..OK, maybe not ‘ruining my life’ but they are causing me a fair bit of annoyance.

I’ve got some 2011 SID teams (I think that’s the model) that I’ve recently stuck in the front of the Whippet. Had some carbon forks previously that were mega stiff and didn’t flex at all. However, the current ones are crazing me with the amount of flex they get. So much so, if I’m pressing on the tyre will buzz the inside of the fork leg and as a result the handling is less than predictable.

I’m assuming my only real option is to go bolt-thru but I don’t really want to change the front wheel and it can’t be converted. Are there any stiffer forks of a similar weight/price that are QR or is 15mm the only option

Are all the pressures correct for your weight and riding?

I’m still racing 2004 SID Super Noodles, set up is key and takes less than five minutes.

That done and assuming they’re not faulty and they still flex I’d think you’ve bought the wrong fork for what you ride.

That’s not right at all.

I used the same fork with a 23gram QR skewer and it doesnt flex noticably.
im 13.3 stone so no flyweight.

Sounds like you need a better skewer or less flexy wheels

could your hub be converted to accept a 9mm trough bolt axle? like this –

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=32&products_id=286

Thanks Oldgit

I did have a play about with pressures, I think I’ve got them set up as best I can. This bike is only used for training and racing XC on (nationals, regionals), I’m not the lightest bloke in the world by any stretch but I’m amazed at the amount they ‘give’. Basically I want something 80/100mmm of travel that’s light and toight…like a tiger…

You will find most of the flex is in the steerer rather than the axle or stanchions.

I can actually hold the front wheel and pull it into the fork leg (if I grit my teeth and use my ‘power hand’). Hub is a Halo lightweight thing on a Stans 355 rim (yes, it’s quite old!). What makes me think its the fork is that if I grip the wheel with my knees and move the bars I can see the fork flexing. I had another set of these on a different bike (2012 fork) and they were buggers as well

Hub

Pretty sure this is my front hub – not sure if it can be converted

Im running some 2008 Rebas… Not as light as the sids but very stiff.. theres a few different types but most can be set between 80/100/120mm.

Have you taken the wheel out and had a fiddle. There will be ‘some’ flex due to the component build of suspension forks.

When I get home later I’ll check mine.

Yeah – had em to bits and there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with them. Just muchos flexy…

Have you tried a different wheel? This occurs if you have a particularly flexy wheel or spokes have lost their tension somewhat. Noodling in twist is a totally different situation to noodling in lateral motion, which would require either crown flex and/or lower brace flex to the same degree to get the tyre to impact the legs.

I’ve got old 32mm bombers with bolt on brace and a scrawny crown and I can’t get my tyre to hit the fork but it noodles all over the show in twist.

Love my 2004 SID WC Super Noodles. Great fork…if a little un-nerving if you’ve never ridden them. Light as a kitten mind you.

I have some 2012 Reba forks with the SID lowers.

Currently running a Pro II front hub and 23g skewer.

I am a fair bit heavier than you and have certainly not experienced anything like what you mention 😯

Interested to see where this goes.

Has it always been like this?

Okay doke – are we saying a new set of wheels are in order then? Cos frankly I’m looking for an excuse to buy some anyway and this could be just the ticket!

LetmetalktoMark – Well I’ve only had them on there for two races and about 5 training rides, but I was at Swinley at the weekend and did a few other fairly hard rides and it was getting to the point where I thought they might fail. I’ve had a set before and they were just as bad, but I thought it was the wheel (set of DT 1600’s). turns out its not.

hmm, new wheels or new fork….

You’re not alone. I had some SID Teams as well – ‘had’ being the operative word. Got sick of the flex after a while, and that combined with being on my 3rd set of lowers after the first 2 bent over time, and then the damper top cap leaking, meant it was time to goodbye!

I’m just shy of 11stone, and was running them on a Spark, so hardly getting pounding. I think it’s just an inherently flexy, especially when you also consider how short the stanchions are.

Are you better trying someone else fork? Because if you change forks It might not even solve the problem

Just had a go, stiff as. Some flex as expected, but even rigids will flex.

