Technical help required, steering and suspension forks
- Thread starter Russell
- Start date
Back in the day the usual answer was to put a lower rise stem on - the trick is to get more weight over the front end of the bike 
.
Also worth moving the saddle forward on the rails as you have slackened the seat angle.
Sometimes it required putting a negative rise stem on - I had this on my 92 Rocky Mountain Blizzard when I put Manitou III forks on it
Shorter stem will make it worse - Longer stem will give you "tiller" steering :roll:
I think you want a zero rise stem for that
.Also worth moving the saddle forward on the rails as you have slackened the seat angle.
Sometimes it required putting a negative rise stem on - I had this on my 92 Rocky Mountain Blizzard when I put Manitou III forks on it
Shorter stem will make it worse - Longer stem will give you "tiller" steering :roll:
I think you want a zero rise stem for that
The other factor to consider is the axle offset on the fork. I think this in combination with the slaker head angle is causing the effect the describe ie it wants to fall to one side (the side you are steering too) after a few degrees on moment.
Without going into the physics behind it you may find that while you may be able to lessen the effect I don't think you are going to be able to get rid of it completely and thus may have to consider a different fork - which is a shame.
Out of interest how does the steering setup feel when riding steep downhill? It should feel a bit better than on flat ground in the same way a 6" trail bike does.
Without going into the physics behind it you may find that while you may be able to lessen the effect I don't think you are going to be able to get rid of it completely and thus may have to consider a different fork - which is a shame.
Out of interest how does the steering setup feel when riding steep downhill? It should feel a bit better than on flat ground in the same way a 6" trail bike does.
Cristian-T
Retro Guru
old school thinking
from a modern point of view, look at how mtb's are setup these days. angles have got slacker, with the riders weight further back.
the only exceptions are full blown XC race bikes.
the difference was, in our retro days, most bikes were setup the same kind of way, because xc riding was all we had.
when sus. forks became cheaper, i remember upgrading loadsa old school bikes, but fitting shorter stems AND riser bars to compensate. that was in the mid 90's, with the advent of DH, we were learing more about how MTB's ride, & that has influenced how modern bikes are setup today.
so...the orange has a slack head angle due to the fork upgrade..which modern DH bikes are designed with, to place rider weight further back for better control. this then makes the steering slow, so fitting a shorter stem speeds it up.
i know the orange is not a DH bike! but you can solve the problem with a similar solution.
from a modern point of view, look at how mtb's are setup these days. angles have got slacker, with the riders weight further back.
the only exceptions are full blown XC race bikes.
the difference was, in our retro days, most bikes were setup the same kind of way, because xc riding was all we had.
when sus. forks became cheaper, i remember upgrading loadsa old school bikes, but fitting shorter stems AND riser bars to compensate. that was in the mid 90's, with the advent of DH, we were learing more about how MTB's ride, & that has influenced how modern bikes are setup today.
so...the orange has a slack head angle due to the fork upgrade..which modern DH bikes are designed with, to place rider weight further back for better control. this then makes the steering slow, so fitting a shorter stem speeds it up.
i know the orange is not a DH bike! but you can solve the problem with a similar solution.
Cristian-T
Retro Guru
the above was a reply to messiah
I agree with you xeo but I don't think risers and a shorter stem is the retro answer
I seem to remember back in the day that it took a while to adapt to how the bikes changed when we fitted the first suspension forks - MBUK even did quite a good article about how to ride with suspension forks
I remember I started with a negative rise stem (-10degree), but I flipped it and prefered it up the way. Some things just take a little bit of getting used to but I think getting more weight over the front is the key; so I still suggest moving the saddle forward on the rails to even out the weight distribution.
Just a thought but how else does the bike fit you? I remember Orange's as being a little short but friends who had them tended to ride frame sizes that I thought were borderline too large for them to compensate.
Ah... the joys of giving "advice" when we have no idea what we are talking about
I seem to remember back in the day that it took a while to adapt to how the bikes changed when we fitted the first suspension forks - MBUK even did quite a good article about how to ride with suspension forks
I remember I started with a negative rise stem (-10degree), but I flipped it and prefered it up the way. Some things just take a little bit of getting used to but I think getting more weight over the front is the key; so I still suggest moving the saddle forward on the rails to even out the weight distribution.
Just a thought but how else does the bike fit you? I remember Orange's as being a little short but friends who had them tended to ride frame sizes that I thought were borderline too large for them to compensate.
Ah... the joys of giving "advice" when we have no idea what we are talking about
Cristian-T
Retro Guru
"I agree with you xeo but I don't think risers and a shorter stem is the retro answer "
i agree, it not the "retro" answer also. but he wanted to improve the handling of his bike. i dont think you can do both without comprimise.
also, i think we are justified in giving advise, we do know what we are talking about! although we have different opinions, its all based on our experiance. 17 years in bike trade & a few podiums at DH races on my part.
the last issue you mentioned is fit! that plays a huge part.
i agree, it not the "retro" answer also. but he wanted to improve the handling of his bike. i dont think you can do both without comprimise.
also, i think we are justified in giving advise, we do know what we are talking about! although we have different opinions, its all based on our experiance. 17 years in bike trade & a few podiums at DH races on my part.
the last issue you mentioned is fit! that plays a huge part.
