All about bicycles, electric-assisted bikes, technology and safety in the press

In our daily work as we deal with bicycle safety, technology and user manuals we come across lots of safety risks. The most frequent ones are published in articles of the leading German special-interest magazines TOUR – Europas Rennrad-Magazin Nr. 1, BIKE – Das Mountainbike Magazin Europas Nr. 1 and E-Bike – Das Pedelec-Magazin to make this information important for the sector accessible to a wider public.

For many years now the Eurobike Show Daily accompanying the annual international Eurobike Show has given us the opportunity to publish our perspective on major developments in the cycle industry in full-page articles.

We also speak regularly in independent lectures about all topics relating to bicycle technology and bicycle market. In addition, we are regularly cited by further special-interest magazines or trade journals as well as more and more by radio and television and in their media reports, which shows us that we are completely right with our information. The section NEWS informs you about the latest news from our specialist fields. The reports and publications of this section are listed chronologically or according to topics of interest.

TOUR 09/2003
Reading time 0:40 minutes

Talent scout

The fork, the unknown component: The lean two bladed component part at the front of the bike has more potential for ridability and comfort than most people know. TOUR lifts the lid on it.

A road bike's frame set consists of frame and fork. But while many bikers toss and turn in bed when it comes to choosing the right frame, they do not waste much thought on the fork. It is the fork, however, which influences the bike's riding characteristics much more than widely anticipated. It decides significantly about steering behaviour, riding comfort, riding safety and, to a smaller extent, about aerodynamics.

A short excursion into riding physics, shown on the example of steering behavior, clearly illustrates this. The important measurement for this is the caster as function of the fork's pre-bend as well as the frame's steering head angle. Roadbike forks have a pre-bend of 35 to 55 millimeters, depending on the respective manufacturer, which makes casters from 4 to 6.5 centimetres depending on the steering head angle. These two extremes could also be called "Italian" (agile) and "American" (phlegmatic) pole: A long caster smoothens the ride, a short one makes it more agile.

(...)

Author: Dirk Zedler

Go back