I gotta stop giving you rep.
do YOU trust 1-1/8 long travel singlecrowns?
- Thread starter SirChomps-a-Lot
- Start date
I understand where you're coming from. I'm sure I could thrash a 1-1/8 36 float for a few seasons without issue and I may still end up doing so, but allow me to rebut with some armchair-engineering:
- Most dudes that shred get new gear every season or more often, hence no fatigue life / crown-steerer ovalisation problems. I'm broke, so I gotta make stuff last at least 3 or 4 seasons.
- The manufacturers make whatever people are willing to buy, not what is best for riding. You know as well as I do how fad-driven the bicycle industry is.
- (I may be wrong on this one and it's my key point, so real engineers chime in) For a given travel, a singlecrown has to be heavier (and taller) than an equivalently strong dualcrown because all the torque goes into the lower crown -- it is an inefficient solution. Better to spread whatever forces you have over as large an area as possible. This is why a 1.5 steerer can be lighter than an equivalently strong 1-1/8 steerer.
- Assuming that point 3 is valid, I have nothing to gain from a singlecrown except X-ups and knee clearance, both of which are nice, but I can live without.
- For the same Axle-crown, a dualcrown gives you more travel. A boxxer at 7" is the same AC as a 36 at 6"
You're not wrong, but manufacturers address this with a bigger (thicker) lower crown on single crowns. This gives the crown-steerer interface a longer moment arm to resist the bending moment about the crown created by the loads the fork experiences under normal use, thus counteracting the problem. This is exactly why single crowns have less travel for a given a-c than dual crowns. It's hardly an insurmountable problem, it just means making certain tradeoffs. Short of running it into a garage or REALLY casing something huge, you should get quite a few years reliable service out of a good long travel single crown. Getting hung up on NEEDING a DC is silly.
Totally agree, I don't think I NEED a DC... I would just kinda prefer one, especially given that I'm restricted to 1-1/8.
Check out this thought experiment: How do you feel about hitting whistler for a week on a 6 year old 40? No problemo. A 6 year old boxxer? Sure, as long as it doesn't leak oil all over the place. A 6 year old 1-1/8 66? hmmm...
Then buy a fvcking dual crown. Nobody's saying you have to get a SC, we're just saying the paranoia about them is dumb.
I'm really not interested in riding Whistler on any 6 year old fork, but I think I'd actually take the 66 over at least the Boxxer there.
Agread with hab. Just do a dual and be done with it. Then you won't have to worry abourt it.
What a load of sh!t, there's been no eluding to wank looks.
Drink the cool aid suckers, and keep the industry with it's built in product fuses alive.
Just stirrin the pot, relax. Singles do the job, there's just not as logical as triples for long travel applications and most of the people buying them.
Fortunately a monster T is a dual crown fork
3-4 seasons? Jesus dude do you want to me get photos of all my friends' single crown forks that have been on their bikes for 4-5 years, living by a bike park, ditching bikes occasionally and riding even the vicious vicious brake bumps every year at whistler?
There are some sc forks that I trust more than the same company's dc forks.
Chomps regularly takes care of backyard mosquitoes by using a sawed-off 20ga.
It looks like Cane Creek has a lower angleset headset cup that allows you to run a tapered steer tube on a 1.5 headset. I've been debating this option vs. running a 1 1/8 steer tube. And yes I do want a singlecrown on my "trail bike" so I can do the occasional Xup. What can I say, some of us are just stuck in the 80s.
Oops. Sorry. Guess I forgot to add "single crown" to that.
I mean, cool point and all, but you'd figure most people would be able to pick up on the meaning thanks to the given context in the thread and my post and all that? Is there some huge selection of 1.5" DC forks sitting around that I needed to differentiate from? Is that even a thing?
If you'd like, you can analyze my post for gramatical errors as well. I know there are some and it definitely looks like that is how you get your ****s and giggles.
This.
I have a 1-1/8" steerer 'long travel' (is 180mm considered 'long'??) fork that's going on 2 very abusive seasons so far and it's still working great. Definitely not sketched out by it in any way, shape, or form. (Trust me, I have cased/crashed on it veryyyyy hard)
But your sig says otherwise
Kurt - Just buy the damn boxxer if it makes you feel more comfortable. Otherwise, buy the 36 180. You're not big enough, nor going big enough to need the stiffness of a DC. Again, but if it makes you feel better just do it.
Yeah if you are wooried about it enough to start a thread about it it's obviously going to play on your mind while out riding.
Probably better resale on duals to if you're into that sorta thing.
Probably better resale on duals to if you're into that sorta thing.
I completely understood what you were saying. But some people have to prove themselves at every opportunity. Drives me f*ckin nuts too.
I bent the steerer tube on a 170mm 66RC2X casing a jump a couple years back. Destroyed the headset in the process, too.
