Help finding a replacement fork

DangerDan

Retro Newbie
Hello, I am trying to replace the current fork on my old Haro Vector V4r and am having a hard time locating a suitable replacement fork.

The fork that is currently on the bike is a threaded 1-1/8" suspension fork for cantilever brakes and the steerer tube measures right at 5-1/2" or 5-9/16" depending on where you start measuring from (so I am thinking it would be a 140mm steerer tube).

The one on the bike now has been frozen since I picked the bike up from my local bike co-op and whoever owned this prior to me appears to have tried to free up the fork with some type of lubricant (smells like wd-40) that is now starting to seep out of the fork which is one reason I'd like to replace it now.

I use this bike mainly for urban riding so a rigid fork would be fine as well (I believe it originally came with a rigid fork).

This is a budget commuter bike so I'd like to go with as inexpensive of a fork as I can get by with.

It's a really cool bike, rad would probably be a better description of it seeing as it's a 90's bike so I'd like to be able to replace the fork and continue riding it as my budget urban commuter if possible.


Thanks for the help in advance! I'll post some pics up once I get the new fork on so you all can check out the level of rad-ness this bike possesses!
 
For urban riding, the rigid forks should be the better option. Lighter and stiffer.

I'd keep your eye on forums / ebay for a set of rigid forks or better still, visit your friendly bike shop and see what they have at the back of the shop.

Without knowing the spec or size of your bike it's difficult to say what length fork / steerer it should have.
 
Re:

I just replaced mine, so in case you are interested, I got a "Radon" branded fork from Bike-Discount.de for 45 EUR (they are made by INTEC, a German bike and frame brand specialised in touring)

https://www.bike-discount.de/de/kaufen/ ... isc-624735

It's for ahead headsets only though. Finish is great except for the canti pivots, which are a hit and miss in terms of the quality of the welds. I had to return 2 forks (I have to say it was free and with limited hassle) until the third one was good enough.

If you'd rather have something cheaper, I was considering this one for 28 EUR, also for ahead headsets:

https://www.internet-bikes.com/en/15371 ... nch-black/

If you'd rather keep the threaded headset, the German brand Point makes them quite cheaply, you can get one for about 20-25 EUR, although they are Hi-Ten steel and not Chromoly. Just google Point 26" rigid fork (or "Starrgabel" which is the German equivalent)

In all cases, they have whatever colour you want as long as it's BLACK.
 
Re:

Thanks for the suggestions. I checked those out and the steerer tubes appear to be much longer than the one that's on there now. I bought this bike from a local co-op and it's definitely not the original fork that's on there now so I am wondering if whoever had this before changed quite a bit out when they swapped the original fork for the suspension one that's in there now.

I'll keep looking to see if I can come across a fork, or see if anyone has any suggestions for one that would work with the existing threaded headset. I don't really want to start changing all of that out as well, as this is just a cheap urban commuter, ride around the town with the family bike for me. I was trying to keep this project under $50 USD, and preferably closer to $35 - $40 USD as I am saving back for a nicer / entry-level new MTB to ride the trails on.

If it comes to having to dump more than I was wanting to into this one I'll just keep it as is and deal with the fork that's in it while watching the local co-op or local bike stores for one that would work, or that could be made to work simply and economically.
 

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