Are my forks bad?

Cabinfever1977

Cabinfever1977

New Member
I have a 26" Scwinn del mar cruiser single speed bike.

I changed the coaster back wheel for a mountain bike wheel.

I put a front fork with suspension and built in side pull caliper brakes from a roadmaster sx mountain bike(I put this fork on cause i needed brakes since i removed the ones from the rear).

When i apply the brakes the forks bend a little out toward the front of bike in the shock area, is this fork or suspension wore out or broke? They move around a 1" or 2" .

If i have to put the old stock forks back on, what kind of brakes should i buy, theres a hole where the fender is mounted to mount brakes.
 
could be normal. forks have a lot of flex built into them.

BUT, does it feel loose or is it clunking when you brake? like, does it move back and forth like a loose headset?

try turning the wheel sideways and pull up/push down on the bars, see if there's any weird movements.

also, inspect the fork, look for paint flex or chipping around welds, and if the fork has rubber boots around the suspension, pull those up or out of the way, and check for movement where the tubes come together.

i dunno what kind of fork you have, so i dunno where the loose or broken parts may be.

but with all front brake systems, like my solid, bladed fork with a drum brake, i can apply the brakes and rock it back and forth and watch it flex.
 
Cabinfever1977 said:
I have a 26" Scwinn del mar cruiser single speed bike

When i apply the brakes the forks bend a little out toward the front of bike in the shock area, is this fork or suspension wore out or broke? They move around a 1" or 2" .

If i have to put the old stock forks back on, what kind of brakes should i buy, theres a hole where the fender is mounted to mount brakes.
Click to expand...

Ah no thats not normal at all, have a relativly cheap bike maybe 300 bucks new with a disc and suspension forks and i can see maybe 5mm of flex when i rock back and forth and most of thats the hub twisting.
 
Cabin, that sounds pretty eerie to me. I had to ditch my own front fork recently, and so I upgraded a little to increase safety. Here's what it cost me:

1. A threadless headset: $20 from your local bike shop.

2. A fork with disc brake drop-outs already welded on them. I went with a $40 set like these: 26" Tripple Tree front Fork. Cruiser-style bikes like the ones we use for MBs generally have 1" steerer tubes, which makes it difficult to find good mountainbike forks for them (they use 1.125" steerer tubes).

3. Avid BB5s are a great set of disc brakes - no hydraulic fluid to mess with, and you can usually keep your old hand levers and cables. A set of front brakes can be had for around $30 (here's a place that has them for $27: Avid Ball Bearing 5 Mechanical Disc Brake (BB5) - Wheel World - Culver City and Woodland Hills, California).

I installed everything myself, it was easy to do. Total cost was under $100, and I ended up with a much-needed replacement fork and a set of weatherproof front brakes with good modulation and fantastic stopping power.
 
I will take a look more closly at the front shocks tommorrow(i mean later today) and see how bad they are.

The front forks are from a $60(paid $20 used) roadmaster sx sport mountain bike and there on my $99 Scwhinn del mar cruiser bike.
 
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A good Idea would be to take your bike to a bike mechanic at a shop and have the mechanic look at them.....it's very dangerous to have loose fork especialy on a motorized bike....your fork is not suposed to move at alll(back and forth)

sounds like a loose head set
 
I check the forks when i took my bike to the store today, the forks move around 1/2" forward at the shock parts only when i apply the brakes,they don't move at the threaded part that connects the forks to the bike.

I'll probally put my old non suspension forks back on when i buy some side pull caliper brakes to bolt to it,i'll probally find a set for around $20.

I did get my bike up to 31.7mph tonight.
Today i replace both my chains with heavy duty chrome 1/2"x1/8" diamondback bmx chain which matches my stock chains and cost me $10 per 116 link chain,rides a lot better(110links peddal/112links engine).I also bought a schwinn kickstand and rear view mirror at $7 each.
 
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Macattie, this is the only photo I've got that really shows the front brake. I'd offer to take you a better picture specifically of the brakes, but my bike is currently buried somewhere in a 6'-deep snowdrift in my backyard (weather here has been freakish lately).

Let me know if this photo doesn't answer whatever your question was.
Cheers!
 

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Sounds like a bad fork- i had some reservations about a shock fork- mainly worry that it might somehow come apart- at 56 I REALLY don't want to fall from a mechanical failure especially!

But so far it's worked well- there's no play- it's got a Campy Veloce road brake on it now- a really great brake!

I got it from "cruisinthelowlife" on e-bay last summer

.trk
 

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