Help STEER me in the right direction...

[Max in Montreal]

I recently purchased a 1991 MARIN Eldridge Trail because I wanted the wheels. Eventually I changed my mind and wanted to rebuild the Marin. Looking closely at the frame, the chain stays have rusted through...

I purchased another vintage frame off eBay, and when I finally received it i saw the head set is 1 1/4. No problem, I am a 300 pounder, so I am thinking the stronger the better...

My questions are...

The Marin fork and stem are 1 1/8, could I use them with this frame and a reducer?

Is there a front suspension that is 1 1/4 ?

Can you post some links or just models of suspension forks that would be great for a 300 pound guy?

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

Right 21stone,... Hum

Now all the early 90s fork can be had in 1 1/4" 'evolution'size.
RockShock Mag21 would be the easiest to setup for that weight as you can adjust everything. Few tweaks and some different oil and air is cheap.
They are also easy to come by.

The stiffer forks are all elastomer, other than switching to springs or trying some stiff elastomer rods of ebay/amazon and seeing how it goes.

If you can find any Rockshox JUDY with 1 1/4" steerer and can supply the stiffest springs they made to go in them but the camper may need a change to heavier weight oil, some can some cannot.

Bombers IF they made them in evolution would be ideal, find some stuff springs and they're tough stuff and oil is easy to alter.

But you can run 1 1/8" fork with a headset reducer or a reducing headset.

 

[Max in Montreal]

If i use my 1 1/8 threaded forks and quill stem the reducer fits in the frame without any cups correct? and then the cups fit into that with the bearings? I am just trying to understand how the reducer works...

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

yes, you get a 1 1/4 to 1 1/8 reducer (basically just an expensive 1.5mm shim with a lip).
Fit that into the frame, then fit everything as though it was now a 1 1/8" setup.