Can a 24" bike take a 26" fork?

swelsbyuk

Apologies if this is a stupid question!

My daughter has just got this bike: http://www.orbea.com/gb-en/bicis/modelo ... esentacion

It's fine for her at the moment but before she grows out of it it is likely she will want / need suspension forks.

I have just bought these forks for my bike: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=67887

Could they be adapted so that they can be used on my daughter's bike at some time in the future?

supersonic

Yes, though oit will slacken the angles off a bit as are longer, and of course must be run with discs.

swelsbyuk

What are the positives / negatives of having slightly slacker angles? Bike is able to take disc brakes I believe. Any suggestions for little hands?

steelie600

slacker head angle will make it more stable, but as a consequence not as manouverable

supersonic

More stable steering, but may unweight the front end too much.

Take a look at these:

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/hygiy-alum ... 028?item=2

Small, light, adjustable: I use them on my FSR.

swelsbyuk

May unweight the front end too much? Can you expand on this? Do you mean it might be too front heavy?

cooldad

Too light - will put the centre of gravity back and slightly up, so could be harder to get up steepish hills without going over backwards.

YeehaaMcgee

The main difference you'll notice with a slacker head angle is that you will have to more consciously shift your weight over the front to corner effectively.
Anyway, Just wanted to chime on to say... NICE SETUP for your daughter

cooldad

They are decent looking little bikes.

swelsbyuk

Thanks for all your kind help and comments guys. To draw a line under it all, honest opinion, do the benefits outweigh the negatives with this? i.e would you do it?

cooldad

Personally I wouldn't - 120mm would be a bit much in my opinion.

jairaj

I know you can reduce the travel on some Rebas but do they go down as far as 80mm? That might help bit?

The important thing to measure is the axle to crown length. An increase of 1 inch will roughly slacken the head angle by 1 degree which can have a significant affect on the feel of the bike. I probably wouldn't want to go beyond 1 inch.

Is it worth it? hmm a bit of a personal choice that. guess it depends on how much into MTB your daughter is and if you can afford it.

But either way a good suspension fork will give increased grip, help reduce fatigue and is generally more fun to ride with. prob wroth it if your daughter is riding real off road trails (ie not cannal paths) and the bike will still fit for while yet.

swelsbyuk

In this recent thread: viewtopic.php?f=20005&t=12856740 Supersonic states that the forks can go down to 80mm by using the spacers provided.

Cost not huge issue (oh if only it were always like that) as just had a few hundred quid tax rebate that I wasn't expecting and quite happy to spend on daughter's bike.

Problem is, I would need to take it to LBS to sort as I haven't the first flamin' clue what I'm doing! Suspect that if I buy some disc brakes from them then they will be ok about fitting the forks not bought from them (for a price, no doubt).

cooldad

Fitting forks are a really simple job, takes about 10 minutes, a few more if you need to cut the steerer. Have a read of
http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help
Changing the travel is not quite as simple.