Fun with forks, and a hacksaw!
I'm making changes to the MAB so it is more useful. The plan is to swap the running gear over to a Giant Butte MTB I recently gathered from one of the local thrift stores. It was a mess, and I got it cheep, even for a discount store!
I'm learning that suspension is very valuable on a MAB. In addition to a bit more comfort, suspension protects the tire, which in turn protects the rim.
If the wheel is damaged by a road hazard, they just won't go 'round!
So, I salvaged a set of Rock Shox Judy DH forks, from a Specialized RockHopper in the pile, to replace the ridgid fork on the Giant Butte.
Once a predominant suspension fork, Rock Shox is presently falling from favor a bit, and is losing market share, somewhat.
Never-the-less, the Judy was most acceptable among the suspension forks on hand. A key factor was the 1" steerer tube which fit the frame I had.
I'm learning !
Most suspension forks are made with a 1 1/8" steerer tube, so if planning, a frame with that head dimension is the best start.
There are also 1 1/4" steerer tubes.
Good thing about the Judy is, they are completely rebuildable, and can be custom adjusted even though it was first introduced in 1995 by Rock Shox. Tagged on is a pic from their ad campaign about that time.
In 1997 they made an improvement to the internal hydraulic rebound cartridge, fabbing it from aluminum instead of plastic. The fork uses a coil pre-load spring, MCU's, (Micro Cellular Urethane), for the primary suspension, and the hydraulic dampener which is adjustable and rebuildable. Weight is a tad over 3lbs.
In 2002 the company was sold to SRAM and production moved to taiwan. Rock Shox still has considerable market share and they are used on many bikes as OEM. All parts are available!
If you'll look at the second pic now... Yah, I know, the first one is plenty fun! You'll see how RC learns about bicycle forks! lol
In a few minutes with the sawzall I learned quite a bit!
The least expensive OEM suspension forks on discount bicycles are little more than a pogo stick that supports the bike, turning the axle. Maybe 50mm of travel to the bumper, no sag adjustment pre-load, and no hydraulic dampening on the rebound.
Now that you have seen my fun pics, here's how I came to axe up fork #2, the pogo stick...
I had tracked down this YouTube video which explains how to rebuild and improve the Judy.
How to check an early Rock Shox Judy cartridge for oil leaks - YouTube
Nice little vid; the fellow is selling a steel coil spring replacement for the Judy's MCUs, which can be found at their website.
http://wings-suspension.com/rockshox.html
Back to the pic of the axed fork. The Judy MCUs are the light orange weenie lookin' things. They are the main suspension component. One is in ok condition, and the other is degenerating, and had become separated from the Judy's preload spring adjustment section. Not uncommon, after the years of service it had seen.
You can see where I had taped a drywall screw to a screwdriver so I could reach into the fork tube to retrieve it.
The nice fellow explaining how to rebuild forks gave me the idea of salvaging springs from a wrecked fork that was in the pile. They were bent severely from a wreck, just below the triple tree stanchion, so attempting dis-assembly was not an option. I slipped a welding rod down inside the tube to guage how far down I should cut, and did so.
The shiny cap lookin' things, one with spring attached, are actually the bottom of the upper fork tube which I had cut off. An allen headed bolt runs between there and the lower sliding tube to keep it from leaving, when the wheel comes off the ground.
I will use those salvaged springs, and perhaps a spacer, in place of the defunct MCUs, and hope to have better suspension, with more travel.
All told, it should be an improved ride, and a safer MAB to operate than running a ridgid front fork, or a springer, which has no dampening, and is little more than a pogo stick.
Hopefully this will be of benefit to other MAB riders on a budget...
There are many other greatly improved suspension forks presently available. This was a salvage operation from the pile!
Best
rc
I'm making changes to the MAB so it is more useful. The plan is to swap the running gear over to a Giant Butte MTB I recently gathered from one of the local thrift stores. It was a mess, and I got it cheep, even for a discount store!
I'm learning that suspension is very valuable on a MAB. In addition to a bit more comfort, suspension protects the tire, which in turn protects the rim.
If the wheel is damaged by a road hazard, they just won't go 'round!
So, I salvaged a set of Rock Shox Judy DH forks, from a Specialized RockHopper in the pile, to replace the ridgid fork on the Giant Butte.
Once a predominant suspension fork, Rock Shox is presently falling from favor a bit, and is losing market share, somewhat.
Never-the-less, the Judy was most acceptable among the suspension forks on hand. A key factor was the 1" steerer tube which fit the frame I had.
I'm learning !
Most suspension forks are made with a 1 1/8" steerer tube, so if planning, a frame with that head dimension is the best start.
There are also 1 1/4" steerer tubes.
Good thing about the Judy is, they are completely rebuildable, and can be custom adjusted even though it was first introduced in 1995 by Rock Shox. Tagged on is a pic from their ad campaign about that time.
In 1997 they made an improvement to the internal hydraulic rebound cartridge, fabbing it from aluminum instead of plastic. The fork uses a coil pre-load spring, MCU's, (Micro Cellular Urethane), for the primary suspension, and the hydraulic dampener which is adjustable and rebuildable. Weight is a tad over 3lbs.
In 2002 the company was sold to SRAM and production moved to taiwan. Rock Shox still has considerable market share and they are used on many bikes as OEM. All parts are available!
If you'll look at the second pic now... Yah, I know, the first one is plenty fun!
You'll see how RC learns about bicycle forks! lolIn a few minutes with the sawzall I learned quite a bit!
The least expensive OEM suspension forks on discount bicycles are little more than a pogo stick that supports the bike, turning the axle. Maybe 50mm of travel to the bumper, no sag adjustment pre-load, and no hydraulic dampening on the rebound.
Now that you have seen my fun pics, here's how I came to axe up fork #2, the pogo stick...
I had tracked down this YouTube video which explains how to rebuild and improve the Judy.
How to check an early Rock Shox Judy cartridge for oil leaks - YouTube
Nice little vid; the fellow is selling a steel coil spring replacement for the Judy's MCUs, which can be found at their website.
http://wings-suspension.com/rockshox.html
Back to the pic of the axed fork. The Judy MCUs are the light orange weenie lookin' things. They are the main suspension component. One is in ok condition, and the other is degenerating, and had become separated from the Judy's preload spring adjustment section. Not uncommon, after the years of service it had seen.
You can see where I had taped a drywall screw to a screwdriver so I could reach into the fork tube to retrieve it.
The nice fellow explaining how to rebuild forks gave me the idea of salvaging springs from a wrecked fork that was in the pile. They were bent severely from a wreck, just below the triple tree stanchion, so attempting dis-assembly was not an option. I slipped a welding rod down inside the tube to guage how far down I should cut, and did so.
The shiny cap lookin' things, one with spring attached, are actually the bottom of the upper fork tube which I had cut off. An allen headed bolt runs between there and the lower sliding tube to keep it from leaving, when the wheel comes off the ground.
I will use those salvaged springs, and perhaps a spacer, in place of the defunct MCUs, and hope to have better suspension, with more travel.
All told, it should be an improved ride, and a safer MAB to operate than running a ridgid front fork, or a springer, which has no dampening, and is little more than a pogo stick.
Hopefully this will be of benefit to other MAB riders on a budget...
There are many other greatly improved suspension forks presently available. This was a salvage operation from the pile!
Best
rc
