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SS kits and a rigid fork question

1K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  dejorn 
#1 ·
I have a '99 K2 Zed X that has served me well and is in great shape due to my off and on mountain biking passion. I now own a FS Trance 2 and want to do an economical SS job on the K2. It has a pretty cool and very functional Noleen Smart fork that I would like to remove and go with a rigid fork. I have checked the FAQ section and I am wondering if any one has tried the SS kits that pricepoint has on their site. they include everything except a tensioner for $20-25. The bike has Shimano LX cranks and hubs and they work fine.

The fork.... the factory Smart shock is 80mm so the frame geometry is designed for that. I have seen that some rigid forks state that they are offset for suspension geometry and some say nothing about it. There are some reasonably (new) priced straight forks on Fleabay, will they work on an 80mm geometry?

Thanks for any replies.
 
#2 · (Edited)
Zzzzzz

Ok, forum indifference. I'm cool with that. Should make a decent project bike, there was a time when K2 made some nice bikes before the company took a dive. Sub 27lbs when I bought it. Anyway I'll just use the FAQ and Sheldon Brown site.

Just educated myself about A to C height so the fork question is answered. 48 members looked at this thread and nobody even bothered to call me a noob or anything. SS must be the fixie/hipster group of mountain biking I guess.
 
#3 ·
Patience. You will get plenty of help; some times of day are just slower. Most of us west coasters were still at work when you posted and everyone else was probably enjoying dinner.

As far as rigid forks go, the best way to check is by comparing axle to crown lengths. IIRC an 80mm 26" fork has ~ 450mm height. Taking sag into account that would be ~430mm tall. I have no idea if those Smart Shocks were different though.

I can't remember the particular SS kit you are asking about, but most kits are good. Make sure it isn't one that uses only two wide spacers though. Those make it impossible to adjust chainline beyond the spacing it was set for. The steel cogs in those kits are pretty much all the same. I've been using one of those $3 cogs for a year now with no visible wear:thumbsup:
 
#5 ·
Sorry you had to suffer there, but I was out on the trail, surprisingly enough. I think the pricepoint kit will treat you fine. I'm a little surprised with the 430mm fork recommendation. I thought the 80mm forks worked well with the 410-420 a-c. Choose a fork, to some degree, on the type of geometry you prefer. I think I like slack head angles.
 
#6 ·
Thanks guys and sorry about the hipster crack. I was at my night job and kept checking the computer for replies. The kits in question; one does have the 2 big spacers while the other kit has a bunch of small spacers and several cogs. I will probably go with that one.

The Fleabay fork is a Mosso straight rigid 7005 aluminum with a A to C of 417mm. Super stiff but also very light at 660 grams and about $58 incl shipping. Shorter than the 420-450 you guys recommend but might work. I'd like to end up with a low 20lbs ride but don"t have the funds to go nuts with it. Should be a good project for the coming Wisconsin winter.
 
#8 ·
umarth said:
Sorry you had to suffer there, but I was out on the trail, surprisingly enough. I think the pricepoint kit will treat you fine. I'm a little surprised with the 430mm fork recommendation. I thought the 80mm forks worked well with the 410-420 a-c. Choose a fork, to some degree, on the type of geometry you prefer. I think I like slack head angles.
I'm really only familiar with 29er forks anymore so I had to look it up. RockShox lists all their 80mm 26er forks as being ~450mm unsagged in this document, so that's what I went off of. Your comments definitely makes sense though because shorter rigid forks usually seem to work great
 
#9 ·
Build that SS and lets ride....fellow Wisconsin rider....oh and there's ernesto_from_wisconsin......he'll vex ground squirrels with his internet charisma while riding.....where do you ride in Baraboo? Mirror? Devils? (head or lake). Actually there are a lot of Wisconsin singlespeeders on this board....I would recommend not sweating the details on your first franken-bike......it'll be so much fun, the first time you ride it, you'll forget everything you ever learned about axle to crown measurements and fork offset.....only to be revisited, when you buy your first 29r ss.

Have Fun! (I know you will),

g
 
#10 ·
Thanks for the replies. I live about 5 minutes from Devils Lake and do a loop there, although they have put down a lot of gravel due to erosion and the trail has gone downhill. I sometimes ride Devils Head but the guys I ride with race WORS and drop me like a bad habit. Did CamRock near Madison a few weeks ago, very cool place.

I did the Cheq 40 two weeks ago and saw a lot of SS and decided to give it a try. I'm an old guy who rides more road than mtn but hoping to change that.

So a cro-moly rigid is that much more forgiving than AL? I may just leave the susp fork on for now.
 
#11 ·
robc in wi said:
Thanks for the replies. I live about 5 minutes from Devils Lake and do a loop there, although they have put down a lot of gravel due to erosion and the trail has gone downhill. I sometimes ride Devils Head but the guys I ride with race WORS and drop me like a bad habit. Did CamRock near Madison a few weeks ago, very cool place.

I did the Cheq 40 two weeks ago and saw a lot of SS and decided to give it a try. I'm an old guy who rides more road than mtn but hoping to change that.

So a cro-moly rigid is that much more forgiving than AL? I may just leave the susp fork on for now.
Steel is more mallable (maliable, maluable, maleable...oh crap, I forgote everything I learned in materials lab) vs aluminum.

Aluminum is stiffer. It will yield a small amount, then not return quite to original when stress is released. It also has more of a "pop" when it fails. Steel will yield much more and go back to original shape. When it fails, it has yielded quite a bit.

Measuring the area under the stress graph provides the "strength" which is higher on the steel.

So in short, yes, the steel fork is more forgiving than AL.
 
#15 ·
I looked at that fork on Ebay, but at $250 shipped.... that's money I'm trying to save for a new wheelset from BWW next spring.

Didn't ride with Ryan but with a couple of Wildside team guys. Is Ryan the guy who got 4th at Ore to Shore?
 
#17 ·
i just picked up the same frame and built it as a commuter. I think it'll make a fine SS conversion for you. Just make sure you dont use any ramped chainrings or cogs and you'll be fine. I second going with steel over aluminum, it's way less harsh, although i use a suspension fork myself.
good luck with your build
Dan
 
#18 ·
Mosso Fork

I wouldn't worry about the Mosso aluminum fork. I have one on a 06 Fisher Big Sur, which was designed for a 80 mm fork. The axel to crown is shorter than the suspension fork it replaces which quickens up the steering a tad. The bike handles extremely well and I don't notice it being excessively harsh. Although the fork is extremely light, I don't worry at all about the durability.
 
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