Stooge SpeedBall.

[fatbikephil]

Is that a 29+ or 650+ - cant quite figure it out from the pics. It did occur too me that once I'd splashed out a wedge of cash on a jones, Stooge would come up with somthing similar thereafter (and at half the price...) hey ho.

[Bearbonesnorm]

It'll accept both, think it's set-up 29+ in the pic.

[Charliecres]

Me too, which is why I've hopefully got one in the pipeline ... nothing to do with Andy and Stooge directly though.

Tell me more...

[jameso]

Stooge would come up with somthing similar thereafter

I think there's structural ideas that are similar but by all accounts they don't ride the same despite having what looks to be the same HA and fork offset (on the early model anyway), more to it than just that. Can't see this having the give / comfort of the ti SF. I quite like this bike .. expect it would be my pick over an Oddity or Black Sheep, but if I had to replace my Jones it'd be with another one. Ride feel is subjective stuff but it's what I'd miss and there's only one bike that rides like a Jones. If you want different-looking Ti or prefer the ride of this, the saving could be useful though!

Stuart and others who know more about motorbikes than I do - Indians and others that used rigid truss forks rather than sprung girders, when did they appear first? Mid 30s i think, but not sure.

[BigdummySteve]

That is a thing of beauty, if it's half the price of a jones even better.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Stuart and others who know more about motorbikes than I do - Indians and others that used rigid truss forks rather than sprung girders, when did they appear first? Mid 30s i think, but not sure.

Some of the pre-20's bikes that were raced in the Murderdromes (real name) were fully rigid but in large were really just beefed up bicycles with engines.



Obviously people quickly discovered that some form of springing was an advantage, so incorporated a leaf spring into the design.



In motorcycle terms 'Springer' and 'Girder' just denote a type of fork but not whether that fork offers any suspension. It's simply a different design - Springers feature a suspension pivot point at the bottom of the fork which is actuated by a rocker arm attached to the wheel spindle. The suspension pivot on Girders is higher up near the steering head with a series of levers driving the spring ... Girders have a massive advantage of Sringers as they can be made much stiffer for a given weight and the action of suspension movement has very little effect on geometry.

I'd love to build some suspended Girders for a pushbike. I'm not really sure where the term 'Truss Fork' came from, whether it's a 'Jonesism' or generally used to describe a non-suspended Girder fork.

Anyway, for those not already asleep, here's a pic of a much more modern Girder fork.

[rufus748]

The girder fork reminds me of the AMP research suspension fork a mate used to run 30 (?) years ago on his Kona

[Bearbonesnorm]

The girder fork reminds me of the AMP research suspension fork a mate used to run 30 (?) years ago on his Kona

Very similar Andy. A well designed girder should work better and be lighter / stiffer than a telescopic fork but sadly, fashion generally dictates what we get to ride. One of the biggest issues with past designs on bicycles was poor shocks with bad / no damping and linkage wear - problems we can overcome quite easily these days.

Tell me more...

Once I know more Charles, I'll be in touch.

[whitestone]

Not having ever been into motorbikes, the technology and terminology is new to me.

A search for "girder forks" brings up a few images for bikes as well as motorbikes. Initial thoughts are that they make sense, the shock is tucked out of the way, handlebar harnesses can be attached to the fork and there's no risk of wheel rub since that part of the fork is fixed distance to the wheel.

[fatbikephil]

Not having ever been into motorbikes, the technology and terminology is new to me.

A search for "girder forks" brings up a few images for bikes as well as motorbikes. Initial thoughts are that they make sense, the shock is tucked out of the way, handlebar harnesses can be attached to the fork and there's no risk of wheel rub since that part of the fork is fixed distance to the wheel.

You'd come across the same problems that motorbikes did - high unsprung weight (made higher still if you strapped your bag onto the girders), the need for 8 pivot points in a rather exposed position (ie right where the mud flys) and high overall weight to make it stiff and strong enough. That said a good pair of girders handles better than a crap pair of teles and early teles were horrible (As in motorbikes).

Amp and proflex's efforts worked well back in the day because early mountainbike teles were also horrible....

[Jurassic]

Amp and proflex's efforts worked well back in the day because early mountainbike teles were also horrible....

I had a Proflex 4000 years ago and the fork on that worked okay by the standards of the time (as htrider says). It had a coilover shock and all the pivot points had grease ports so it was a doddle to maintain. The pivots were vulnerable to crud thrown up by the front wheel but it was a two minute job to pump fresh grease into them after each ride so no issues. I sold the Proflex for a Scott G-Zero (with Marzocchis) which felt utlra plush in comparison though so I'd say that K2 didn't manage to keep up with the march of progress. It'd be interesting to see what could be done using today's technology, I'm thinking something with carbon legs with a modern air shock could be very plush and very light.