Tell me about….. Lefty forks

Tech has always looked good to me, and the engineering sound, but not so many reviews and I’ve not ridden one for years. Potential weight saving is significant – might be great way of keeping a Pinion based Nicolai light.

Performance? Disadvantages? (remove brake caliper to get wheel out?)

Fitting requirements (headtube?). Axle to crown measurements?

They always seemed like a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist to me.

I noticed that a couple of guys had them for the Olympics so they must have something going for them (no idea how those people placed though!)

advantages:
stiffer, lighter, can be made to fit 26, 650, or 29er wheels with simple internal adjustment, looks, weight

disadvantages:
needs a special hub therefore reduces the chance of borrowing a wheel from a mate if needed, special adaptor needed for roof racks, hard to get hold of.

http://qwertycycles.co.uk/products/cannondale-lefty-pbr-100

I noticed that a couple of guys had them for the Olympics so they must have something going for them (no idea how those people placed though!)

Think a Lefty came third, the Italian rider (Fontana) helped I guess.

I would say from riding a mates and seeing reviews over the years:
Stiff
Light
Dont need to take the wheel off for punctures
on the whole pretty reliable

Expensive
Damping quality not up to fox/bos etc a little less buttery and controled (may not apply to fox cartriged ones)
Makes ridng no hands a bit more interesting but can be done with a bit of practice

On the whole id have one if i bought a cannondale but not sure ide buy one aftermarket for another brand

To fit a standard Lefty, the head tube plus headset needs to be 137mm or less. There is also an XL version where the space between the crowns is 163mm.
It will be easiest fitting one with a ‘Lefty for All’ 1.125″ steerer. To fit one with the Cannondale SI is more difficult…I think the steerer is 1.5 but the Cannondale head tubes are not the same size as other bikes that take a 1.5 (I think I’ve got that the right way way round?). They use their own size bearings/headsets.

Edit: I think I have got that last bit wrong. Otherwise you would be able to fit one using a standard 1.5″ headset, which I’m sure you can’t.

Fantastic bits of kit IMHO.

Resourectited a 9 year old one to go on my Singlespeed..

Fully serviced its spot on..

Love it.

Looking to buy another for my Hardtail now, just need to find a 120mm one…

Mate had one years ago, 100mm version, light worked OK ish but he kept having trouble with his and any parts had to be ordered in from USA and took ages. (Seem to recall he took his bike in for it’s yearly service (he doesn’t do any diy) in november and admittedly he was in no rush for it but didn’t get it back until february.

Presumably they are more reliable and spares more readily available now.
If I could get hold of one cheap I’d give one a go.

I’m not sure I could bring myself to ride a bike with one – not from an aesthetics perspective, but just not having a right hand side to the fork holding the wheel in place. I know its irrational, but I’m not sure I could. 😕

To fit a standard Lefty, the head tube plus headset needs to be 137mm or less. There is also an XL version where the space between the crowns is 163mm.

Ok – assuming using ‘lefty for all’:
– Can the steerer can be any size with step down cups for 1 1/8th headtube?
– does the length need to be exact or is that ‘up to’ (I know years ago the HT needed to be an exact length)

Hub’s not an issue – I’ve never needed to borrow a wheel (and there are 3 front hub standards now anyway). Hassle to remove the wheel a bit of an inconvenience as we take fronts off to go in the van.

Presume a negative rise stem is needed to keep the front low but not a problem?

Fontana was looking good for better than bronze as well. Did he drop off the others when his seatpost snapped or had he already dropped back. The last couple of km must have been hell not being able to sit. Massive achievement to keep bronze – would have been absolutely gutting to lose it to a tech failure so close to the finish.

Does it really affect no handed riding? Surely it can’t do or would affect all handling?

Yeah, to ride no handed you have to shift your weight a little on the saddle, its easy enough to do with a bit of practise ( I’d have to ride my bike to tell you which way to shift it as I’ve no idea when I’m sat at a keyboard )

I’ve ridden one for years, I love em’ me.

I’ve never had an issue with no-handed, can’t ever remember it being a factor at all.. “is confused now”

Servicing isn’t an issue now, nor parts as there are some specialists looking after that market, turn around time is quick too so no bother.

No issues on a mega front end dive bomb (one mate bent a wheel whilst doing an endo) Gaiters keep water out well enough, bearings go dry if not looked after and some have mentioned the needle bearings slipping (but I’ve never come across this) The lock out can seize I’ve heard if you jet wash yours so keep clear of that. I’ve run a negative stem for the last couple of years (just flipped it over) and have enjoyed more agressive riding. Wheel bearings last an age, no need to worry about taking wheel off for rack or towbar fittings, takes 3mins and yes you have to flip the caliper up (loosen one bolt and undo the other out of it’s groove and pull back.. simple).
Addige about punctures is a simple comment, although it is easy it’s just fixing a puncture right? They are lighter than twin legs yes.

Was going to keep it and convert to 29er but sold bike complete, I’ve enjoyed owning mine, sadly it’s gone now.

Had 1st generation Lefy model on an old Canondale carbon 100mm frame (lovely bike). The fork was really plush, but blew through its travel very easily. That said it was a plush single pivot 100mm Xc bike.

I can vividly remember that going no handed, needed bike leant over to right handside, marginally to balance it out.

Did it affect handling, off road, no.
Normally only went no handed on tarmac and then in-balance of bike could be felt.

