SR Suntour ships its SF9 Epicon RLD and Axon RLD forks with 100mm of travel, however, both can be adjusted to 80mm, 120mm, or 140mm if you need more or less travel.  For this How-To, I’m using my 2009 Epicon RLD, but the Axon’s travel is adjusted the same way.  The only difference between the two is how much torque you use when tightening the lower bolts during re-assembly, so pay attention to that part.

First, you’re going to need a few things:

–  5mm and 8mm Allen wrenches (or 8mm & 10mm for the Axon)
–  large adjustable wrench
–  rubber mallet or dead-blow hammer
–  grease
–  fork air pump
–  in-lb torque wrench with 5mm and 8mm bits (or 8mm & 10mm for the Axon)
–  various shop towels
–  hammer
–  pin driver
–  bench vise or something similar

** Don’t even bother with this if you don’t have all the above tools already at hand, unless you want to end up with a (partially) disassembled fork, broken parts, and a bike that can’t be ridden until you have it put back together again.

As I mentioned, my Epicon came with 100mm of travel.  It raised the front end of my bike about 1.5" over my rigid fork, slowing cornering response.  I ended up lowering it to 80mm, and I’ve been riding it like that for the past few months.  After my little flight over the handlebars last week, though, I thought I’d raise it again, giving me less of a forward-leaning stance, and perhaps lessening my chances of that happening again.  Besides, I’m close to giving this fork a full review, and I figured it’d be better to try it at different travel lengths to see how it performs overall.

Instead of going back to 100mm, I decided to go to 120mm, which is the most amount of fork travel I’ve ever had (as a long-time XC rider, I spent about a decade at 80mm, or on a rigid fork).  My frame came stock with a 100mm fork, so going to 120mm adds some stress, but not so much that the frame can’t take it.  However, I think 140mm would be pushing it a bit much, and I don’t want to take a chance with snapping my head tube.

Here’s the fork before I took it apart, still set at 80mm of travel.

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Removing the star fangled nut from your fork’s steerer tube probably seems like a pain in the ass, but it’s actually quite simple.  Many people have given up trying to get one out, since they can only be hammered down, and not pulled back out from above.  The lazy way to go about it is to simply hammer the existing nut further down inside the steerer tube, then installing a new one above it.  But chances are you found this page because you’re wanting to go about it the proper way, by actually removing the old one.

First off, you’ll need a few tools, but there’s a good chance you already have everything you need:

– A drill
– 5/16" drill bit
– hammer
– flat-head screwdriver
– needle-nosed pliers and/or a hook

The star fangled nut basically consists of two similar ends riveted togetther about 3/8" apart.  The rivet is the part we need to attack, and once it’s out of the way, the rest is easy…

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I gave a first impression of this fork back in May 2008, when I got it.  Since then, I’ve put ~2,500 miles of road, rail-trail and singletrack riding on it, so it’s about time for an update.

I mentioned in my initial post that it gave the impression of riding on plush carpet, all the while giving you direct feedback of the surface you’re on.  With the proper front tire (I typically used a 2.35" Kenda Kinetics Stick-E) set at less than 30psi, I often forgot that I was even riding a rigid fork.  The carbon legs do a great job of damping vibration, and have just enough flex to absorb some of the initial shock of hitting roots and immovable rocks.

I only weigh about 150lbs with all my riding gear on, so I can’t give feedback on how well the fork will handle over time if you’re a larger rider–say, 210lbs, which they state as the weight limit for the fork–but I can say that I gave it a decent beating and it never once showed signs of fatigue.  At less than 2lbs, and with carbon legs, it doesn’t sound like it could stand up to hard riding over time, but it definitely impressed me.

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I just found this older post from a guy who calls himself Guitar Ted, about the resurgence of the rigid mountain bike fork.  Thought I’d share:

http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/2007/01/rigid-fork-rides-again.html

He didn’t really go into a lot of detail as to why it’s once again become the trend to ride a rigid fork, however.  Personally, I always thought it was pretty stupid to ride rough ground without some sort of suspension, but since I’ve been riding a couple rigid forks these last few months (aluminum and carbon), I’m a believer in fat tires and rigid forks.

Yes, it’s bumpier, to say the least.  But with that, I’ve gained a better sense of the ground as I roll over it, no longer wondering where my front tire is.  I descend a little slower, obviously, although I make up for it on the climbs due to zero energy being lot through suspension bobbing.  I can definitely see why so many 29er and 650b riders are ditching the suspension forks in turn for larger-diameter, smoother rolling wheel/tire combos.  For the time being, though, I’m more than happy riding rigid on 26" wheels and 2.3" tires at sub-30psi.

If you haven’t given it a try yet, find an inexpensive steel fork and go for a ride.  It just might change your mind about needing suspension to make up for your riding technique.

I went ahead and ordered my Carbon Cycles eXotic carbon fork this week due to my lack of self-control and patience.  But before I work on my personality issues, I thought I’d pass along my first impressions of the fork.

I ordered from CarbonCycles’s eBay store on Tuesday, and received the package on Friday; total price with shipping was $190.  The first thing I do after unwrapping any new bike part is put it on the scale.  eXotic’s claimed weight is 850 grams (1.9lbs), though it actually came in slightly higher than that with an uncut steerer tube.  It’s not a huge difference, but it’d be nice if manufacturers would more accurately post the weight of their parts.

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I don’t normally write reviews on anything, but since the internets seem to be lacking in them for Mosso’s increasingly more popular rigid aluminum fork, I thought I’d do one.

I bought this fork last fall from eBay for $55 (incl shipping).  I didn’t know what to expect of it in terms of performance or durability, but for the price, it wasn’t a bad investment.  At the same time, I re-sold my ’06 Rock Shox SID, so the Mosso became my primary fork, and forced me to get used to riding a rigid bike.

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