trek fork swap

[trek boy]

I just picked up a sweet Trek 7000. Saw a shock type fork off a Trek 7300 on Ebay. Will it fit on my 7000 or is this a bad idea. Had back and neck surgery and was looking for some cushion action here.

 

[raleighnut]

Is the 7000 a suspension frame or rigid.

 

[trek boy]

It has a rigid fork and alum. Frame

 

[lpretro1]

Fitting a sus fork to a rigid can cause problems as bike geometry and build are not designed for it. I'd go to your LBS and ask their advice. |In addition it can make steering feel weird. If it's an old one it also has a quill stem so unless forks are threaded type it won't fit and you'd need to check if it's 1" or 1 1/8"th steerer on both. You'd also need to look at the length of the steerer you will need as this may well be different

 

[raleighnut]

^^^^^^+1 the frame geometry/headtube height will be wrong.

 

[trek boy]

Thanks for the advice guys, sounds like it stays as is.

 

[Elswick Cotterpin]

You could try some wider tyres for a softer ride, if they'll fit your rims.

 

[ChrisEyles]

I recently did the opposite (swapped out some suspension forks for rigid forks) and the change in geometry was small enough to have no real effect on the bike's handling. The relavent measurement is from the crown race of the fork to the drop-outs (where the wheel axle slots in). If the two forks are within 20mm of one another for this dimension, then that should be close enough for a swap to be viable.

On the other hand, going from a 395mm axle-to-crown rigid fork to a 500mm+ long travel suspension fork would definitely ruin the handling of the bike! @lpretro1's advice about fork steerers is all relevant too.