[Closed] RockShox Bluto fat bike fork

I'm guessing that should be 100 mm travel?

They've fitted it upside down.

Thanks for the stealth edit making my post look stupid 😛

I'd buy one just because of the name.

But I'm shallow like that.

sexy strapless frame bag, too. mmm, alluring.

And those come-to-bed handlebars.

Thanks for the stealth edit making my post look stupid

No idea what you're talking about 😆

Bonkers.

I love it.

Now for Hope to make suitable adapters for my 135mm space hub 😆

Given that unsprung weight is the bane of all suspension designers lives I do wonder how having 3 stone of wheel and tyre hanging off the axle affects the operation of a bicycle fork, particularly when there's such relatively low sprung mass available.

It must be a bugger to get that much mass moving up and then a pain to stop it and move it back down again. The fork tuning must be very different to a standard wheel.

Great - with 100mm forks these fat bikes now make a bit of sense

Given that unsprung weight is the bane of all suspension designers lives I do wonder how having 3 stone of wheel and tyre hanging off the axle affects the operation of a bicycle fork, particularly when there's such relatively low sprung mass available.

It must be a bugger to get that much mass moving up and then a pain to stop it and move it back down again. The fork tuning must be very different to a standard wheel.

I imagine the tyre absorbs a lot of the small undulations where unsprung mass is important so the unsprung mas barely moves, and provides the grip. Then the suspension is tuned to deal with the bigger impacts where unsprung mass has less effect. Think of a drop to flat, the unsprung mass doesn't actualy move at all in the impact, and that's the kind of impact that hurts on a rigid fork and a 29er wheel IME, so I imagine a fat bike is the same.

A drilled rim and tyre is not [i]that[/i] heavy, less if tubeless...

wwaswas - Member
Given that unsprung weight is the bane of all suspension designers lives I do wonder how having 3 stone of wheel and tyre hanging off the axle affects the operation of a bicycle fork, particularly when there's such relatively low sprung mass available.

Yeah, it won't work at all 🙄

Now for Hope to make suitable adapters for my 135mm space hub

[i]Yeah, it won't work at all[/i]

or, alternatively;

[i]The fork tuning must be very different to a standard wheel. [/i]

🙄

I didn't say it wouldn't work, I said it would be different.

The wheel makes the fork look like it's made from twiglets.
Never ridden a fatty but are suspension forks really needed?

Is that a Rocky Mountain headbadge on that bike?

Love the name Bluto for a fat bike fork - very apt.

more details about the bike here;

[url= http://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/rocky-mountains-blizzard-returns-as-fatbike/ ]http://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/rocky-mountains-blizzard-returns-as-fatbike/[/url]

Fair enough wwaswas, I've had a coffee now!

IMO/E the undamped bounce from the tyres on a fat bike can get annoying on regular trails, front suss is a good idea (and perhaps rear).

The top post states: " clearance for 4.7" tires on 100 mm rim"
Note that the wheel pictured has an 80 mm rim, and there doesn't seem to be much room left over, but that's hard to tell from an angled shot like this.

Can anyone confirm the clearance?

How about clearance for 29+ wheels? I think that would be a great summer setup, running a this fork on a Krampus, or running this fork with a 29+ Wheelset in my fatbike in summer.

I don't have much need for a suspension fork in winter, between the lower tire pressures, softer surfaces and slow speeds, I'll keep the carbon fork on there for weight savings and reliability in remote areas.

At last! Now all we need is for Salsa to put their prototype full susser into production to make my ultimate bike for riding in the mountains. 😀

Like this one Sanny? 🙂

[url= http://salsacycles.com/culture/introducing_bucksaw ]Salsa Bucksaw[/url]

cynic-al - Member

IMO/E the undamped bounce from the tyres on a fat bike can get annoying on regular trails

Is the solution there not maybe better damped tyres? Schwalbe have been making a lot of noise about damped rubber recently and Kenda have tried to plug it unsuccessfully for years, is anyone doing it with fatties yet?

My Krampus had killed my urge for N+1 until I saw the Bucksaw.
Christ, here we go again!!

Will that not be a bit flexy if it's 32mm stanchions and a 150mm wide crown?

If this is the first, of presumably a range, is it the top-end fork or bottom end?

I.e. is it more like a Recon or a SID XX?

IMO/E the undamped bounce from the tyres on a fat bike can get annoying on regular trails, front suss is a good idea (and perhaps rear).

Careful, you came dangerously close to admitting Fat bikes are a crap idea then...

Not generally a Fat fan myself, but I can't help thinking they are only "Right" with a rigid frame and fork, I guess there's a niche for it or else RS wouldn't bother, but a Fat suspension for does seem unnecessary IMO...

rickmeister - Member
A drilled rim and tyre is not that heavy, less if tubeless...

Good luck with that one 😉

Max wheel diameter is 760mm
Max wheel width is 116mm

Very excited about these.... And have managed to snag some of these forks... Here is the link... http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/rockshox-bluto-fat-bike-suspension-fork-5051-p.asp

I've chatted to chaps who have worked on the development of these and they are saying good things. These are not rockskox people, but guys who work with a fat bike manufacturer who were pulled into the testing process.

The new surly ice cream truck is designed to be forward compatible with the right fork length and hub set up.

Eta maybe June... More likely July.

Hubs... Hope are on it with 150mm x15mm front hubs.

Another thought on stiffness. I think the issues with fat fork stiffness comes from the best quality of these bikes. Folk assume the fat tyres are just for sand and snow, but the big foot print delivers extreme Cornering grip and speed, and climbing traction, but also awesome brake forces... Where other bikes start to skid, they carry on braking, putting whole new levels of force through the forks.

We either just get used to it, run two small disc (one each side to stop twisting) or use massively overbuilt DH kit. I'm just gonna get used to it.

Charlie, do you know if they are going to do any with straigh 1 1/8th steerer?

Brant
Is the Fatty all sorted to fit a sussy fork to

They'd look lovely on my Puffin.... if it ever arrives.......... 😆

That Salsa Bucksaw looks lovely!

They'd look lovely on my Puffin.... if it ever arrives..........

Am undecided which one would be best. puffin or fatty
got every thing ready for the Puffin cepting a seatpost I didnt realise they were swimming across the ocean
should have made landfall about now .

I haven't checked frame clearance on Fatty for the new wide fork crown. I'll see. If that passes, it'll be good with 80 or 100mm ones.

We have a new 120mm fatty trail version coming too.

I will have one for the front of my Puffin next week (first week of June). Sounds like down tube clearance could be an issue, but I decided to run with it and see first-hand.

Will report how it works next week.

You lucky devil still no sign of the frames in the UK

I have a Bluto dispatched today from Bike24 it will be going on the OO-Fatty when it arrives.