berkeleybike

Hi folks,

I hope you all might be able to offer me some advice about the choice of fork for my frame I recently acquired.

It is a "Mongoose Pro" titanium frame from 1999 (new old stock) that I got on that famous auction site. These frames were made for Mongoose by TST/ Sandvik in Washington State, USA.

I have no information about the type of fork this frame was designed for. It is a 26" MTB frame with 18.5" seat tube center-center. I have seen an example of this frame built up with a 100mm travel suspension fork. Myself, I would like to build it up with a steel rigid fork. However, I see forks of various different specifications and need a little help deciding.

I am leaning towards an inexpensive Surly fork, or alernately to have one built by Rick Hunter of Santa Cruz (www.huntercycles.com). Surly has the 1x1 fork for about $60 designed for a frame built for a 80mm travel suspension fork. The Instigator fork is apparently designed for 100mm travel suspension correction.

What differences in handling, etc. might I feel between these two forks?

Does anyone have a good suggestion of either one of these to use or some other off the shelf rigid fork that might work well?

I'd like to avoid sending the frame off to a builder, but at the same time want a fork that is a good match for not too much $$$.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

BoSoxYacht

I'm curious why you want to go rigid . I'm not trying to tell you how to think , I'm just wondering why you want a rigid fork .

Svr

Mountain hardtails built around 1999 were usually designed with a 70mm travel fork in mind. Going shorter will steepen the geometry, while longer forks will slacken the steering and seat tube angle. I don't think you can go wrong either way. It all depends on what type of handling and fit you prefer.

gm1230126

Correction nearly all "serious" mountain hardtails from the 99 era were designed with an 80mm travel fork in mind. Check the forks being sold from that era on ebay, 90% are 80mm travel. Quadra 21R's, Judy's, Manitou's. There were a few with 100mm long travel but maybe 10%.

berkeleybike

Thanks for the quick replies - I am interested in a rigid fork as I will spend about 50% of time on modest fire trails/paths and the rest of the time on streets (as a bike commuter).

It seems like a rigid fork will eliminate one more thing that can break and/or require frequent work. I won't be doing any serious downhill or other rough riding.

It sounds like the Surly 1x1 fork, with its 80mm suspension correction, might be an economical and (geometrically) correct option.

Thanks.

BoSoxYacht

sounds like you have very good reasons to go rigid. The Surly should work well for you .

BodiesOfLight

I ride some fairly aggressive trails, and I'm riding rigid. If I get this 06 SP Rockhopper I've been eyeing, I will probably ride the stock fork (I think it's lower end RockShox?) out until it's done and get rigid fork (probably the same one you're looking at). I don't have a lot of money to put into MTBing so having one thing less to maintain is good, plus I just like riding rigid, I'm used to it.

DonValley

I just bought a bike that has a Kelly rigid fork and am converting it back to stock with a Fox 100mmRLT fork. It will be for sale if you are interested and want to PM me.