September 06, 2009

The Ongoing Struggle

Forks. We have only one manufacturer that has produced a true bred 650B suspension fork: White Bros. They are offering the Magic in a 80mm and 100mm travel options and the Fluid in 100 & 130. These forks do fill the most commonly used travel lengths, but more options are needed.
From the looks of things, nearly every major fork manufacturer already has a model with lowers that fit a 650B off-road tire. Rock Shox, Fox Forx, Marzocchi, Manitou, DT Swiss, even RST and Suntour. When will these manufacturers see the potential and just take the plunge. A 650B fork could double as a 26" as well. Obviously not much will need to be done for an official ruling to take place. I'm no engineer, but after talking with White Bros last year it was a huge overhauling to adapt their forks to meet 650B use.
X-Fusion has been smart with giving the thumbs up for their Velvet fork. This fork was a blessing to the wheelsize. With a retail price of under $400, and a weight under 4lbs, the Velvet has been the perfect starter fork for most 650B users.
I am working on a list of compatible 26" forks, but I am hesitant to post it to this site. I have done quite a bit of work to locate and test forks that can fit the 2.3 Neo-Moto. If I do list anything, all forks must accept the larger Neo.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

palace dude-

its simple. you supply the info and make a disclaimer that the companies who make the fork dont recommend its use with 650b wheels. let the people decide if they want to risk it.

have your lawyer right up some disclaimer for you and post the info.

here is a good start i just saw today.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showpost.php?p=6080508&postcount=1

Anonymous said...

crikey mate! when are you gonna post some new info?

mMullins said...

Where's Cracked Headtube? No mtbr or 650bpalace posting...Something happened to your biking passion?

Unknown said...

must have really cracked his head tube!

Anonymous said...

I won't buy a fork that hasn't got
a handlebar lock-out on it!.
I have been looking at the new haro 650b and I work at a Haro shop. I do 24hr mtb racing & I have a giant nrs 26er with Sram that I love. I have & the HOLE MTB INDUSTRY! know that they can put lock out on thim there forks.

I was going to sell my nrs but if I get a Haro 650b,but I have to change over to Sram shifting & I would put on Avid bb7s. As for the front fork I would use a R/S Reba 29er with 100mm travle with the 650b front wheel. I must say that the Jamis b2 is looking good. I work at a bike shop so I'm looking for a bro deal.. I going to have my boss call Jamis..
I will most likely keep my Giant NRS & put a R/S Reba 29er fork with a 650b front wheel for the 2010 racing season. I would like some feed back on what I am about to do.

Another thing what's the weight of the 650b bikes. I called haro and they don't know! but she did say that she will find out by next week.
Peace.

Tom said...

You might want to check out Velo orange- we are shipping our long awaited 650b Polyvalent frameset. We also satock 650b rims- similar to the CR18- a true doublewall.