[Toshi]

i have an '01 monster t, and right now am running the drop crown that came with it. even though the monsters of that vintage are not overly tall at 550.5mm, or 21.9 inches or so, i still want a lower handlebar height. (remember my "a low dh fs frame" thread? yeah, handlebar height is part of my quest for "lowness".)

so what are my options? i think a flat crown off a fork of the same age might be out of the question, both because the head tube on my yet-to-arrive frame could be a bit too long for that and because they are hard to obtain.

which leads to my questions:

1) does anyone know if marzocchi's own '03-'04 monster t top crown, with its nifty medium level of drop and integrated stem, will fit my '01 monster? i will call marzocchi during the week to confirm, but was hoping that some of you well-connected monkeys would know offhand.

2) does anyone know of companies making aftermarket crowns for '02-and-before monsters other than betd?

3) does any company make flat bars with identical width, rise, and sweep as protapers? all i know of in the "wide, flat bars" category are trials bars, and i don't want to be running those, as much as i like trials...

 

[chillindrdude]

have you thought about using a dh stem with 10 degree rise and then turning it upside down to get a negative rise?

i like my stance on the bike low as well. so i feel i'm riding 'in' the bike as opposed to riding 'on' the bike.

 

[Salami]

which leads to my questions:

1) does anyone know if marzocchi's own '03-'04 monster t top crown, with its nifty medium level of drop and integrated stem, will fit my '01 monster? i will call marzocchi during the week to confirm, but was hoping that some of you well-connected monkeys would know offhand.

No but maybe.

The 03 and newer crowns have a different offset than the 02 and older Monsters. That said, you can probably use BOTH crowns from an 03.

My buddy traded his 03 for and 02 and tried to keep his 03 crowns for this reason but the guy wanted to use the direct mount stem.

 

[Burnwood]

If you do want to use the newer Monster drop crown, you will have to use the newer lower crowns also, since they have a different amount of offset than the older crowns.

 

[MikeD]

Salsa makes some wide, swept flat bars, but I think they're only 26" or so...still real wide for flats, though.

You could maybe get some John Tomac signature drop bars...

 

[in the trees]

Yup . . . it DOES require new top and lower crowns to retro-fit the new crowns on the older models. I just did it over the winter (03 crowns on 02 fork) - quite the investment. I still went thru with it because the advantages of the direct mount stem were appealing to me. And I might add, I'm a big fan of the Imp with the Monster T. ENJOY!!!

 

[in the trees]

Or what about using e-13 cups/integrated headset to help reduce the stack height and steepen head angle???

 

[Toshi]

thanks for the tips so far, everyone!

Salsa makes some wide, swept flat bars, but I think they're only 26" or so...still real wide for flats, though.

You could maybe get some John Tomac signature drop bars...

:mumble: i could run road sti shifter pods while i'm at it, although i'm not sure if they could be retrofitted with hydros

Or what about using e-13 cups/integrated headset to help reduce the stack height and steepen head angle???

i'd do that if i were running the monster t on the evil permanently. but the monster is destined for a different frame and the evil will get a normal, single crown fork again.

it's too bad about the different offset between the '03 and '02 monster styles. that would have been so perfect...

i guess i could see if i could run my stem UNDER my drop crown hehe

 

[Enginerd A2]

Surly Torsion bars are strong and flat and have decent sweep. They're 24.5" wide. Also perhaps there's a stem out there that has slightly lower stack height, maybe an On-One or a SIC or something BMX style

 

[MikeD]

i like my stance on the bike low as well. so i feel i'm riding 'in' the bike as opposed to riding 'on' the bike.

Wouldn't a low setup make you feel more on top of the bike...? I'd think a high front end would make it seem like you were more inside the frame...

MD

 

[Toshi]

thanks for the tip about the surly bars, but 24.5" isn't wide enough to suit my whimsy. i tried bars about that wide this summer and it just felt plain weird. 27" or 28" is what i'm looking for, with the "feel" of a protaper...

Wouldn't a low setup make you feel more on top of the bike...? I'd think a high front end would make it seem like you were more inside the frame...

MD

ah, you and your verbal trickery! i think he means that lower controls will get your body lower, so in relation to the frame (which is unaffected by your bar height) you'd be lower, thus feeling more inside the frame.

 

[ChrisRobin]

hmmmmmm....I thought for sure I saw a 2002 Monster with 2003 crowns on Pinkbike a while ago.