Types Of MTB Front Suspension On The Market
The front forks of bicycles have evolved significantly since the introduction of the mountain bike. Due to the introduction a need developed for protection from impact of grueling terrain. A need that simply hadn’t cropped up previously.
Generally on MTB’s now days you will usually find that the front forks have an integrated set of shocks, with the blades being made from upper and lower telescopic cylinders, called ‘legs’. These telescopic tubes allow the impact of the rough surface under the tyres to be reduced, which will make the bike much easier to ride in rough conditions.
The setup for MTB Forks can vary massively, with the forks travel and handling characteristics designed to a specific style of riding. For example, the cross country rider will need a different fork to a DH mountain bike rider, who will have a different suspension fork again to a freeride rider. XC bikes don’t require as much suspension fork travel, typically near eighty to 100 mm and can be made from lighter metal when compared to the suspension used on a downhill bike. This is essentially because they don’t receive as much punishment as they might in other situations.
When suspension was initially introduced into mountain biking, a travel distance of the 80 to 100 mm was the form. Now though, downhill forks offer typically around 150 to two hundred millimetres of travel. There are some downhill mountain bike forks though which can offer anywhere up to three hundred mm of travel for really extreme terrain!
Some mountain bike suspension forks may also allow the rider to adjust the suspension travel to fit particular sections of terrain. More travel for downhill and extreme terrain, and less travel for the not so rough XC or up hill sections. The rider may even want to entirely eradicate suspension movement all together which would be advantageous on a smooth tarmac road for example. This lockout facility may even be changed externally from the handle bars making use of a cable.
Whichever type of riding you do, it benefits you to pick your MTB front suspension forks carefully because when you pick correctly you will benefit from a significant performance advantage.
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