Change of geometry

[Tootyred]

I'm a steel man through and through, but I'm now of an age where my collected minor accidents on bikes and more serious motorbike accidents are catching up with me. I struggle to ride head down, butt up, too long in true 80s style. Nobody tells you that the human body is pretty vindictive....you think its forgotten all the abuse, but it's actually saving up for latter day revenge !

In addition to my late 80s early 90s bikes, I have a 2013 Scott scale (according to Ebay that's retro too! ), great tool, but it leaves me cold in terms of enjoyment. The good thing is it's lax geometry and the head up from the shocks etc.

So, my question is has anybody put alloy rigid forks (say 80mm corrected) into a early 90s frame? What's the ride like is it too harsh having gone to ally and loosing the spring of the curved steel forks? And, does it really screw the geometry, slow the steering that much, or would a shorter stem compensate?

I've got the option on both an old Marin 93 frame and a set of used exotics from mates for beer money.

If you have experience, I would interested in your thoughts.

 

[mattr]

I put some carbon rigids (probably an exotic clone) on my mid 90's titanium (80mm corrected) while my Pace were in bits waiting for parts, ended up running them for about 18 months.

They were actually really good, made it a fun bike to ride.

Now i swap them in and out on my steel training bike (have a pair of Maguras on there most of the time.)

 

[Tootyred]

Cheers, I assume that frame was designed for a degree of suspension though? Also, when you say "fun" what impact did it have?

 

[legrandefromage]

I put rigid forks on my Zaskar - 'fun' came in the form that I'd seem to have swapped out an 'arse up in the air XC racer' for a big wheeled BMX.

 

[hamster]

I'd agree with mattr, eXotic carbon forks are less buzzy than steel triple butted P2s. Probably a nice thin curved steel fork would feel similar.

If you have a pre-suspension frame then a fork up to 420mm a/c should feel fine. The slacker head angle will give a bit more trail (depending on the fork offset), making the bike feel more stable and a little less willing to turn. Don't go longer (say 460mm to be silly) or it will handle like a wheelbarrow.

 

[Tootyred]

It's the bmx analogy I'm worried about! Pushing the front out and making it steer like a hells angels chopper.! So 80mm corrected is about as far as it goes sensibly.

Probably try that with a slightly shorter (80mm ) stem. I'm always dubious of carbon forks...I dont know much about the material and hear horror stories.....is it really dont to picking a legitimate make? Or are there real world considerations?

 

[legrandefromage]

It made the Zaskar just that bit more fun to chuck around. It was designed to go with a MAG21 fork so originally it had some late Pace RC31, then some aluminium forks which were quite, er, boingy, and now it wears a set of GT Bologna Lite.

This was done with a much shorter stem and riser bars instead of the tiller stem/ flatbar combo.

 

[lensmansteve]

If it's a simple way to get comfortable you're looking for, there's much to be recommended in bunging a BMX stem and bars on, like I did with my GT in the photo. I'm 64, and must have a bike (well, bikes) that I can ride all day. Experimented with longer forks, but the steering oscillated on fast descents, flopped like crazy and was generally nasty. Just sayin.

 

[mk one]

A shorter stem and wider riser bars will help with the handling and comfort too.

I have rode a pair of carbon exotics on a rigid for a couple of years now, they are comfy, light and have taken lots of abuse and never let me down, i would highly recommend them.

 

[lensmansteve]

Forgot to say that if I'd had a practical way to alter the amount of trail, I could maybe have improved things. But I didn't, so I couldn't.