I've been scouring the internet for what I thought would be a relatively common thing, but starting to wonder if it exists. A fork that…
-Is for a 29" wheel
-Is metal (steel, al, titanium – just not carbon)
-Has cantilever brake mounts
-Takes a 100mm QR hub
-Is ~395-400mm crown to axel (i.e. not a fork designed to replace a suspension fork)
-Has decent tire clearance (at least 2.2" tires)
-Is for a 1 1/8" threadless steerer tube
I thought I found my ticket on the bay, a used Kona project 2 fork… had a pic showing about 3" of tire clearance and everything. But received it today and even my current 2" tires rub the top (width is fine though!)
Anybody got any suggestions for me short of getting a new front wheel with disk brakes? Thanks in advance!
by Traditional-Bat-2259
18 Comments
It doesn’t and physically can’t exist, not with that short of an Axle to Crown length, 390-400mm is for non-suspension 26” bikes. For a rigid 29er you are going to need something ~440-450mm at minimum.
iirc the very very earliest karate money’s were v brake. a dude i worked with at the shop c. 2009 have v brakes on his KM.
otherwise: very rare. like first gen gary fisher or surly rare.
Redline Monocogs mostly came set up for cantilevers and discs. Should be a good number of used ones out there for cheap.
Something from Surly?
A 29 inch rim is 368 mm diameter I don’t know how you expect to put a decent tire and clearance in the remaining 32 mm. I wouldn’t want anything less than 12mm clearance and the half inch is doing some work
Is that fork you have now off of a dew?
I don’t think links are allowed but AE has a 29″ “700C” fork with rim brake bosses. It’s over $250 with shipping though because it’s made from titanium and they make them custom to order. Here’s a pic from the listing. Looks pretty nice actually.
https://preview.redd.it/sp0klacbte6f1.png?width=1063&format=png&auto=webp&s=181dd9a970ec5cae6cc92852b2e3426159e24614
Soma has a few forks that can do 700c x 40-42 and are about 400 mm axle to crown
https://www.somafabshop.com/shop/new-albion-fork-privateer-colonial-blue-5318?
https://www.somafabshop.com/shop/soma-fork-lugged-cx-1-1-8in-3561?page=3&category=975#attr=2005
Something like this?
https://www.performancebike.com/msw-700c-hybrid-fork-black-11-8-threadless-300mm-6223f1-300/p310306
Jenson and others used to sell this, but look for a “700c hybrid fork” and you might find one that works. I think 2.2” clearance is going to be tough.
All city gorilla monsoon fork looks pretty tight with 27.5×2.4 tires and has 392 mm atc. So the best you can hope for is going to be 392+(622-584)/2=411 mm, and I think it’s possible to find it with disc brake mounts, not sure about v-brakes. What’s your frame and (if so) current fork?
[Cross Check fork](https://surlybikes.com/products/cross-check-fork)
Canti bosses. 400 atc. Built for qr. Only fits 2”/50mm
That’s rare combination of features. I think most non-suspension corrected 29er “ATB” forks are in the 420-440 ATC range
For example a Ritchey Steel Adventure Fork has a 435 ATC
A Kona Sutra ULTD Fork is 430
Maybe you can have one made cheapish🤷♂️ – https://www.marinobike.com/
Surley
So I don’t think hood going to find a fork that meets these exact spec’s
To clear the tire your looking to run minimum you need 375mm from axle to lowest point of the fork.
Your only leaving 20mm for the crown / leg interface.
Best bet would be something like a segmented fork / not unicrown style like the Kona.
You can get a custom fork from Marino made and shipped pretty cheap. I did it for my voodoo
Black mountain cycles monstercross forks are 400mm and take maximum 700*50 (I think that’s 2″ ?)
I have a fork like that on my ~2012 Marin Muirwoods. It’s got both canti and disk brake mounts.
Have you tried searching for 700c?