Mine feel iffy when a leg looses air. Feels like my QR is loose.

I’d be checking your spoke tension and trying to identify the cause before replacing either unless you have plenty of spare cash 😀

okay doke – will get on it with the shock pump tonight and also check the spoke tension.

Thanks for the advice, as always its appreciated!

sounds like wheel flex to me – maybe the wheel just needs a rebuild.

I have a similar setup to you – 2011 sid teams and a stans 355 rim. Ive got a hope hub though. However, I cant get the wheel to rub on the forks and flex isnt that bad really. I had similar levels of flex when I ran fox talas forks with the same wheel so reckon it is the wheel thats the issue on my setup.

Does it just rub on one side or both?

Is the wheel central?

Some wheels don’t sit central. Fork issue of old? My crests on sp pro3’s don’t sit central from new. 355’s on sp pro 3’s do. My old DT wheels where fine.

Before you do anything else, it looks like your front hub can be converted to a 15mm TA… Good news! So bear that in mind…

Anyway… Again before you do anything else, see if you can beg/steal/borrow a wheel with a proper solid 9mm axle. Something like this…

or this…

Not all hubs can be converted to run with one of these, but certainly Hope Pro2’s and DT Swiss 240’s can be. I changed forks on my hardtail a couple of years ago, and bought some QR Rockshox Revelations and put some brand new Hope Pro2’s on 355’s on the bike. The front wheel seemed to wander all over the place, and the Revelation is a little beefier than the SID! At a loss, I spent the £25 or so on a 9mm steel QR axle (the DT ones are ally so much lighter) and the Hope adapters, put them on the wheel and… Hey Presto, much stiffer! Not quite like a 20mm axle, but noticably stiffer than a normal QR. There have been quite a few threads about this mod over the last couple of years too, everyone saying pretty much the same thing. It will add maybe 50 grammes to the bike over a lightweight QR, but that’s not a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.

Though if you do decide to go the proper 15mm TA route, you can still use your current wheel. Should you want to. Certainly as long as your wheel is in good condition, I’d not be looking to change/upgrade it unless I had to due to incompatibility. Maybe get it trued and tensioned up though.

I run SID Teams & they don’t flex as much as the F100s they replaced, in fact I don’t really notice any at all.

Sounds more like a wheel issue to me.

Got some 2010 SID WCs and they’re pretty solid for a 100mm XC fork. Nothing like what your describing. You sure it’s not the wheel?

Morning!

Again, thanks for the detailed replies – much appreciated

I had a look at the wheel this morning and it does indeed sit slightly to the left (towards the side where its rubbing). However, I think this is just compounding the issue rather than the cause – there’s still quite a bit of space before the wheel reaches the fork leg so something is definitely on the move.

I also checked spoke tension. Now I realise this will lose me man points, but I don’t build my own wheels so I’ve no idea what the tension should really be. However, there is more tension on the left side (bad side) and less on the right. Nothing major but enough to maybe make a difference.

So, with the hub obviously sitting square in the fork, the wheel build looks to be the culprit. I didn’t build them (as mentioned) but they are hand built (bought them second hand). Thinking back this would have been the same wheel I had in the other set of forks, which also had flex issues.

So the plan is to rebuild the wheel (maybe I’ll do it, for a laugh), and stick one of those stiffer axles in as directed above. If that doesn’t fix it, then maybe a new wheel or fork afterwards.

I’ll report back on my findings…

Tensions is supposed to be uneven from on side to the other due to the offset from the disc brake mount. The spokes on each side should be evenly tensioned though.

Deffo sounds like a wheel issue to me. 355 can be a bit flexy, but i use them without issue and ride fairly hard, just need spokes tightening up every now and again.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WlRqcAQr2w[/video]

My Sids had lowers that hadn’t been cast properly so the wheel sat slightly closer to one side than the other. Lowers were replaced under warranty.
I’ve only buzzed the tire once or twice since then on some very lairy descents trying to catch the punter in front.

