Suspension Fork Question
Tonight, I got an email, tonight, alerting me to a comment which had been left on an old post (the one about using cross forks for 29er mtb's). This was the comment:
"i have a '98 cx bike i love, 700c. i just recently broke the 1" Alpha Q cross fork so bought a new cx bike. now i want to convert my old bike to a front suspension "700C-er". Can i use a 29er suspension fork or how do i adapt a 26" fork to 700C? i want to have both wheels be 700C (but i might live with the front being a 29") thanks gary "
My answer:
Gary,
700c wheels and 29er wheels are the same. The "wheel" sizes on bikes (20", 24", 26", 29") are a measurement of the tire height. There is a Euro touring tire size known as 28", which is basically 700 x 45c.
Long story short, a 29er fork will work just fine on a cross bike. The hard (probably impossible) part will be finding a 29er suspension fork with a 1" steer tube. I have never seen nor heard of one, myself. If you find one, let me know.
There were some 700c suspension forks with 1" steerers (Rock Shox Metro, for instance), back in the 90s. You might find one of those, but they are kinda rare. They were never very popular, mainly due to the weight they added for only 2.5" of travel. Some hybrid bikes came with suspension, too, but usually fairly low-end.
Let me know how it all comes out.
Jon G
Anyone out there know of a fork I haven't heard of for this fellow?
Frankenbiker?
x
posted by Jon @ 8:48 PM
7 Comments:
Sorry Jon, I don't know of any 29"/700c with those specs.I'll look at the coop though when I go there on monday.They normally have unusual stuff.
NYCBikes has a couple of suspension forks with 1 inch steer tubes the last time I looked, no idea as to the quality though...
29er suspension with a 1"?
possible option: Get an older 1" steerer tube 26" suspension fork. You don't want a fork with a lot of travel as it will jack the front of your bike up. Something like a Rockshox Mag 21 may work. Now put your 700 wheel in and you should have enough clearance for a cyclocross sized tire. The brakes will be tricky. The solution is Paul Components Moto BMX brakes as it has mondo adjustability. http://www.paulcomp.com/motobmx.html
Problems: Old fork will probably need to be rebuilt. Parts for rebuild will need to be located. Paul's brakes are expensive.
so i took all your excellent advice and found out that: 1. u can't use an RS Paris-Roubaix shock bec it's a road shock with 13.5" inches of clearance from dropout to brake bridge--not enuf for a mtb tire; 2. most old 26" mtb forks with 1" steerer have a very short steerer (all but one on ebay averaged 5"), but for a cx bike you need 20cm or 8" minimum; 3. i did find a rs mag 20 1" shock w 9" steerer that i bought and will try on my cx bike, but i will most probably have to use a 26" wheel because i want to use a larger tire than the usual 34 mm 700c cx tire. we'll see if this mag 20 raises the front too much. stay tuned. i am not giving up on my much-loved somec cx bike even if i have to return to a rigid fork. gary
I may have found a fork for Gary!www.outsideoutfitters.com has a replacement 700c trekking fork available with a 1"or 1 1/8" threaded or threadless steerer and v or disc brakes with 63mm travel.It is listed as Spinner Odessa AC 700c trekking fork.I am not sure about the quality,or the max. tire size. but for the list price of 49.99 WHO CARES!
I know I'm a little late to this, but what do you do about the fact that the axle to crown measurement of a 29er fork is in the neighborhood of 80-120mm longer than that of a cross fork?
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