Adding a suspension fork?

Planning on adding the latest, coolest, multi-color suspension fork with the most adjustments to your mountain bike?

Think you can just slap it on?

In 1994 I purchased a suspension fork for my old beast. At that time, I wrote the following as a reference to what "changed" when I added the fork. As with any change to a mountain bike, there were good and bad thing which happened. If you want to get a fork, you may end up getting more than you bargained for...

please remember that we now have better suspension technology than we did in 1994!

Suspension Fork's and the Answer Manitou Sport:

Reviewed by someone who does not know what they are doing, and someone who's mother never told him to avoid pain.

I was always in a quandry about the advent of bold-on suspension components for Mountain bikes. When I got my bike over 5 years ago, suspension components were a novelty for trade shows and the mountain-biking elite. An average mountain bike also weighed about 30 pounds!
In this day and age, good bikes at the sub-$1000 level come with front suspension components and weigh in at average of 26 pounds. This remarkable change in such a short time alludes to a great future for mountain biking. Soon we will see bikes which weigh less than 25 pounds and have full front and rear suspension components. While you can get these bikes now, you still will need to pay over $1000 for them.
I just upgraded my old beast with a front suspension fork made by Answer products - The Manitou Sport. This is Answer Products "middle-of-the-line" fork, but you will find that it is more capable than most of us mountain bashers.

Forks break down into two basic types: the fluid-based and the elastometer-based. There are a few that straddle both of these categories. The Manitou Sport is an elastometer-based fork. The difference in the two designs is very important for a number of reasons. First and most important is the amount of maintenance you intend to do. Consider that a fluid-based fork is similar in design to the front fork on a motorcycle. A stanchion tube runs over a rod which is immersed in hydrolic fluid. The whole thing slides in and out of the external tube sometimes called a "slider." The center rod - sometimes called a "damping rod" - has small holes or "valving" in it. Based on the size and placement of these holes, the fluid gets pushed through at a certain rate. This is what causes the fork to run smoothly both under load and without load. With a fluid-based fork you have critical parts of the fork that cannot fail. Most important is the top seal. This seal is responsible for allowing the stanchion tube to slide up and down, but it also keep the fluid in the fork, and the dirt out. If this seal goes, you can get a fluid leak and other horrible things. Next in importance is the fluid itself. It has to be checked and changed to insure that the levels in the two fork tubes are even.
In an elastometer-based fork, things are a bit simpler. The elastometers are just rubber-bumpers with varying degrees of of density. Based on the placement and "stiff-ness" of the material used, you get a stiff ride or a squishy one. The stanchion tube in this case is usually resting on top of a stack of these elastometers and, as the bike hits bumps, the elastometers take up the shock. Since no fluid is pushed, the damping rod is not necessary and the fork is also easier to dismantle and adjust. On the other hand, this does not mean that an elastometer-based fork is better.

How'd dey do dat?

Before discussing the ideas of fork-rigidness and adjustability one more concept is necessary to understand - how suspension really works.
There are 3 basic (and I mean basic) things that effect the ride and the control that a suspension component will give you:

Compression Preload: (The amount of preload pressure on the the suspension device.) If you have little preload pressure then even the slightest amount of load on the suspension device will cause it to compress. A lot of preload will allow you to put an excessive amount of load on the suspension device before it begins to compress. As an example, think again of a motorcycle. If your rear shock has a lot of preload, then your 200 pound friend can climb on the back and the bike will not tend to sag too much. Too little preload and your 200 pound friend will cause the rear of the bike to almost bottom- out.
Compression Damping: Think of this as the "time" it takes for the fork to slow a downward force. If you have a lot of damping, then a downward load will tend to effect the compression of the fork at a slower rate. In other words, it will take longer to "bottom-out" the fork then if you had only a little damping. This is very important when you go over a big bump. If you have too much compression damping, then the fork will not soak up the bump fast enough and you will get some of the jolt sent up your arm through the handlebars. Too little compression damping, and the fork will bottom out when you hit a pebble.
Rebound Damping: Think of this as the inverse of compression damping. This is the "time" it takes the fork to extend when it is released from a load. Too much rebound damping and the fork will return to a fully extended state too fast. Too little and it will not extend fast enough. This is also important when you hit a big bump. If the rebound damping is too high, then after the fork compresses it will fully extend and hit its limits with a harsh "thud." This is sometimes referred to as "topping- out." Too much rebound damping causes a front fork to act like a pogo stick and less like a "shock-absorbsion" device.

