The front forks of bicycles have developed massively since the invention of the mountain bike. Due to the introduction a requirement developed for protection from impact of rocky ground. A requirement that simply hadn’t been there previously.
Generally on MTB’s now days you will tend to find that the front forks have an already fitted set of shocks, with the blades being made from upper and lower extendable cylinders, called ‘legs’. These telescopic tubes allow the impact of the extreme surface under the tyres to be reduced, thereby making the bike much easier to ride on rough terrain.
The design for MTB Forks can vary massively, with the suspension travel and handling characteristics tailored to a specific style of riding. For example, a cross country mountain bike rider will need a different fork to a DH mountain bike rider, who will have a different fork again to a freeride rider. XC bikes do not need as much suspension travel, normally near eighty to one hundred millimeters and will be made from lighter metal when compared to the suspension forks used on a downhill mountain bike. This is essentially as they won’t receive as much punishment as they might in other situations.
When suspension was originally introduced into mountain biking, a travel distance of the 80 to 100 mm was typical. Now though, downhill forks offer typically around one hundred and fifty to 200 millimetres of travel. There are some downhill mountain bike forks though which can offer anywhere up to 300 millimetres of travel for the most harsh conditions!
Some mountain bike suspension forks may also allow the rider to change the suspension travel to suit particular sections of a trail. More travel for downhill and extreme sections, and less travel for the not so rough cross country or up hill sections. The rider may even want to totally eradicate suspension fork travel all together which would be advantageous on a smooth concrete road for example. This lockout capability may even be changed externally from the handle bars using a trigger.
Whichever style of riding you do, it benefits you to choose your MTB front suspension forks carefully because when you pick correctly you will benefit from a significant performance advantage.
