What fork for Conversion Kit with V2/K frameset?

[pexio]

Hi all,
New guy here thinking of dipping my toe in the Cruzbike pool. The Conversion Kit makes sense to me since it's an economical way to get wet and what's more fun than building another bike? I have a garage full of bike parts to donate to the cause with the exception of a suitable frame and fork.

Donor Y-frame bikes are scarce these days and no bargain now that they're old enough to be "vintage" so the V2/K frameset is an attractive option. But what about a fork? 26" short travel suspension forks with v-brake bosses aren't exacttly growing on trees either (and getting rarer everyday). The proprietary Kind fork used on the Sofrider would be ideal but these apparently are not sold separately. I'm leery of a used (and likely beat) 15 year old Rockshox Judy and the things that look like suspension forks on box store bikes. Seems like I'm forked. What say you collective wisdom of the forum? Any insight greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
John

 

[pexio]

Me again.  While surfing the

Me again. While surfing the web, I found these things for sale on Amazon's German site:

http://www.amazon.de/Federgabel-KIND-SHOCK-A5-FA1-300/dp/B0032WZ1PC

It's an air shock cousin of the Kind coil spring fork used on the Sofrider. Would this thing work? The steerer tube is part of the air chamber and I'm not sure how well that would play with the Conversion Kit's Head Stem Extension Tube. Is there a certain amount of the steerer tube that needs to be exposed for the conversion to work? Cutting excess steerer tube that is also an air chamber is prolly not a good idea.

Suggestions for a modestly-priced, lightweight fork that doesn't have to be ordered from Europe are very welcome.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Disk brake

One of the reasons I ordered a Sofrider instead of trying to build one myself from the kit (and frame) is the fork. I like that one can add a disk brake to the front wheel of the sofrider. Does anybody know of a fork that will allow a disk brake on a conversion?

Thanks, Charles

 

[Doug Burton]

Interesting fork...

You'd have to grind the disk tabs off for the adapter brackets to fit. Looks like they only have one left, if my German is still any good.

You would have to modify a fork pretty heavily (spread it to 135mm OLD) and fabricate your own adapter brackets to get discs to work on a conversion.

 

[pexio]

Thanks Doug for your

Thanks Doug for your response. The Kind fork from Germany is about $215 delivered to the US. I've been thinking of another option. I have a nearly new 100mm Manitou R7 fork out in the garage. It's pretty light and has both disc and v-brake mountings. 100mm is probably too long for the V2/K geometry, no? The head tube angle would be pretty slack I imagine even with the fork well-sagged. I found that I can get a replacement 80mm upper leg assembly for a little over $100. At 80mm, the axle-to-crown would be 456mm. Is that too long? What's the axle-to-crown that the V2/K and conversion kit work best at?

 

[Doug Burton]

V2K Fork

My SRV2.1 drawings indicate a design distance of 420mm between the axle dropout center and the bottom of the head tube, using the Sofrider fork.

456mm should be acceptable; several V2K's have been built with the Rock Shock Dart fork, which is available with 80 or 100mm travel.

I suspect you'd be fine with either one.

Best,

Doug