Fixed, thanks.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...f232331b5.jpeg

There is 'Big Gravel' - and 'Big Road'

Is it the cost that's keeping you from a full suspension bike?

In my opinion there is no reason to change an older bike to a 1by. It doesn't really gain you anything except less risk of dropping the chain.

Most, if not all, suspension forks have been tapered steer tubes for several years. It might be tough to find a fork with a straight steer tube, but I'm sure there are some used ones someplace. The other thing to consider if adding a fork to an older bike is travel. If you add a longer travel fork it changes the geometry and some frames are more affected by this than others. When I've put forks on old frames I have used 63mm and 80mm travel. I had a bike that came with a 100mm fork and my shop put a 130mm fork on it. It made the front end a little wonky at times.

On older bikes some good tires will help and you should experiment with pressures according to the terrain you ride on. On my last bike I bought good tires and ran them at 30 psi in rocky terrain or less if slippery hard dirt. On my newer bike I run 15 psi in the front and 20 in back but they are 2.8 tires.

Thats “Big Bike.”

I wouldn't call it fragile. I got >2000 miles out of the first rear one on the Canyon, and the front's still fine after 2500.

Thanks for all the info. In Mexico there are plenty of 25.4mm threaded suspension forks, which is what I need for this bike, an 89? Bianchi Forte. I'm going to buy a cheap one and see if I like it. By cheap I mean US$25. There is no way I can afford full squish, and likely don't need one. I just have flat, rough roads--not even trails.

GPK5000 fragile? l

Apparently the idea left bam at a loss for words.

Doesn’t Compute.

Reminds me of Pittsburgh legend Donnie Iris

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...943c7a341b.png
it's OK to Compute (er)

Now I have to get ANOTHER spare 25mm GP5K. Unless I apply the logic of the Supply Sergeant on MASH -

"Yeah, I got five of those.
"Great! Can we have one?"
"No! If I give you one, I'll only have four."

Oh, you'll like it. I recommend avoiding elastomer forks and go with an air sprung or even a coil sprung fork. I had an elastomer fork one time and I put a coil spring kit in it. So much better. Came with a damper, too.
Of course an air fork will need a pump to set the pressure. The ones I've used don't seem to leak, though.

An elastomer fork will be better than a rigid fork, despite my prejudice against them.

And this, right here, is why the tire deflated instantly. Same cuts on the tube. Tubeless wouldn't have helped.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2fbb3e6934.jpg

I should've jumped on this full squish. These bikes are super fast. I guess I'll have to keep living with my heavier, more metal full squish for now though

https://m.facebook.com/groups/183937...6852838122188/

Oh, that's probably not visible because of group settings. 2015 Spec Epic World Cup. For $1425

On Sunday's Donut ride, one rider had a nasty tear in his tread like that. He was riding tubeless and stopped, hoping the sealant would work its magic and he was planning to limp home or make the call of shame. Strava said he had to make the call.

Tubeless isn’t a fix-it-all in every case.

As Trsnrtr sez, tubeless ain't for everything. That said, 5mm is borderline for a good sealant by itself. These look to be close to that - with some plugs, you probably would have made it home without the call of shame. Supposedly, Silca's new sealant takes this up a notch or three, as well.

Agree. I bit my tongue, but I could not help but wonder if the rider in question could have put in a boot and a tube and limped home. He is a fairly experienced cyclist so that's why I kept my thoughts to myself.

Finally back home after two long days of driving; 600 - 700 mile days, family on-board, can be grueling, even more so when dealing with rain a significant portion of each day. It's funny - it was supposed to rain almost every day that we were in VA, but it never did until we packed up and left. I guess that we should be thankful for that.

Oh, the longer of the two days brought us within ~25 miles of the Buc-ee's outside of Lexintington, KY, but I wasn't about to add another hour of driving just to make a gits-and-shiggles detour.

:(

Sure - any tubed fix is an option with tubeless, even with "tubeless only" wheels. Since I like to get pretty far afield on occasion, and I'm not a fan of the call of shame, I still carry a boot and tube for this reason; he may not have been carrying, though. Wouldn't have hurt to have made the offer. Also, a lot of fairly experienced cyclists are still fairly inexperienced with the ways of tubeless.

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