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Hi guys I need some lefty advice as I know some of you on here know them inside out. I'm looking to put one on a frame with a 150mm long headtube so I've Googled and found out I need a xl fork with the 163mm spacing? But how hard are they to find as all I can see anywhere for sale are the standard 137mm ones? Am I wasting my time or do they come up regularly? Thanks
[caveat]i haven't used a leftie in a goodly while[/caveat] but given the widespread availability of, and support for, regular good quality forks, and the comparative cost of (new) lefties, I wouldn't bother.
i was quite taken by a RS revelation after coming from a leftie, and couldn't really see where the ~ £400 price differential had gone, not to mention the faff with stems and hubs. YMMV.
having said all that, i wouldn't mind trying one again, cos I did really like the look of it! 😀
what's the score with stems these days? you used to be restricted on how short you could go, didn't you?
I'm not sure but using a lefty steerer conversion let's me use my original stem so that's a bonus.
What's the actual point of them though? What do they do that forks don't?
I can think of potential disadvantages, but not any advantages.
Lighter usually,stiffer definitely and easy flat fix !
I need a xl fork with the 163mm spacing? But how hard are they to find
rocking horse poo IME
you might get lucky with WTD ads and keeping an eye out though but the XL ones don't come up often.
What's the actual point of them though? What do they do that forks don't?I can think of potential disadvantages, but not any advantages.
Been done to death over the years, but basically, stiffer*, lighter** and weirder***, with generally less maintenance required, although more faff when they do need it.
As far as the dampers are concerned though there's various models over the years with a lot of cross-compatibility between the various chassis, the old Cannondale dampers, the Manitou TPC and SPV based ones, the Fox based ones, and the current Dale/RS based ones so there's options to suit all tastes and requirements on that side of things.
* quite a bit actually, but how much this matters to you is up for discussion
** not much, but travel for travel they are generally lighter than conventional forks, some of that weight is re-gained when using the steerer adaptors as Lefty weights are nearly always quoted sans steerer.
*** much more important!