Understanding these basic concepts will make the decision of whether or not to buy a suspension device a bit easier. An elastomer-based fork will generally only allow you to effect the compression damping and the preload. If you put real hard elastomers in your fork, you are really changing the preload, or the point at which the fork will compress under load. You also effect the compression damping to some effect since the stiffness of the elastomer will effect the time it takes to fully compress the fork. With a fluid-based fork you can usually adjust these parameters, and adjust them quite precisely. So, for adjustments, the fluid- based forks are going to offer much more options. It is also going to take longer to adjust the fluid-based forks than the elastomer-forks but the result will be better. Since you also do not have fluid in an elastomer-fork you do not need to deal with the problems of leakage and fluid levels. Either way it is a wash.

Its more than bumpers and fluid

Other things that make a fork good or bad is the weight and the stiffness of the fork. Many mountain bike magazines report that a good fork is hampered by excessive flexing. This is usually why a suspension fork comes with a a large, ugly fork-brace. Mountain-Bike Action said that of all the stock fork braces, the ones on the Answer products were some of the stiffest for the weight. This is primarialy why I chose the Manitou. I used to road-race motorcycles, and I know how much trouble a little flex can cause. Most forks have third-party braces you can buy, so the point may be moot if you have enough money. Do not be surprised if an aftermarket fork brace costs almost as much as the fork! Do not buy a brace beacuse of how it looks. My stock one is ugly, but it seems to work very well.
I found that the Manitou only weighed a few grams more than the standard fork which came on my bike. This was really surprising. Apparently, this is the case with many mountain bikes. Do not be a stingy geek and worry about the few grams difference. Again, the bikes and forks are usually more capable than us riders are.
I was able to get good reviews of forks by using the Periodic Table of Publications at the library. (Or whatever the hell you call it. This was the big book with listings of magazine articles sorted by date and article content) It was well worth the time I spent, and I found myself reading more and more about mountain biking in general.
Do your homework because you never know what surprises can await you. I had one big problem that narrowed my choices of forks. My steering crown was a 1 incher by 8 inches. Many MTB forks do not have crowns this size. Even with the Manitou, I had to buy the fork and order the crown separately. In some cases, you will have to change the steering bearing sets you use, and you also need to make sure that the top corners of the fork will not hit any of the tubing that makes up your bike frame.

Before getting to the meat of my experience with the suspension fork, I saved one technical gem for last - steering geometry. This may seem irrelevant and boring, but it is more important than anything else.

A new fork will change your steering geometry. This is the relationship between the axle of the front wheel, the pivot point of your steering stem, the location of the handlegrips, the placement of the handlebars over the wheel, and relative angles of all these points. If you change one of these measure- ments even 1/2 of an inch, you have altered your steering geometry. When your steering geometry changes, your bike's ability to turn and corner will also change. This can be a real surprise when you get on your bike and try to flick it over. You may end up with a mouth full of dirt. (Don't ask how I know this) One other thing which complicates this is that a suspension fork changes lengths when you hit an object or squeeze the front brake. As a result, the distance between the steering stem and the axle of the front wheel is no longer a fixed distance like it is without a suspension fork. This means that if you are taking a turn, and you grab the front brake, the bike will tend to turn sharper. You need to be ready for this if you heave your bike into turns like I do, or you will stick a bar in the mud and eat dirt. (This can be enjoyable if you want it to be!)
The secret to getting a fork is taking measurements. I have seen a number of MTB books and magazine articles that tell you how to do this. Don't be surprised if you have to change the angle and/or height of you seat also. No matter what, measure the following before you get a new fork:

ground to front of seat
ground to rear of seat
ground to top of steering bearings (headset)
ground to bottom of steering bearings (headset)
ground to center of wheel axle
center of wheel axle to bottom of steering bearings

