MTB sus forks to non sus

[chillyuk]

A few weeks ago I reported on here about my Apollo XC26 that I fished out of a hedge. Apart from one wheel, and missing a saddle, it looked almost new with no signs of wear anywhere except the tyres. I have now renewed the bad wheel, put some new rubber on and a saddle, and also swapped out the rubbish pressed steel brakes for a set of new Topeak units, and the bike is now surprisingly pleasant to ride. I have also removed the twist grip gear selectors and fitted indexed thumb shifters. The last job I would like to do is to junk the suspension forks and fit solid ones. There is nothing wrong with the forks, they work perfectly and are unmarked, but I prefer to have a solid fork, especially as I rarely go off road more than a tow path or similar.

What considerations do I need to take into account when selecting the forks. I would have thought that the only real issue would be trying to maintain the geometry down to the wheel centre more or less. the forks can only be a certain length to fit the wheel and to fit the brakes (V brakes). Am I missing anything else before hitting E-bay.

thanks for any advice.

 

[smeg]

I've got the same bike, it's my backup bike to my Dawes Discovery Hybrid/Tourer. I can't give you any advice on the forks I'd just be interested in knowing how you get on with your replacement forks, I've considered replacing mine due to them getting a bit rusty i.e. rusty suspension springs but I think it's ok now I've overhauled it and cleaned it all up. I need to check it again soon, hopefully spraying the springs with GT85 has stopped the rust. It's suspension forks are ok but they don't do a lot and it's just extra unnecessary extra weight. Good for our crappy roads on the island along with the balloon slick tyres I put on it, bouncing over all the potholes. It's not a bad bike once you've replaced all the crap parts, mine really flies after the work I've done on it, like yourself I replaced the naff grip shifts with thumb shifters and various other upgrades. I've just overhauled it's bottom bracket and am going to fit a new crankset, it's teeth are worn, one that was on there is poor quality anyway. Does yours have a v-brake at the front? Mine is disc brake at the front (mechanical), the Artek one that was on there was complete crap, bike wasn't even safe to ride because it didn't work! Replaced it with a Shimano one and now it's pretty good.

I'm not quite sure what size forks fit the Apollo XC26 do you?

 

[chillyuk]

I've got the same bike, it's my backup bike to my Dawes Discovery Hybrid/Tourer. I can't give you any advice on the forks I'd just be interested in knowing how you get on with your replacement forks, I've considered replacing mine due to them getting a bit rusty i.e. rusty suspension springs but I think it's ok now I've overhauled it and cleaned it all up. I need to check it again soon, hopefully spraying the springs with GT85 has stopped the rust. It's suspension forks are ok but they don't do a lot and it's just extra unnecessary extra weight. Good for our crappy roads on the island along with the balloon slick tyres I put on it, bouncing over all the potholes. It's not a bad bike once you've replaced all the crap parts, mine really flies after the work I've done on it, like yourself I replaced the naff grip shifts with thumb shifters and various other upgrades. I've just overhauled it's bottom bracket and am going to fit a new crankset, it's teeth are worn, one that was on there is poor quality anyway. Does yours have a v-brake at the front? Mine is disc brake at the front (mechanical), the Artek one that was on there was complete crap, bike wasn't even safe to ride because it didn't work! Replaced it with a Shimano one and now it's pretty good.

I'm not quite sure what size forks fit the Apollo XC26 do you?

You must have the later XC26 with the disc brake. Mine does have V brakes front and back. My sus forks are pretty much as new and showing no corrosion, but would be no good to you as they don't have the caliper mount for a disc brake. I haven't dismantled them yet so can't measure the tube, although I suppose I could just undo the head set to access the threaded bit and measure that. It's like a lot of these jobs, I have to be in the mood!

 

[e-rider]

quite simply you need to get the correct axle to crown length

how much travel have the forks got?

If it is between 63-80mm then you need an A-C length of 425mm perhaps a few mm less if it's at the bottom end of the range eg. 63mm

100mm travel forks can be replaced with 440-445mm A-C rigid forks.

 

[e-rider]

I would add that several brands sell nice forks new for £50 or so:

Salsa
Kona P2
Surly