I bought this bike on clearance because it was a pretty good deal. In my haste I didn't notice that it didn't have front shocks, shocks are very important to me. How difficult will it be for me to find a fork that will fit the bike. I don't have any experience changing forks but I'm not afraid to, I just don't know how interchangeable forks are, or how difficult it would be to find one for a department store bike. Don't care about color because I'm painting it anyway. Thanks!
by iwouldratherhavemy
13 Comments
Difficult, the geometry is not made for a suspension fork and you don’t know what you’re doing.
Return it and buy the bike you actually want if possible, or ride it as is
If front suspension is important to you, then you’ve bought the wrong bike. Adding a front suspension will significantly alter the steering geometry and the bike won’t handle well.
It’s possible to do. But you’d be better returning this bike and buying something a bit nicer that includes a front suspension.
[this should help ](https://youtu.be/r_I_z6CNiAE?si=27eqk11hlNjCaqhP)
Best bet here is really to sell the bike and buy what you like.. if you’ve barely used it, you can probably recoup what you paid as a clearance price and not take a hit.
It’s not what you want to hear but cheap suspension forks really aren’t worth it over a rigid fork on a bike like this, with wider tires run at lower pressures. You may want to try to get over this preference and put some more miles on the bike before being absolutely certain that you *need* a suspension fork. It’s also possible to get a stem with some suspension built into it.
It’s not necessarily a difficult task, but certainly not worth the work to do it on this bike. If you’re dead set on doing it you need to know the steerer tube diameter and length. If you want to change the stack height you can go with a shorter or longer length. You can not go with a different diameter steerer tube. You should really spend some time watching a ParkTool video on how to install a fork, don’t just jump in and start taking things apart.
I used to think I needed suspension too but give it a chance and you may find that you don’t need it. A suspension seatpost will help too
You’re better off getting a bicycle with a stock suspension fork.
The first step is to find the correct fork which will fit your bike. There are not standard: there are several dimensions including fork offset and even axle to crown to consider.
Then you have to know how to redo front brake plus how to cut a fork. That may be out of your skillset for now.
Finally, when you say suspension is important to you, does that mean you are planning to do real off road riding? Hit trails with roots and drop offs? It’s one thing to put on a 1 inch travel hybrid fork to take off the edge on street riding? Another when you are hitting trails at 25mph and end up in a rut. You could rip off the head tube.
You are gonna need a way to get the crown race off the current fork and install it on the new fork. Its gonna be expensive with a new suspension fork, crown race remover, and crown race setter. Might cost as much as the bike itself. What kind of suspension fork are u interested in?
Why did you buy this bike just to replace the fork and repaint it? The fork is going to end up costing the same as this whole bike. Also, do you have experience and more importantly the patience to repaint it as that is not easy and never is as good as factory. Repainting it means you need to take it down to the frame and since you are asking about the fork it sounds like this would be new to you. Not trying to be too critical but you are taking on a ton of work for a brand new bike.
I hate to say this is the wrong candidate for a suspension fork.
[removed]
The price of the fork is gonna be more than the whole bike, but that steel fork absorbs bumps quite well but is quite heavy. Sounds like you need a S-Works Crux
If you’re just city riding, a suspension fork isn’t going to do much for you. In fact, most commuters prefer no shocks.