So I have an older GT Timberline MTB that needs a new set of shock forks. How do I know what size/type to get? I don't know crap about steering heads and measurements. It has an antique Rock Shox on it now.
You could take it to a bike shop. It is either 1" or 1 1/8", and either threaded or threadless. Do you have center pull brakes, or "v" brakes? If you have center pull, you are going to have to change your brakes too.
I have center pull right now. Changing to V wouldn't matter much to me. Would it be worth it to go ahead and change to disk? So 1" or 1 1/8" and "threaded or not" are my options? Can I take mine apart to see what it is?
take it over to the shop off of 20/80 west of 75 in front of the Publix, they'll be able to take care of you. I don't know if it would be worth the trouble of going disc though. Might be cheaper to just buy a new bike
Just buy a new bike...for the amount it will cost to upgrade your bike you can probably just buy a new one with disc brakes.
If you really want to ride this bike offroad, it may be a wise investment for Santa to get you a new bike. But if you are just going to knock around town on it, I would suggest just getting a rigid fork to get you going again. And taking it to the bike shop at least for an estimate (and they can tell you what diameter steerer you have) is worth it. Most shops do no charge for estimates. If you are really adventurous, I'll be working at Atlanta Cycling in vinings right off I75 next saturday the 12th, and I would be more than happy to take a look for you.
The bike is old (15 years) but in pretty good condition with pretty nice Shimano equipment. I don't want to go drop $1000+ on a new bike. I don't ride it enough to justify that. It is a threaded stem so I just need to make sure it is 1 1/8" since you can't find crap in 1" now. I'll probably take it to the local Trek shop and let them look at it. Thanks!
They also don't make threaded suspension forks anymore too. So you will need a new headset, stem, and brakes on top of the price of a fork ($200+ for suspesion fork). You can get a good quality disc brake equipped bike in the $600-700 pricerange. If you don't ride it much, get a rigid fork (which they still make in 1" or 1 1/8" threaded) and ride it the way it is...
Hit up ebay and get some 80mm suspension forks. Or look for a used fox fork 100mm b/c you can take out the spacer and convert them back down to 80mm. You may be able to convert some of the rock shox from 100 back to 80 also, not to sure. If you need to upgrade anything else hunt around craigslist, rambo, sorba, ebay. I just updated my mountain bike (1994 Barracuda) to run 9 speed , used 100mm fox fork, bars , wheels etc all for around 500 bones. Got some nice SRAM XO shifters for 45 new.
If you're the DIY kinda guy, we've got some older Rockshox forks at Sopo, some threaded, some not that would need to be rebuilt. If you've got time you could swing by, pick one out, get the rebuild kit and do all the work at the shop. We run on donations and generally ask for $5 a part, so with the price of a rebuild kit you could have a new fork for way less than ebay. Or we have a whole host of rigid forks, threadless or threaded if you dont feel like you need a suspension fork. And lastly we have a lot of older headsets so you can convert to threadless if you've got a 1 1/8th head tube. www.sopobikes.org check it out.
Oops. I didn't even read the op. My bad. For your frame depending on the riding style you do, I would suggest some 100mm to 140mm of travel, and a good 20mm axle (this would require a new wheel of course). With the bigger axle's handling is so much better if you are not a small fry.
I highly advise not to get a Marzocchi of any kind. They're heavy, leaky, overpriced, noisy, and have a dramatically higher failure rate than anything else. They're a lot like VW's... They look really good and the owners are fanatics, but if you didn't drink any of the dealership's free kool-aid you'll probably realize they're terrible cars and the owners are just in denial that they bought such a big steamy pile of crap. (yet I still want an '04 R32...) Also, over 80-100mm of travel will rake the front out too much. Older bikes have slack head angles and a longer fork will exaggerate this. Plus, I haven't seen a 20mm hubbed, prebuilt wheel that'll work with rim brakes, so you'll have to go disc (which I have extra sets I can sell cheap), but you're already passing the $600 range with all these parts. Keep in mind a $500 bike will blow any $1,500 bike from 1999 out of the water. You're basically trying to put a new motor in a car with a blown tranny. Last I checked I could get an RST fork in old school sizes, but I'll have to look again. It'll still set you back $200+ and the rest of the bike will be really old. For $299 I could get you an equivalent bike to what you have, but new (trek 820). For $500 I could get you this: http://fisherbikes.com/bike/model/wahoo
Never had a problem with my 888's, but I did prefer my Boxxer's over them. If you are even remotely interested in going dual crown, the Boxxer's are what you should look at. First though, how do you ride your bike? What do you do with it?
Dude, putting a dual crown on the bike he has would be as retarded as changing a WRX into FWD. The frame was NEVER designed for anything remotely over 80MM of travel. Honestly, if you are just a rec trail rider, a dual crown is a waste of suspension travel and money.
Yeah I guess you are right, still would like to know how he rides. I am being stupid and missed that is a Timberline. You can find some decent forks for cheap on CL.
Wow. I never knew there were so many enthusiastic bike riders on here. I guess I know where to go when I am looking for people to ride with now. I used to ride alot, 10 years ago, but haven't ridden much at all in the last 5 years. Right now I just bump around on the street and jump in the occasional puddle. My oldest daughter, 10, has started to show some interest getting a MTB and riding more so I would like to be able to start taking her riding. I won't be doing any serious DH or anything like that where I need Full Suspension or a monster fork. Just something to soften the blow on my old body when I do wander off-road. The fork on my bike is an old Rock Shox Quadra. It wasn't a great shock in 1995 so I am sure it isn't great 15 years later. Perhaps I will just ride it as-is until my riding justifies a whole new bike.
It's about damn time you told me what you have! hahaha... :grr: Those are EASILY rebuildable. All they are is a stack of elastomers, and I can retrofit a spring in there. Is it yellow? Q21R??? In fact, you can probably do it yourself. Unscrew the plastic top caps on the tops of the legs and you'll see what's in there. Like a stack of lifesavers... They dry up and stop springing. I had a BOX of those I threw out recently. Shit. Anyway, you can maybe find replacement elastomers, or swap in a spring. Mountain Speed used to make kits for those, and I bet you can find some on ebay super cheap. And if you're not really mountain biking on this fork, just put a homemade spacer in there to push the ride height back up. Maybe get a wooden dowel and cut about 3"??? PM me if you want to bring it by my house (I have a FULL service shop in my garage).
Sounds like a good plan. I don't see any plastic caps on the top though?? I made the mistake of going to the Trek dealer today. Uh-oh. It could get expensive fast...
Good gravy that's old!!! that's a Quad 5! those are some of the first bike shocks ever made. But looking at them I don't know if they are actually sagging (that bad). I'm sure they don't do much, but they probably didn't do much when they were new. I think those had 40mm of travel at best. As long as it's not making a klanky sound you're good to go. Do you have the shoes for those pedals??? hahaha....
Now you know why I needed a new shock! It is more of a pogo stick than a shock. I wonder when the antique roadshow is coming through again? What's even better is I actually have 2 of those bikes. The 2nd belongs to my wife and it is like new. Original tires and all! I do have the shoes for those pedals still..
I hope you like the 29er, some people love them. I rode two of them a month ago when I thought I wanted one, I personally didn't like them, but again it may just be because I'm set in my ways.