Suspension fork on a Sherpa? Silly idea or not?

[Blue lotus]

Hello all,

I live in Bristol and I definitely don't have more room for bikes (I have: two bikes at my parents in France and I have in the UK: 1 brompton nicely folded , 1 oldish roadbike Bianchi , 1 560XL Sherpa ).

I was wandering if changing the fork on the Sherpa could give me another bike for quite cheap and not much room taken. Obvisouly, bye bye the mudguards but has this been done before? After a look with the search engine, I could not find anything.

I know Thorn do MTB (Ripio, Sterling, etc.) but I don't know the exact differences (except in geometry) with Shepas. Are the frames lighter for example? Also, I like my Sherpa and its high loading capacity with its original forks for future touring.

I look forward to hearing from you!!!

Blue Lotus

[Andybg]

Hi Blue Lotus

I think I have seen this discussed before re doing the same to a mk1 Nomad which is essentialy the same bike.

I think the answer then was a reserved no. The geometry and the stability of the bike would be effected. The closest to the Sherpa that you would be looking at would be the Ripio.

Hope this helps

Andy

[Blue lotus]

Hi Andy,
Thanks for your quick answer! I had a look for Nomad+suspension and found that:http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=3869.msg17028
I suppose that this is what you mention above.
A few measurements would be necessary I guess to make sure the geometry is not (too) affected.
Thanks again,
Etienne

[JWestland]

Suspension has some disadvantages: It deadens the ride and is awful going uphills (unless you can lock it, but you still then have to carry the extra weight)

So even if it works, it comes at a penalty. If you use your sherpa for the road, it's doubtful it will go full suspension downhill due to different geometry and you pay the price on your daily road use.

Will you use the suspension? It's rarely needed, fat tires on lower pressure do a good job if you live in Pothole Central

[jags]

you dont need suspension on the sherpa it will take anything you care to throw at it 

[Andre Jute]

Suspension has some disadvantages: It deadens the ride and is awful going uphills (unless you can lock it, but you still then have to carry the extra weight)

One of my bikes has active suspension, electronically operated, like that in a Range Rover, except it works the other way round. When you're going slow, as in uphill, the suspension becomes progressively harder, when you speed up, the suspension becomes progessively softer. Softer in this case is relative, as even the softest setting is pretty firm compared to, say, the suspension on a Dutch comfort bike, or running Big Apples at low pressure. See http://coolmainpress.com/BICYCLINGsmover.html

Andre Jute