Hi all,

Riding friend at work is looking at a new frame that says it has 51mm offset forks.

He has a set of 42mm Forks to go on it.

Would that be a no go or will he not be able to tell the difference?

It’ll be fine. Probably better if it’s reasonably long and slack.

It’ll be fine. Probably better if it’s reasonably long and slack.

He is looking at a new Orange p7 29 frame which has a 65 degree H/A

I’d prefer the shorter offset on that.

I’d prefer the shorter offset on that.

Will it affect the head angle at all?

No, not the head angle. A shorter offset gives more trail.

More trail is good for additional stability as it helps to self centre the steering

I did the same on a transition vanquish, no issue.

My mojo HD3 was designed around a 46mm offset, I originally built it with 42. Just switched to a 37mm Lyrik. Unless testing back to back, very unlikely to notice. Even if you did, within 29 minutes, you’d have adapted anyway.

It doesn’t make a fraction of the difference marketing people try to tell you it does.

I predict, in the next few years, long offset forks will disappear and the only option will be the short ones. There’s just no benefit to the manufacturer to offer so many options.

I’ve got 51mm forks on my 42mm frame. Can’t tell any difference.

It’s only one part of what affects the steering of the bike, he could add a long stem to counter, move the sweep more forward, put more spacers on the steerer, etc, etc, etc. They’ll be fine with it more than likely, if not, do one of the above to get the right feel back.

My new HT has a recommendation for a 51mm offset. I had some 42mm offset Lyriks. Spoke to the bloke who designed it and he basically said ‘well we kept getting asked so we had to put something on the web site’ 😉 (I’m paraphrasing a bit here).

If I put a 51mm offset fork on it, I’m 99.9% sure I wouldn’t notice any difference.