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Cross Country (XC) Suspension Forks

Light and short travel, XC mtb forks are usually single crown due to the mild terrain and to save weight so not to make the bike too heavy to rise.

Traditionally, XC forks will have been spring loaded however the trend is now moving towards air sprung suspension.

The obvious advantages of such a change of keeping the weight of the fork to a minimum and making them simple to adjust this.

Downhill (DH) Suspension Forks

Have you ever observed the insanity that may be downhill mountain biking?  Massive drops, giant gap jumps and terrible terrain over a short prtiod of time.  Downhill forks can have large amounts of travel ( 10 inches isn’t unhead of ) to allow for the stress a DH bike is put under.

Downhill forks are usually coil spring to take on large hits but are also double crowns ; this is where there are 2 legs of the fork close to the top where the fork joins the handle bar.  Double crown forks offer double the suspension of single crown forks.

Dirt Jump (DJ) Suspension Forks

Big airs, big jumps and big tricks require forks which can take some punishment forks not designed for this reason are responsible to be damaged, or worse break, causing heavy injury to a rider.

A dirt jump ( DJ ) bike will sometimes be a hardtail and front suspension, though some riders do still prefer firm forks.  Suspension forks will have small travel of 80-100mm and are normally coil sprung as well as being much heavier thanks to the increased strength than those designed for other off-road bike disciplines.

Rigid Forks

Although suspension forks are far more and more a standard sight on trail bikes they are by no means the only option left.

For the die hards, people who don’t wish to invest in pricey suspension or those preferring something lower maintenance there remain a number of quality stiff forks available on the market.

extremely popular in the dirt jump and street MTB scenes as well as singletrack, rigid Forks supply a viable and often less expensive alternative choice to suspension.

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.