I Made My Own Bike Forks!

Over 15 years ago I made a rigid fork from a busted suspension fork and it worked pretty well. Eventually the IS style disc mount snapped off but the steerer, crown and stanchions all held up fine.

My idea evolved from making a single fork to making three, fatter stanchions, tapered steerers, burlier crowns, bolt through dropouts and post mount brakes should be a big improvement in strength and stiffness and I couldn't resist the temptation to try a carbon version.

I wouldn't really suggest you try this at home just yet, let me put them through some tests and report back.

I'd love to know your thoughts!

Thanks for watching and see you next week, I hope you have a good one!

Instagram @aliclarkson

#aliclarkson #fabrication #mtb

[senorspiegel]

This is absurd and very dangerous! But then again, so is trials. You're the perfect candidate to test these forks!

[ambrorzykleks]

I love when you do things yourself. This is gold

[danwright]

The carbon forks look wicked, almost like old Pace forks and give your Hex a really cool retro look. Interested to see how they all hold up.

[John-ewv]

Finally someone that works like me. Better to try n fail than do what others around you do.

[robadobdob]

As a bonus, the tool you used to press the legs into the crown, can now be used as a headset press.

[pojepoje]

they look sick! especially the carbon ones. plus you can insert another tube in there easily for more strength. really cool

[planet_oith]

I have a pair of seized suntor that had a snapped leg which I sleeved with an alloy tube and JB welded(glued). They hold up but look bad and I won't trust them on heavy ground.
Watching this video is perfect for me. Thanks!

[romeocorvinus]

Wow!! I've been wanting to try this but nowhere to reference from. Thank you so much! Now I have a direction of what to do.

[hemiboyrcbmxerwilliams]

This unexpectedly is my favourite video you have made. I’d love to see more of this content.

[allanbuchan]

I admire your persistence Ali . Good job .

[Metal-Possum]

Litepro stuff is actually quite reasonable. I use a pair of their 20" (451mm) wheels on my recumbent, and they look great and perform just fine. I've also got a soft spot for their cranksets, which look a bit like the classic Cook Bros cranksets of the 1990's. Litepro might be for the Asian market, but they're focused heavily as upgrades for your folding bike, and don't lack in quality at all.

[screew]

Some thoughts: when you used aluminium tape as shims, you are relying on the bond of the tape to the upper tubes. This is probably quite a lot to ask from the adhesive. This could come undone over time. Bonding with epoxy would be better. The epoxy you are using also seems quite viscous and there is a bunch of air trapped inside from mixing it with the hardener. This might leave you with a less than ideal glue joint. I like the idea though and hats off for trying this and the courage to ride this thing. I really hope you don't get hurt from failing forks.

[newttella]

Great idea! I might do this to make my own suspension corrected rigid fork. Crapped out forks are the bane of retro bikes! Actually impressed with the build quality of the cheap new forks too.

[AntiDEDok]

That man is absolutely a legend! So many allround knowledge!

[raumo]

This is some serious modding, i like it!

[elmerallasas]

A perfect match for my Ritchey P29er with 1 1/8" headtube, thanks for the idea!!!

[ilyaanshmidt]

One of the craziest things I've seen! Really admire your willingness to experiment!
The process of installing the dropouts with the foil and how easy it got installed by hand concerns me. But I hope it will hold up for you.

[MrPlum]

Amazing, Ali! They are all kind of reminiscent to the USE trials fork from way back when! The carbon ones look great on the hex. Bravo buddy, top work! 🤩

[voyvadaroyva]

Sick! Fox one looks badass for sure! Respect for ancient technics with can, in old times we used it to fix crankarms - works great!

[up.grayedd]

the whole build took me back
i did a build back in '95ish when i put a Votec doublebridge rigidfork on my overpowerd chinaaluframe (that was awesome btw)
the votecfork came with canti/vbracke clamps too - i put them to good use wearing some campagnolo cantis (early vees - still did them by a very flat cantycable - they bit so hard)
the clou about the clamps is to get a breakboost - use them wisley angeled, so they bite while they drag - only some °s.