Even I can ride it non handed, so it can’t be all that hard.. 😳

simons_nicolai-uk – Member

Ok – assuming using ‘lefty for all’:
– Can the steerer be any size with step down cups for 1 1/8th headtube?
– does the length need to be exact or is that ‘up to’ (I know years ago the HT needed to be an exact length)

Did you mean to put ‘steerer’ and ‘head tube’ the other way round? If so, yes.
The length doesn’t have to be exact, just less than. The spacers inside the crown clamps can be moved up and down to suit. If the length is exact though, less spacers are needed so end up with a tidier looking setup. I’ve a frame here with a custom head tube that’s 105mm, when using a CK headset no make up spacers are needed.

This diagram might shed some light on a few things:

I’ve got a Cannondale Rush with a lefty fork and love it. The riding no handed is easy but you do have to shift your weight slightly to one side to compensate.

Had it for years and only been serviced once, even after numerous rides around the best parts of Wales and it’s never let me down. That said, I always had the impression that Cannondale made it more of an exercise in “look what we can do” as opposed to it being miles better than anything else.

I had a Lefty Max TPC 140mm for around 4 years, it is still the best ‘fork’ I have experienced. Once I’d learned that the needle bearings needed to be reset, all was good. This is a simple procedure that takes 5 minutes and I didn’t do any other servicing than that in 4 years, and the bike was ridden at the toughest places in the UK during that period.
I did go through wheel bearings though 1-2, sets a year, but then it was ridden a hell of a lot.

I’d love a 110mm lefty for my Yeti Arc.

Great forks – owned a few and they’re the best xc forks I’ve used. Only real drawback is price – you’d need to be a serious rider to justify getting one new (or just rich I guess). Secondhand market is busy though, loads of turnover on ebay for good prices. Not looked recently but you used to be able to get a decent dlr2 for around 300.
They’re pretty durable as well – bit like a high end car that will run forever just as long as you keep up some basic services.

I’ve got a Lefty Max PBR on the front of my Yeti ASR-5 and it’s an absolute beast!

Yeah, they’re expensive but they’re not really much more than a typical fox (something equivalent to my lefty would be a float 32 rl 140, retailing around £750-800)
They’re incredibly stiff and unbelievably light, it’s just a bit of a headf*ck looking down and seeing only 1 leg, but you get over that.

They are slightly higher maintainence than a typical fork, in that they have to be looked after a bit more often. However, the procedures are so simple that it’s much easier to look after than a “normal” fork:

Once every so often it’s a good idea to re-align the needle bearings- all you have to do is take deflate the fork, take the top cap off and pull the wee clips off. Then pull the lower leg down a few times which shunts the bearings back into line. Then re-assemble and re-inflate- Simples!
Also, grease the stanchion every once in a while, using a very light grease. If the grease is too thick it stops the bearings from rolling and causes them to migrate upwards. At which point you need to repeat the process above.

They’re a bit fiddly if you want to service them properly yourself, so its probably better to have TF do it 😉

front wheel removal and replacement needs care as it’s held on by a small bolt and it is easy to strip the thread(5mm Allen key fits). Admanmatt of this parish warned me of this when I bought my F800 from him before he headed oop north!

So reading on it seems there’s now a ‘lefty for all’ kit for tapered head tubes. Good.

but the longest travel fork is now a 130mm version. Bad. That would probably mean a custom geo frame that would *only* work with a Lefty (other 130mm All Mountain forks are getting rare).

I also read somewhere that you can’t run a short stem on them if you like a low stack height but happy to be corrected. If not then a consideration.

I also read somewhere that you can’t run a short stem on them

Indeed there limited to around 80mm or maybe 70mm, I always forget, but that hardly long though either.

That video’s quite interesting. What are the other forks? They look like Revelations?

I appreciate the side-loading thing and whilst I agree the Lefty is more likely to be active during steering. I’ve only ridden a Lefty briefly a couple of times, but the travel (whilst active) seemed very uncontrolled and under-damped. That was on a 2011 model, not some 10 year old thing, although I have no idea whether it was a high-end model.

Fontana was looking good for better than bronze as well. Did he drop off the others when his seatpost snapped or had he already dropped back.

He was right behind Kulhavy and Schurter. He was looking a bit tired but definitely still in contention.

The resets are actually easier than that – you don’t have to let the air out, just take the top cap and the two half clips off then womp the lower down a few times and you’re done. Apparently the 2013 ones don’t need resests at all (they reset automatically when bottoming out).

You get used to the one sided thing really quickly. After a couple of rides you won’t even think about it. Never noticed mine pulling to one side, I think this is a myth…. If anything it tracks better than a standard fork, especially on steep, slow, rocky descents.

Removing the front wheel is really easy…take fractionally longer than a QR but not a bother at all.

Expensive but unlike a Fox, the moving / wearing parts (ie: stanchions) aren’t part of the structure so you should be able to keep it going for years and years.

Overall I really like it (I have a 29er PBR, 90mm travel) I would try to get a lefty on my next bikes for sure.

On top of all the comments above, a couple of other points worth mentioning about the Lefty Fork: It has one of the lowest “Unspung Masses” on any fork, supreme tracking and my favourite thing which really helped me out at this years Mountain Mayhem is the Mud clearance!!! NO other fork gets this much clearance. 🙂

All sounds good, just a shame they don’t seem to go beyond 130mm for 2013 MY.

but just not having a right hand side to the fork holding the wheel in place. I know its irrational, but I’m not sure I could.

Yes it is irrational, apart from the bicycle world and most of the motorbike world (and perhaps the wheelbarrow world!, the rest of the world gets on just fine with cantilevered wheel supports… cars, planes, dump trucks, HGVs, rollor skates..

BUT for bikes stills looks wrong..

You could even add 747s / A380s to that list

Leftytastic.

New versions (2013) dont need the sliders resetting,Theres a also a version without the lower boot,uses a standard lip seal to stop water/dirt ingress.