Newbie here needs help

[gixerjimbo]

Hi I'm new to the forum I have had a retro 1992 Diamond Back Axis for years and I never realised until recently that old bikes have such a following. I love my old Axis but after a good 18 years of abuse she is starting to show her age. I am taking the opportunity over the winter to strip her down and give her the pep up she deserves after all those years of faithful service. My first thought was a nice pair of suspension forks to bring her a bit more up to date, but having an old threaded steerer this seems more difficult than it should be as all the good makes now are thread less ahead steerers and will not fit my bike anybody have any ideas? My local bike shop says it's impossible to change to a thread less steerer my only option is to buy a new bike! So any feedback would be greatly appreciated or if anyone has any decent old style forks that will fit send me a message or leave a post please.

Thanks James

 

[JeRkY]

Your local bike shop is talking crap. Simply change the headset to a threadless unit. If you have a 1" steerer then it will be difficult to find a new fork to fit but there are plenty available on here. And if it's 1&1/8th" you will have no issue what so ever

 

[Easy_Rider]

As Jerky said, they are talking absolute crap. Name and shame!
Don't forget you'll need to change your stem as well as the headset. Be careful what suspension you choose too as you don't want to have too much travel on a 1992 frame that wasn't designed to have any suspension. I would say 80mm and above and you will really notice the difference, the head angle will become quite slack and the front lifted quite far. 40-60mm you might be ok with. It all depends what you use the bike for and how sensitive you are to bike handling characteristics. Measure the distance from the front axle to the bottom of the headset and when you choose some forks try not to go too far away from that figure (remember to account for some sag in suspension forks). Also bare in mind that not many new forks come with canti/v mounts so you may have to convert to discs too (on the front)

 

[orange71]

sounds like the bikeshop wants to sell you a new bike :roll:

 

[gixerjimbo]

Thanks for the quick replies my bike has a 1 1/8 steerer I'm pretty sure as a friend of mine has just given me a pair of marzocchi bomber Z2's 2001 with a 1 1/8 190mm long steerer and they fit through the old headset but obviously they are not threaded at the top so I can't screw the headset back together it looks like the original forks have a 180mm steerer to fit a newer set of forks I'm guessing I'm going to need about a 210mm steerer to clamp the stem to?

 

[Easy_Rider]

Those Z2's at 70-80mm travel I think it will spoil the bike. Put the forks against the bike in it's position and you'll see how much longer they are.
You can get suspension forks with threaded & threadless steerers and less travel if you look out on the For Sale section and on ebay.
It's up to you at the end of the day, but you might end up with a chopper style bike.

 

[CAS]

Did anyone say "welcome?" Whatever challenge you have with upgrading your bike someone here will have the answer or the part you need = and the advice is free- enjoy!

 

[gixerjimbo]

Thank you CAS and thanks to everyone for the advice so far.

 

[feetabix]

welcome aboard the good ship retrobike.....

 

[jimo746]

Welcome.

As I see it you have 2 main ways to go with suspension for your bike...

1. Find some suitable retro forks with a threaded steerer to fit your existing headset and stem. The MTB For Sale part of Retrobike would be a good place to start looikng.

2. Fit some Ahead/threadless steerer forks, which will mean getting a new headset & stem to suit.


As you already have the Z2's see if you can borrow a stem etc to try them out, as already mentioned they will be longer than the frame was designed for so may result in some comedy handling chaacteristics, or ou may find that they suit your riding style.
Just try it and see how you get on