Which airnimal to choose?

[ishaw]

I've made up my mind now and have test ridden a few folding bikes and the airnimal joey is hands down the best.

Initially I was thinking of getting the base model and pimping from my stash, but kind of also being pulled in the direction of the drop bar version (I could easily swap over to mtb bars and gearing later).

One of the pluses is if I go to town and get the elite drop, it has carbon forks, but part of me thinks it's not quite worth the extra money, although xt hubs are a bonus.

Looking to see if anyone has any thoughts on this. I should probably add I've not ridden drop bars since I was about 17, which is more than a couple of decades ago.

 

[ishaw]

I wish I was more decisive. I'm thinking of trying to get a set of pace rc31 forks and turning them into a fork for 24 inch wheels. Bad idea?

 

[danson67]

Re:

I'm thinking of trying to get a set of pace rc31 forks and turning them into a fork for 24 inch wheels. Bad idea?

No problem shortening the Pace forks, as long as the fork rake is OK for the new wheel size.
I reduced a 440mm set to 380mm to match some (very) old geometry like this:

-Leave the crown end alone.
-Hold the dropouts firmly, one at a time in a vice.
-Heat the dropout with a hot air gun, while giving a light twist and pull.
-The epoxy will fail at around 80ºC. It fumes a little and becomes a whitish grey powder.
-Be careful to keep the hot air off the carbon so it doesn't heat up too much. Don't worry too much, though, as you're going to be cutting this bit off anyway...
-Cut the bottom end of the legs down by the requisite amount.
-Lightly abrade and degrease (acetone?)
-Re-bond the dropouts back on with a decent structural epoxy like Araldite 2014.

I have a dummy axle and alignment jig, which you can borrow if you want, or just do it by eye with a wheel in the fork.

All the best,

 

[ishaw]

Thanks for the info, not sure it's something I'd want to attempt myself but good to know it's possible, and I may have a go.

What would be a good way of working out whether the rake would be ok?

 

[danson67]

You'd just need to measure (or find) the rake on the Airnimal.
RC31s have 41mm offset, a little on the crown but most in the dropout, so cutting down the length should only reduce the rake by a few millimetres.
I'm happy to do the work if you've got a fork.
All the best,

 

[ishaw]

Cheers for that. Would you recommend a tidy fork or on that needs refinishing? Seems a shame to cut down a perfectly good fork but if that's what it takes....

I can get an exotic carbon fork specifically for 24 inch wheels but I think the pace crown is nicer to look at.

 

[danson67]

Re:

Well, you might as well get a tidy fork, as it should only be the transfers on the legs that get removed/damaged.
Other than that they'll end up looking good as new.

All the best,