX is an air fork.

https://www.cannondale.com/en-us/bik...uick-cx-1/2020

If the OP doesn't like this fork, and wants rigid, the OP should do a search on the bikeforums for "suspension swapout". There are a number of postings with hybrid bikes having suspension switched out to rigid.

This will give you an idea of what has been available in the past and what to search for.

Funny, I was looking at this; which says Coil, plus basic stanchions is a giveaway of a low end fork. This may be the result of C getting rid of model years.

It looks like the "new" Quick CX1 (2021 model, presumably) uses a more basic NEX coil fork. The 2020 model, linked here, uses an NCX air fork (though still probably not as nice as a Paragon Gold).

It doesn specify whether it's a coil or air version of NCX. Pictures show a coil fork, as far I can tell (preload knob and the finely splined plastic nut on the left side of the crown instead of metallic hexagonal one)

The description of the bike says it's an air fork, under the "Highlights" section: "SR Suntour air suspension fork with lockout". If that's accurate, it's probably this NCX-E fork, which has the HLO on the right/drive side and the air spring on the left/non-drive side.

Yea, looked at that as well, interesting how much of a downgrade the 2021 is compared to the 2020 but the same price.

The 2020 does show the weight at 25lbs for the bike, which is really light for these sport hybrid type of bike, where as the 2021 is not showing the weight. Betting it's closer to 30lbs, possibly 29lbs due to the NEX coil fork alone.


***Might be helpful if the OP would chime in and let us know if he has the coil or air fork. What he expects and wants to do when it comes to riding and such.

I really appreciate all the feedback. Here is what the 2020 Cannondale quick cx1 has:
70 c wheels
disc breaks
tapered 1.5 to 1.25
off set is 45, fork is about 26.5 long
I am not happy with the stock suspension fork, makes noise, choppy and the dial to adjust from open to close always falls off. I live in Illinois (pretty flay) and I'm either on the street or on a decent crushed cinder path.
I am thinking to go rigid fork and this seems to be a good match: Wisky #7 . I don't mind spending the money for a carbon fork because at my age of 61, this may be my last bike.:o

Cyclocross forks are way too short for your purpose. IMO you're better off reducing your headset to 1-1/8" to fit older forks. Standard procedure is to deduct 20-30% of travel (68mm) to find our desired axle to crown length. Since 68mm of travel is very little, we can use 20%; so: 475-14=461mm fork, approx 10mm (1/4") each way will not be an issue. Sorry, 26.5 as fork length does not make sense to me; 26.5" is 673mm. 475mm sounds more like it.

I would recommend this 465mm CarbonCycles/Exotic carbon / Al composite fork. There are other brands, like MRP and Carver, that carry the same style with slightly different specs. This style has been around for a while and is a known quantity, even Shimano marketed this design. I have one; the carbon legs flex well for comfort and the weight is not too bad. Al steerer means easy install also, it could be a good option as the fat legs complement fatter tubed frames.

It seems like CC make a 470mm tapered fork with QR; its a bit long (470mm) but within your fork travel length. At 700g, weight is a little better due to the carbon steerer, which makes installation a bit more complex and expensive.

Steel forks are good but IMO modern steel forks are heavy and they look silly on fat tubed bikes.

Edit: I forgot Trigon. They are a Taiwanese OEM, hard to find outside of ebay. This one looks promising, this one would be ideal if A-C works out.

I've wondered how these types of carbon forks (the ones with the straight-tube "blades") ride. Would you say it feels similar to an older thin blade steel fork in terms of compliance? I have two bikes with forks like these -- a '90s Trek with a ~50mm offset steel fork and a '70s Peugeot with a ~60mm offset steel fork. Both have visible compliance when leaned on with the brake applied. I appreciate this as it seems to directly contribute to a softer ride. I'm curious if these straight-tube carbon forks are similar.

I've only had mine for 10 months but : the ride has the vibration insulation that crabon is known for, the legs flex fore and aft considerably for comfort, and the straight legs track very well. Mine replaced a RockShox Judy XC so the weight loss is appreciated, but its not a lightweight fork. Its niche is as a replacement for out-of-date MTBs and the odd other bike that needs the same spec (hybrids). For the price, its a decent product and doesn't look too bad.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...502735faa7.png

I have a Gary Fisher Nirvana hybrid that came with a horrible suspension fork. I just didn't know any better at the time. It didn't have a lockout and weighed about 6 1/2 lbs.. I'm surprised that RockShox even put their name on it.

Once you have the proper measurement needed (see Headwind 15 above), the Surley website has a variety of quality rigid forks to choose from. If you're having a LBS doing the install, let them look at your bike and the web site and they can tell you which forks are your best (or only) options.

For me, going rigid made it feel like a brand new and much better bike.