New fork day

rmwesley · Jul 22, 2022

I know there isn't a lot of "retro" left on the bike, but there is now even less after the South Downs Way, a very poorly cut steerer tube (previous owner) and a dearth of 1" JIS headsets with zero stack height conspired to wreck my headset / front fork a couple of weekends ago. New forks installed this afternoon...

Prodigal Son · Jul 22, 2022

I want to know more about this: aluminum or the carbon model? Clearance: how big a tire can i throw thre? Braking ok or does it shimmy like crazy? I ask because this is on my list of solutions to a sweet but susp corrected hardtail bike.
The specialized direct drive is one of the best forks of the era so the standard for comparison is pretty high.

rmwesley · Jul 22, 2022

Prodigal Son said:
I want to know more about this: aluminum or the carbon model? Clearance: how big a tire can i throw thre? Braking ok or does it shimmy like crazy? I ask because this is on my list of solutions to a sweet but susp corrected hardtail bike.
The specialized direct drive is one of the best forks of the era so the standard for comparison is pretty high.

Hi mate, it is the unidirectional carbon model (LINK)

- 1" steerer
- 26" wheels
- 390mm from crown to dropouts
- 42mm rake

They also do a 425mm and a 445mm length one. Same 42mm rake for all three.

It matched the geometry of the original fork almost exactly. Haven't really given it a workout, but braking is absolutely fine. I've got those Magura HS33 on it which could stop a tank without any judder, they've got perfect modulation.

I've got a 2.2" tire fitted and there's still plenty of room. How big were you looking to go?

Few more pics attached if it helps...