front suspension

F

Flyman

Member
What is you guys thoughts on front suspension on your build. I,m
thinking about it but not sure. Your thoughts?

Fly
 
Fly,
I've only built one bike with a suspension fork and it was sweet. It was a 24" bike built for my nephew. I rode it several times and there's a world of difference between it and a solid front end. I have three others, only one of which could use a suspension fork but I've toyed with the idea of doing a swap for a while now.
Let us know if you make the change. I think you'll like it.

Tom
 
I bought an older Girvin / Noleen front suspension fork for mine and converted it from an elastomer type dampener to a regular oil dampped shock and it's a night and day difference in both smoothness and stability. With this front end I can take my hands off the bars at 40mph and the bike will just keep cruising straight. Going over rough roads , hitting pot holes or hard bumps doesn't even phase this thing either.

If you can find one of these on ebay that's in good condition and at a decent price, they're well worth it...

ve4h.jpg
 
Since I tend to use vintage frames with a 1" head tube I like to use triple tree type forks usually salvaged from either mopeds or light motorcycles. Once I started using suspension forks there's no going back for me. Whatever you get, pay attention to the diameter of the head tube and length to see that they are compatible. A head tube on the fork that's a little too long can be shimmed, but too short won't do unless you modify the head tube on the bike frame. I don't believe you mentioned what frame this would fit on. Someone might give a perfect suggestion if we knew.
SB
 
Suspension is the difference between riding comfortably all day or just for a short while.
I highly recommend it.
Dave . LOVE the Girvin............. I'm on the hunt...... My wife will thank you later...
 
silverbear said:
Since I tend to use vintage frames with a 1" head tube I like to use triple tree type forks usually salvaged from either mopeds or light motorcycles. Once I started using suspension forks there's no going back for me. Whatever you get, pay attention to the diameter of the head tube and length to see that they are compatible. A head tube on the fork that's a little too long can be shimmed, but too short won't do unless you modify the head tube on the bike frame. I don't believe you mentioned what frame this would fit on. Someone might give a perfect suggestion if we knew.
SB
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply. This is going to be a custom frame build in
my shop. I have the design drawn & have thought about two options.
One being machining my own head tube or finding a donor bike to
use head tube wheels & brakes & maybe forks from. I,m still on
one heck of a learning curve on bicycles.

Even though I have the equipment to build the frame & know what I want
it to look like, that's just the start as you know. Any advice would be more than welcome.

Fly
 
I'm using some of the monarch forks from the vendor on the side fo the page here, My only regrets are the difficulty of finding a frond fender for the damn thing, and light mounting which I imagine is much more continent on a triple tree.
other than that
 
I have used mountain bike forks and springer forks and they both worked well. The fork especially helps you hold onto the bars while braking on a bumpy surface.
 
boxcar said:
Suspension is the difference between riding comfortably all day or just for a short while.
I highly recommend it.
Dave . LOVE the Girvin............. I'm on the hunt...... My wife will thank you later...
Click to expand...

I find them on ebay from time to time and they usually cost around $200 for a good used one and the price can go up pretty high from there since these were only made for a few years back in the early mid 90's. I actually got mine for $125 but the elastomer was worn out and it was just a gummy mess so I bought the spring to convert it to a spring suspension and since the oil damped shocks were very rare and very expensive if found, I used a go kart shock that was the right dimensions, removed the go kart spring and put on the conversion spring, then had to ream out the mount holes on the shock it's self to 5/8" to make it fit. I then cleaned it all up and painted it before installing on my bike but it rides just as good as a high end downhill front end, has about 3" travel, and costed me right around $200 after everything was said and done.

Other options for a good front end are like someone mentioned, certain moped and small dirtbike front ends will bolt right up to most bicycle head stocks with the 1 1/8" threaded or threadless setups.
I also prefer threadless since they can be trimmed to fit and are real easy to assemble and adjust.
 
Yea, pretty hard to find is right.
I may have to reverse engineer one. I like the design.
I have always maintained a fondness for girder front ends....
I presently run an RST 1" suspension fork on my personal gas bike.
Better than ridged , but not by much....
I prefer cruiser frame bikes , 1" stems are hard to find.
 
boxcar said:
Yea, pretty hard to find is right.
I may have to reverse engineer one. I like the design.
I have always maintained a fondness for girder front ends....
I presently run an RST 1" suspension fork on my personal gas bike.
Better than ridged , but not by much....
I prefer cruiser frame bikes , 1" stems are hard to find.
Click to expand...

I had to type in "Noleen" and "Girvin" in ebay's search box on bicycles for about a month before I was able to get one, then I bought mine and 3 more popped up... 1 was pretty much trashed, the other was for around $200 and in nice shape with the spring shock conversion already done, then the third one was in England and it was high dollar because it had that electronic shock on it so it sold for around $500

I was lucky to find one for $125 plus shipping when I did.

Yeah, the whole reason I got it is because of the girder design, there are other designs that can be made to work really well, but the girder design is a long proven design in motorcycles since the 30's or even earlier, and they made a really nice comeback on Harley choppers back in the 70's..
 
Suspension forks are the berries.... I have bikes with and without and by far the most comfortable riding bikes are the ones with a front suspension.

The forks with a 1" stem are hardest to find, I have one mountain bike that can use a 1" or a 1 1/8" stem by just swapping out the bearing races, but none of my other bikes will allow the 1 1/8' to pass through the head tube and that stinks....

24" suspension forks with 1" stem are a dime a dozen but the 26" aren't as easy to find but in my opinion the mountain bike forks offer a much smoother ride than any of the springer type forks.
 
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