I had a look at the wheel this morning and it does indeed sit slightly to the left (towards the side where its rubbing). However, I think this is just compounding the issue rather than the cause – there’s still quite a bit of space before the wheel reaches the fork leg so something is definitely on the move.

It is nothing to do with the wheel – the forks have twisted lower legs, a (very) common problem with SID forks, and the reason I don’t have them anymore. As you can see, the wheel sits slightly to one side of the lower legs and, when putting pressure like fast descending/sprinting, is prone to rub the leg. Everyone I know who has owned SIDs has suffered from this problem. You can send them back (if purchsed new) and they will put a new set of lowers on, but in my experience (had it done twice) it’ll make no difference, as the issue concerns a design flaw with the lower legs. Sram refused to refund me even the second time around as they refuse to acknowledge it’s a design flaw (even though they twisted again within minutes after some tame singeltrack round the local country park). Google ‘SID twisted lowers’. I’m sticking with Magura now.

Amen to the above! SRAM are indeed refusing to admit a design flaw. I’ve also noticed the 2012 SIDs have some subtle differances on the lowers, perhaps to correct the issues.

All I can say is that with my old SIDs off the bike, when pushing/pulling the ends of the lowers, you could feel flex and feel movement between the lowers/uppers. And doing the same with my new DT XRM100 forks, I can’t feel ANY movement!

I had the twisted lowers problem too, SRAM replaced them with some XX WC lowers and they have been fine since (OCT 2011)

Everyone I know who has owned SIDs has suffered from this problem

Apart from all the people on this thread that don’t?

I like my SIDS (2010 WCs with carbon steerer), I like em a lot.

Yes they flex a bit but when you make something that light what do you expect?

Also remember what they are designed for..XC racing..where everything is pared down to the absolute minimum. I run mine for XC but as soon as marathons & longer races crop up I swap them out for a pair of 120mm Rebas. Stiffer but heavier & on longer days I want something that I dont have to work so hard to control.

On shorter 2-5hr races on a single day, the flex on the SIDS isnt an issue. At least for me.

mrlebowsi – I agree and I’m not knocking them for having a ‘bit’ of flex. What’s concerning me is that the wheel is hitting the fork leg which to me just seems wrong.

I think the solution tonight is to try another front wheel – if its still on the piss, then the lowers are bent and I need a new set.

Gah, and I’ve just been looking at new wheels as well….

Apart from all the people on this thread that don’t?

No, I don’t know anyone that has posted in this thread, therefore I’m correct in saying that it’s happened to everyone I know.

mrlebowsi – I agree and I’m not knocking them for having a ‘bit’ of flex. What’s concerning me is that the wheel is hitting the fork leg which to me just seems wrong.

I think the solution tonight is to try another front wheel – if its still on the piss, then the lowers are bent and I need a new set.

Gah, and I’ve just been looking at new wheels as well….

hey no worries. I was just saying thats SIDS are one of the things that are genuinely made with racing in mind & not much else.

I twice had issues very similar to yours with my SIDs last year, i couldn’t turn the wheel without the tyre rubbing the fork. both times the cause was due to the forks being cracked through the fork brace, rock shox warranteed them twice but refused to send me 3rd pair!

I loved the lightweight SIDs, but got given Reba RLTs which i’m more than happy with, marginally heavier but can take more abuse

Righty – had a ring round and having spoken to TF it sounds like they’re buggered. Which is nice.

So, I could have new lowers put on the existing forks for about £210, but I’d need them serviced at the same time which is another £89. With postage, that’s knocking on the door of £310 and I’m still left with some old’ish forks that’ll still flex a bit. The other issue is that I’m racing for the next two weekends so can’t really afford to risk not having them back in time and getting some time on them.

The other option is a set of 32’s from Mr TF – 700 sheets for the FIT kashima coated forks, set up for my weight and riding, 15mm bolt-thru and steerer all cut ready to go on. Thanks to Mboy above I can indeed run my current hub as a 15mm doo-dah so its just the outlay for the forks.

Finally I could by a set of those carbon DT swiss things for a grand. I want these, I want them REAL bad. But the review I read of them said they weren’t amazing, and its a grand. For a set of forks.