Forum menu
I'm going back to singlespeed after a period of being overgeared and I'm done with the boingy forks - need a rigid set. In order to not ruin the playful geometry and turn it into 70* HT angle xc beast I need to keep the A-C at around 525mm. That's tall, I know, I've a set of Tarn forks on my Krampus which would fit well and they're good fun but I like my setup so no swapsies between the bikes this time. I could do with another carbon Tarn forks but I'd rather have some custom steel forks with tapered steerer and QR15, either Boost or good old 100mm.
Who's the best person to speak to in that case? I've an eight year old set of Marino forks still going strong (wrong axle and A-C for this project) but I guess he might be busy now and I'd rather have it done by one of the local workshops. Any ideas much appreciated!
Waltworks in the US had a decent reputation for custom forks. No idea of his prices or if he is still around. 525 is long though. The Marin pine mountain had longish rigid forks and they added an extra brace.
Ted James Designs in Gloucestershire makes custom forks in both Ti & steel. If you want something fancy I know he loves making Ti squid thing forks. Check out his adventure bike build from this year's BeSpoked show.
Even though I do not know just how lovely Ted James’ stuff is- I would give him a shout bigtime!
Many thanks for all the suggestions! I've sent some emails, we shall see what happens next. I hope I won't have to sell my kidney for some custom goodness, although that would make me lighter for those dreaded climbs 😉
I would try Andy/Stooge Cycles. Seems he has a number of proto frames and forks made up, he might be able to help you get something done in with his next order.
May be a long shot, I don't know! Worth 2 mins if you're sat at your keyboard anyway.
Just to be absolutely sure as 525mm sounds awfully long and I remember a thread where someone made this mistake recently...
Does your 525mm take sag into account?
It does. Frame's designed for 140mm travel, unsagged forks are 550mm. Can't remember for sure but the carbon Tarn forks were 515mm A-C, they were OK, so I'm prepared to drop a few mm.
I am aware that the steel ones will probably weigh more than SIDs or similar but I'd rather deal with extra heft than "wrong" geometry if I can...
I had a fondle recently of a pair of forks Gav of August Bikes had built. They were akin to a more finessed bolt through tapered Salsa Cromoto - very nice.
Could try www.clandestine.cc he makes some super nice stuff. Award winner at bespoked.