Fork selection questions....
 

Many of you have followed my Schwinn build. A crappy bike that I upgraded quite a lot. Well, I went from the garbage Schwinn spring forks to a rigid fork. I don't like the rigid forks because of the rough golf cart paths I ride on. Just too rough. I want to go with a good air-suspension fork. The problem is that this bike came with 600c tires. I upgraded the wheels and tires to 600c as well but the forks are 37mm offset (old and new). I assume that Schwinn paired 600c tires to a 37mm fork because that was the geometry the frame was set up for or they wanted to put 29" wheels on it to make it look cooler.

Well, I can't find a decent air fork in a 37mm offset. Is there one out there that will accept a 29" tire or will I need to go to 42mm? If I did go to 42mm I am reading that the trail figure could make it more sensitive. Is there a large difference between 37 and 42 in handling characteristics?

I need a straight fork, 220mm tube, 1 1/8", 100mm QR, and 445mm from crown to dropout. I have no idea how much travel I would need. I am not jumping. Just basic rough mostly flat terrain and streets. 5-8 miles per ride at about 15mph.

Any help is appreciated.

Thank You,
Aaron

Nevermind. I can't stand any more of the elitists here.

EDIT: I will stay around to offer advice because some of you that offer advice don't have a dang clue about mechanics or physics. I just won't reply to your ignorance.

So because you didn't' get a response in four hours people are "elitist?" Not sure how that follows.

I don't ride that style of bike, so there's simply no way for me to make a recommendation. Sorry if my not wanting to offer you useless advice comes off as elitist.

...not sure if it's helpful, but you might experiment with the alternative of wider tires, to the extent your new fork permits that. I haven't really looked at it, so I don't know. Cheaper and easier than another fork, but it's obvious you have your own ideas about what you want to do. I've never ridden on golf course pathways, but I have ridden older mountain bikes on all sorts of surfaces, without any suspension in the frame or fork. But they did have 2" tires. So those might not fit your bicycle as currently configured. If you already have the widest tires you can fit on there, you might experiment with lower inflation pressures. Or not. That will slow you down a little, but it might make the ride more comfortable.

The tire dimensional differences you cite might change how the bicycle feels a little bit, but not enough that most people will care about it. People routinely change tire sizes with greater differences than that, with little or no effect other than what you get from a wider/narrower tire.

Like most of the elitists who have discouraged you, this is not some project I would do. But I have done some personal experimentation with old 3 speeds that elitists would not waste time on either.

How rough can a golf cart path possibly be?

He got into it with someone/everyone in his original thread so now everyone is elitist.

Pretty sure this bike came with 700c tires.

Saw that. Didn't realize it was all happening at the same time. :thumb:

...was wondering about that. But Schwinn had that history of proprietary tire sizes, so you'd have to buy tires at the Schwinn store. I figured this was just a return to tradition.

I'm not sure what OP's issue with this thread is, seems fine. OP says the bike came with 29" tires, which is 700c. I don't know if that confusion is what is keeping them from finding a fork, but it can't help. I imagine there is a suntour fork that would fit this bike

Schwinn would use proprietary tires if they could, but it would cost them money because most of their bikes never get new tires. Best to use commodity tires. The business they are in now is not the same as Schwinn BITD where the bikes were so expensive that almost all their customers took care of their bikes. We sold Varsitys at the shop I worked at in the '70s and '80s, and those bike cost about $1000 in today's dollar.

His bike's not THAT old.

42mm is like 1.6 inches. Can't just about any 29-er fork do that?

.
...if I were less elitist, I would take exception to some guy, who lives in a golf course housing development, calling me an elitist. :) But I grow apples in my yard, because it makes me feel elite.

We might never know we are so elite that golf courses are beneath us. I just have my servant play for me, I wouldn't dare step on a course where any tom dick and harry with a few million dollars might be slumming around. I was being driven around in my Rolls Royce in my mansion the other day and found 300 undiscovered bedrooms and the swimming pool where I store my first editions.

I used to golf - it's fun, even though you might occasionally see someone with less money than you. I quit when the peasants in the Country Club office told me I couldn't use my Bentley as a golf cart. Well, actually they just asked me not to drive it* on the greens, but what I am supposed to do - walk from the car to the green? I might get the bottom of my shoes dirty!

People just don't know how tough it is managing the fortune I have made by offering mechanical advice on Bikeforums. I might quit and go back to my old job as CEO of the world's largest manufacturer of 600C bicycle tires.

*asked my driver to notdrive on the greens, obvs.