Cycling offers a huge selection of differentvariants of bicycles designed for specific riding styles (aggressive, speedy, quiet, trial and others), and depending on this, manufacturers equip units for comfort and maximum pleasure.
Наиболее распространенные варианты, обладающие European quality and high comfort (as part of the bike) - models equipped with vibration dampers on the front fork, but there are even more comfortable models - with rear shock absorbers. Naturally, you have to pay for comfort, and in the case of rear shock absorbers, the cost of a real (not Chinese fake) bicycle will be prohibitively high.
The best forks for bicycles: hard or shock-absorbing
Bicycle forks are divided into two main categories: rigid and amortized, but each of these models has its advantages and disadvantages.
The advantages of forks with shock absorbers aresmoothness of overcoming various bumps and a high degree of control of bike control. Due to shock absorbers, the plugs press the tire tightly against the road surface and allow for constant monitoring of control.
Hard bike forks also have their ownthe positives are: low cost, simplicity of construction, low-cost maintenance, as well as low weight. This type of front fork for bicycles is mainly used in low-cost or high-speed models.
The disadvantages of the front forks for bicycles
The disadvantages of forks of this type are large(when compared with conventional) weight and depreciation, which dampens the efforts of the cyclist when you press the pedal. The category of minuses forks with shock absorbers should also include periodic maintenance of shock absorbers, which will require additional keys and screwdrivers, but a set of tools would be ideal.
The iron forks of bicycles have some drawbacks: they do not create depreciation when driving on a bad road, because of which they have a bad impact on the whole structure and the cyclist.
Depreciation fork principle
Most shock absorber forks work onthe principle of telescoping, based on two tubes, one of which is of smaller diameter, and the second larger (there is a shock absorber inside it, which dampens sharp drops in the tube with a small diameter).
Depending on the layout, the suspension forks for bicycles are divided into three groups: normal, inverted and specific.
The usual layout consists of an upper tube of a smaller diameter and a lower one - of a larger size, in which the shock absorber is located.
Inverted plugs work exactly the same.the principle as usual, except that the piston (tube of small diameter) is not on top, but on the bottom. This type of bike fork is inconvenient because of constant pollution of the cylinder, but, among other things, its cost is much higher than usual.
The specific front forks are based on the same piston function as the ordinary ones, but they are equipped with several pistons and levers compared to them, and this group also includes single-knife forks.
Stand for bicycle forks
Regardless of the design and availability of shock absorbers, the front forks are divided into four main groups according to the diameter of the pipes used:
- Inch.
- 1 inch and 1/8 inch.
- 1 inch and inch.
- 1 inch and ½ inch.
For various driving styles, three types of piston stroke in the front wheel fork are used:
- Short stroke - from 2.5 to 3 centimeters (used for pleasure and high-speed driving).
- The average stroke length is from 5 to 7.5 millimeters (the main application in tourism).
- Long stroke of the piston from 12 to 30 centimeters (used during mountain descents).
Front forks for bicycles by type of shock absorbers
- Spring shock absorbers forks - the cheapestoption starting cost from 600 rubles. This is the category of the most short-lived shock absorbers, suitable only for simple riding teenagers. Springs for this type of plugs are divided by price category: cheap (from 600 to 1500 rubles) and expensive (from 1500 to 3000 rubles).
- Spring-loaded fork with an elastomer element that absorbs severe shocks. Price range from 2000 to 3500 rubles. Practical model for normal driving, quite high quality in relation to the price.
- Air dampers principle. The price starts from 7500 rubles. This is one of the most common models of forks for bicycles due to quality and resistance to stress.
- Air-oil shock absorbers. The cost starts from 10 000 rubles. The wearproof model demanding continuous control of an oil cartridge.
- Spring-oil shock absorbers forks. Price frames from 7500 to 10 500 rubles. This type of forks is most popular among fans of aggressive styles of driving a bicycle.
Front fork maintenance
The front forks on the shock absorbers do not requirerepair, but they (as opposed to iron forks) need to constantly monitor and check the condition of the anther, which both helps and can hurt. Initially, a rubber gasket is installed to contain dust and dirt, but it may happen that the dirt gets under the boot and will scratch the “piston”, which will lead to premature failure of the plug.
To control the shock absorber, you should inspect the boot and the "piston" (small diameter tube) for the presence of scratches and chips.
If on the anther is found at least a smallhole due to wiping, it should be cut off and continue to monitor the state of the shock absorber without it, otherwise the dirt will fall inside, and in time to notice this trouble will not succeed.
Note. With constant rubbing of the cylinders of the shock absorbers and picky monitoring of their cleanliness, the service life can be significantly extended.
With the full output of the shock absorber will be easierto replace it, but there are workshops that can undertake the repair of the front fork of the bike, the only difficulty may be the availability of spare parts for a broken shock absorber. Repair in most cases is inexpedient due to high costs, it will be easier to replace the bicycle fork as a whole than to wait for the result of the repair and the arrival of original spare parts from the manufacturing plant.