You can take these same measurements before and after your front-suspension change. Comparing the numbers, it will be obvious what changed on the bike. If you know a good bike shop, you can show them the before and after numbers and they should be able to help you if you think some ergonomic adjustments are necessary.
Because of the radical change that the fork made to my bike, I had to also get a new steering stem (sometimes referred to as a "gooseneck"). Mine used to rise at a steep angle and was only about 1 inch forward of the fork crown. Now my stem has no rise and is about 3+ inches forward of the fork crown. This was necessary to give me better control of the front end when the fork was under compression and I was braking or leaning over. This simple $15 change made my steering hair-trigger, but now I can get the bike to change directions no matter what the conditions.

With all that aside, how does it ride?

Well my bike is now completely different, and I am finding that I need to relearn some things. First is the steering. I used to "push" the front end through a turn. That is, I used to force the front tire to go where I wanted it to, and I even had to stick the tire onto ground obstacles to keep the front end from sliding. This no longer works. Now the front end soaks up the bumps, and I can even hit rocks when traversing angled terrain and the front wheel does not hop.
To take a turn the fastest I now use an old motorcycle trick. As you approach a turn, make sure you enter it a bit fast. As you are about to apex the turn (sometimes you can see God here) start to squeeze the front brake and the front end compresses, the bike takes a tighter line, and you exit the turn with much more speed then the "stuff-and-slide" method.
It is also easier to take big bumps and obstacles head on when you are going fast. You tend to not have that feeling that the bike is going to throw you over the bars of you take a rock when you are hauling butt. This is actually even more important when you are going downhill on a narrow single-track. It is easier to stay on a line so you spend more time steering, and less time trying to stay on the trail. This results in speed.
My first ride out I found myself going much faster and with better control and confidence. The fork made a major difference.
One thing I do not like is the lack of rebound damping control. When you take a jump, or lift the front end, the fork can top out on you. This probably takes some getting used to, but it can make you feel like you left a piece of your bike on the last jump. It makes the hard landing very easy. You can even come down a bit off-center. Since the front tire hits the ground and does not hop, you can just point it where you want to go to correct for your crappy jump. (Crappy jumps are something I am a pro at.)
I also found that since I could take bumpy terrain faster, I did not have a derailleur that was up to par. It would jump out of gear as I would go over the rough stuff. You may find that a suspension fork will cause you to replace more than your front- end!

Epliogue

All in all I would say that it was worth every dime I spent. I do not regret getting a "middle-of-the-line" product, since I know it is much more capable than I am. Don't let the advertising hype of the magazines lull you into buying the top of the line fork. It is useless if you cannot service it, or use it to its full potential.
I would also stress serious research before you buy. No matter what you intend to spend, it will cost you more when you make all the changes necessary. At first the extra front-end movement will seem foreign, but after you take a problem trail with confidence you will soon forget the extra movement.
Do not test your fork on the pavement. You will tend to want to adjust it too stiff. Start with the stock settings and take it out to a trail to bash it. You will have to tune the fork to the trail and not to the pavement. Pavement is usually smooth, and it makes no sense to get a fork on a bike you use to ride to work!
It also helps if you order the fork through a shop that has someone you can talk to and who will work with you. The same person who installs the fork should be able to give you pointers and help you get the fork adjusted. If you come in with a problem, the person should ask you a ton of questions and know how to translate those questions into adjustments. Make sure you know what they are adjusting, so that you understand the "before and after" effects of the adjustments. If not, you will chasing white-rabbit suspension problems.
Lastly, do not be surprised if your front end feels "loose" when it is tracking over bumps. Most stock front wheel hubs are small, and getting a strong front rim with a BIG hub will help the fork track much more accurately. Most stock, small hub front rims will flex too much for a suspension fork.

You will be able to ride faster and with more confidence if you get a suspension fork. The technical terrain will get a bit easier, and to me this all means MUCH MORE FUN!!!

Flyin Al

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