What is a bicycle fork? Types of popular bicycle forks today

The bicycle fork helps the driver to control and balance the bike more easily, especially on mountain passes and rough roads. Join Tnhelearning.edu.vn to find out what a bicycle fork is and the most popular bicycle forks today!

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What is a bicycle fork?

The bicycle fork, also known as the shock absorber, is located in the front of the bicycle, helping to keep the front wheel with the body and minimizing the impact on the bike when moving. This is an important part to help the rider control and balance the bike more easily in all terrains.

The fork helps the car absorb shock effectively, especially with mountain bikes. It not only supports the weight but also reduces the impact, allowing the front wheel to stick closer to the ground and ensure safety. Therefore, the fork is an important part of the construction of a bicycle.

Bicycle forks help minimize shocks to the chassis

Structure of a bicycle fork

Bicycle fork has a simple structure, including the following details:

• Steerer tube: Fork neck tube
• Compression Adjustment: The knob can customize the compression or lock the fork
• Air valve: Inflatable valve head (only on air shock absorbers)
• Crown: Shoulder fork
• Stanchions: Forks
• Arch: Bridge
• Lowers: Fork legs
• Through Axle: Core shaft
• Rebound Adjustments: Customize rebound, fast or slow release compression of the shock absorber
• Drop outs: Shaft Holes

Small parts that make up a bicycle fork

Popular types of bicycle forks

On the market, there are 2 types of bicycle forks: shock absorbers (including spring and air forks) and non-shockable forks. Fork types are divided based on construction, shock absorber function, weight, maintenance and equipped on different bikes.

Fork without shock absorber

Non-shock fork is a metal tube fork with a hollow inside and no shock absorber function for bicycles. The effect of this fork is to help the driver limit the loss of strength when cycling on long distances or roads with flat terrain.

Non-damped forks are used in many current bicycles such as: Children’s bicycles , street bikes , touring bikes , sports bikes for women,…

The 29-inch Size M Merida Crossway100 Touring Street Bike has a Suntour 100 mm front fork structure made of solid aluminum

Fork with shock absorber

Fork with shock absorber includes 2 types : spring fork and air fork. Each type will have its own characteristics and is suitable for different types of vehicles.

Spring fork

Spring fork (Coil fork or compression spring fork) is a type of fork that uses the compression of the spring from the inside to respond to the shock force, not depending too much on the force from the outside. This type of fork is usually heavier than a non-damped fork.

The spring fork has a fairly simple structure, good stability, saves time to change when the vehicle moves in difficult terrain, low cost and easy to repair and maintain when damaged. However, this fork does not have much customization and will become stiff when used for a long time.

Spring forks are often equipped for off-road vehicles

Steam fork:

Air fork is a type of fork that works on the mechanism of compressing the air to react. When the fork absorbs or receives force from the outside, the air inside the fork will be compressed like a spring. The fork is subject to compression, the higher the compression, the greater the absorption.

The air fork is light in weight, smooth and has many customization options when in use. In addition to the car, this fork helps with good shock absorption, the car swings in the potholes will not shake hands and minimize the impact on the car.

However, this type of fork has a high cost and stability that is easily affected by air pressure when the ambient temperature changes. The maintenance process is more complicated because it needs to be equipped with a shock absorber pump.

The air fork has an extremely light structure and is easily adjusted depending on the compression weight of the operator

Spreadsheet comparing types of forks

Fork type	Vehicles equipped with	Damping function	Weight	Maintenance
Fork without shock absorber	Children’s bicycles, street bikes, touring bikes, sports bikes for women,…	Are not	Light	Simple maintenance
Spring fork	Off-road vehicle MTB	Shock absorption by spring compression	Quite heavy	Simple maintenance
Steam fork	Off-road vehicle MTB	Shock absorption thanks to the vapor compression mechanism, good damping ability	Light	Maintenance is quite complicated because it has to be equipped with a shock absorber pump

Above is information about what a bicycle fork is and the current popular types of bicycle forks that Tnhelearning.edu.vn provides to you. Hope this article will be useful for you in choosing a suitable car model at Tnhelearning.edu.vn!