Aftermarket Mountain Bike Forks
At Westbrook Cycles, we stock a fantastic range of aftermarket mountain bike forks which we supply to customers looking to upgrade the suspension forks on their mountain bikes. Suspension Forks are fitted to all types of mountain bikes, including full suspension and hardtail variants and many customers look to aftermarket mountain bike forks, when their standard mountain bike fork is no longer fully functional, is damaged, or no longer provides the performance required.
They are one of the first things that many riders look at, when replacing and upgrading mountain bike components - with the main reason for this being, the massive impact they can make on mountain bike performance and ride comfort. As well as soaking up harsh impacts and bumps on any off road journey, forks also allow the wheel of your mountain bike to grip and ride the surface in a more accurate way, providing more grip and more stability over varied terrain.
Although aftermarket mountain bike forks still have to be able to fit your current mountain bike, with regards to both wheel size and axle type. The next main choice is deciding whether to buy a coil-sprung suspension fork, or air-sprung suspension fork. Coil forks use a spring to provide suspension performance, whilst air suspension uses a chamber of air to provide cushioning and suspension performance. Coil forks do work out cheaper, but forks which use compressed air offer more benefits, with on the go adjustability that cannot be rivalled by coiled forks.
Perhaps the most important thing to consider when choosing a new mountain bike fork, is the amount of travel you want the fork to be able to provide. Whilst the temptation for many riders is naturally to choose a fork with the maximum amount of suspension travel, when it comes to mountain bike forks - bigger is not always better. Your bike frame will have natural limits on how much suspension travel it can cope with, so fitting the biggest possible fork, or a smaller fork on your bike, will ruin the bikes geometry and can present a risk for the rider. A cross country racer will also not want maximum suspension travel when trying to make rapid progress, so will benefit from choosing a XC bias fork with a travel of approx 100mm - a rider who smashes downhill trails, will also need the maximum amount of travel for soaking up big bumps - so will choose a fork a massive travel of 200mm.
Adjustable mountain bike forks find happy halfway ground, providing a different range of movement and suspension travel - typically from 120mm up to 160mm. This means that riders can benefit from maximum suspension travel when travelling down technical trails, whilst locking out the suspension for making uphill and cross country progress.
Brands who we represent with mountain bike suspension forks include Marzocchi, Fox, and Rock Shox. You can view the full range here, and if you have any questions about the right suspension fork for your requirements, just get in touch and we will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.