I really like/prefer my 1.5" Lyrik now, and would get a Fox 36 if I could find a straight 1.5 steerer with that magical Kashima coating.
I really like/prefer my 1.5" Lyrik now, and would get a Fox 36 if I could find a straight 1.5 steerer with that magical Kashima coating.
But your sig says otherwise
Good call, sir.
But to be honest, the only reason I want a Dorado is because it's the same A2C as my single crown and the damping is far superior. That, and it's just flat-out sexy.
Instead of starting a new thread, I'll just open this can of worms again!
I'm building up an sx trail, was looking at a totem which by the sound of this thread is pretty bomb-proof, but I'm considering a lyrik 170 coil, 1-1/8" steerer. I don't know anyone on lyrik forks, but am curious, are they comparable to the fox 36 series in durability longevity? I will be riding this bike pretty hard doing jumps, casing jumps, etc. Any input is appreciated!
I've got it narrowed down to this fork since I can run a zero stack and keep my geometry stock, or the 36 160 with a tapered steerer.
I'm building up an sx trail, was looking at a totem which by the sound of this thread is pretty bomb-proof, but I'm considering a lyrik 170 coil, 1-1/8" steerer. I don't know anyone on lyrik forks, but am curious, are they comparable to the fox 36 series in durability longevity? I will be riding this bike pretty hard doing jumps, casing jumps, etc. Any input is appreciated!
I've got it narrowed down to this fork since I can run a zero stack and keep my geometry stock, or the 36 160 with a tapered steerer.
what is the magical travel number that suddenly requires a 1.5 headtube? Why did no one worry about a 1 1/8th 36 160 back before 1.5 head tubes came out? does 10-20 mm really make that much difference?
Either will be fine totem, lyrik fox etc.
I'm running a tapered fox 36 180 right now and yes it feels a bit stiffer at the interface but I had no issues with 1 1/8.
I'm running a tapered fox 36 180 right now and yes it feels a bit stiffer at the interface but I had no issues with 1 1/8.
My Glory will be have 64* HA 
Nonsense! Everyone goes big on pink bike! Just look at all the 13 year olds in the dh photos section.
The only reason I'm concerned with travel is to keep the stock geometry of the bike , I'm more curious about the Lyrik itself. I don't know anyone that rides one- I know that it's closest competitor, the 36 can take quite a beating- I just don't see bikes like sx trails spec'd with Lyriks often, and I'm curious if beating it like a 36 is something these forks can handle.
...in other words, I see the 36 in "freeride" applications all of the time, even the 160- I haven't seen that as much with the Lyrik, so I'm curious if they're up for it. The fact that it competes with the with the 36 makes me think yes. The fact that they have a dedicated freeride fork, the totem makes me wonder.
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I've got a lyrik 160 I've been mashing around on. I bought it used (i thinkit's an 08) and it has never given me trouble. I follow the same lines guys with 203mm and used to be able to keep up with most of them before I started riding MX again. Biggest drop I've hit is around 7ft with a decent tranny, and I've cased this one particular fairly high-speed jump at least 3 times.
I do have a small concern after reading about the creaking though, my bike has had the creaking for a while now. Gotta check that out.
I do have a small concern after reading about the creaking though, my bike has had the creaking for a while now. Gotta check that out.
I was more talking about people worried about the stress that a fork like that would put on a 1 1/8th steerer.
I had a lyric when they first came out. It took as much of a beating as my 36, but puked oil every chance it got.
Fourth season on my lyric (08) and no problems. I have shuttled it, smashed it @ N*, and crashed on it countless times.
It has a few down sides but durability is not one of them. I service the fork myself and have replaced the crown/stanchion assembly due to a damaged stanchion. I also modded it by removing the lockout gate to increase oil flow and reduce spiking. My take on the fork is as follows:
-The damper is sensitive to oil levels. If the rebound oil ever gets low it starts acting funny.
-One sunny day the plunger separating the rebound and compression oil leaked all the oil from the top of the fork into the lower leg causing the fork to hydraulically lock after about 3" of travel. After a rebuild everything has been working fine for the last 6 months.
-The fork does tend to leak a little oil here and there.
-The low and high speed knobs are stacked on top of one another causing clearance issues with some bikes when running a 0-stack HS (I have to remove the LSC knob to get it to clear the down-tube of my nomad).
-The low speed compression can be a little lacking.
Keep in mind, the compression and rebound damping have been greatly improved with the new RC2 DH (at least that's what I hear). I will be throwing the new internals in sometime this winter, hopefully.
Overall I am very happy with the fork.
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HA HA! sounds famiar...
This is very helpful, especially the zero stack headset issue- thanks for your input! I found a mile long mtbr thread on the lyric 170 dh coil, but it seemed like a lyric dh fanboy fest more than an evaluation of how the lyric chassis holds up to abuse.
thanks again.