Front suspension question

[schindlerpiste]

I have a Cannondale Alpine series mountain bike (circa 1986). It has NO suspension. The frame is great, and the bike is in good shape. I would love to be able to outfit this rig with a front suspension. Can I do this, or does the angle of the fork (or other reason) prevent me from doing so?

[peterslovo]

You might have an issue with the steerer size - for a 1986 bike, it might be a 1" instead of the standard 1 1/8". It's harder to find MTB suspension forks for 1" tubes nowadays. Another issue is whether or not your steer tube is threaded or threadless (most nowadays are threadless).

Personally, I'd keep the Cannondale a rigid ride and use it for commuting, etc., and invest in a new hardtail if you plan on offroading. My 0.02...

edit: and yes, you may be limited by the angle; if you can even do it, you'd probably only be able to put an 80 mm fork on. Your LBS could advise you first-hand.

[72Twenty]

I'm kinda in the same boat... I have an old (early 90's?) Kona Fire Mountain that I love, but it is fully rigid and threaded headset. (currently my father-in-law is using it for around the block laps for exercise). I often thought about putting a bouncy fork on it, upgrading to v-brakes, etc. I already have a nice hard tail. Perhaps I'll just clean it up (after I reclaim it) and keep it as is. It really is a fun bike... almost like a big BMX.

[fondigley]

All I can say is good luck with that. It is possible, but getting it done may be harder than you think.

[scoober]

As cool and as sentimental as that bike may be, sinking any amount of money into it to put a suspension fork on it is pointless. 1986 MTB geometry is no-where close to being able to accept the added height of a suspension fork, let alone having to deal with steerer tube diameter and thread/threadless headset issues.

I have sucessfully put a fork on a 1992 non-suspension ready Specialized that I converted to a singlespeed, but it was a low travel (~2"), low stack fork (RS Q21R). And at this point, I am wishing I had the original rigid fork to put back on. It is hard to find a modern fork with less that 3" travel these days and stack heights seem to be growing.

My advice is to keep it rigid and enjoy your retro-ride as is. Even if you could find a mythical fork that didn't hose up the geometry so much, I still think you'd be better without it on that ride.