Fork vibration

"mikeg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bike is a new Trek 4900 with the Judy fork. I bought it
for my wife,

she'll

Quoted message said:

rarely ride it. I just bought it for her so she could ride
with me when

she

Quoted message said:

felt like it. She loves it, BTW, says it's the best bike
she's ever been on. She may ride a gravel road with it
someday, other than that it'll be strictly roads.

But tonight I've got my 225 lbs on this thing, and I'm
coasting down a

nice

Quoted message said:

paved incline and begin leaning on the brakes to slow up a
bit, more pressure applied to the rear than the front, and
I notice that the front fork shudders every time I touch
the brake. I'm doing maybe 20mph. I don't experiment to
verify, but I'm pretty

certain

Quoted message said:

that if I increase front braking pressure much things are
going to get

scary

Quoted message said:

pretty quickly.

So, is this just a "Trek thing", or should I take it in to
the LBS with

the

Quoted message said:

expectation that a properly adjusted Judy fork on a Trek
4900 won't behave so badly.

Getting back into this whole bike thing is so cool, btw.
I'm 42 and

haven't

Quoted message said:

ridden since I was 25.

Thanks for any input.

About this "vibration"... Does it happen only at or over a
high(er) speed like 20 mph? Or does it happen at a slower
speed? Can you hear it too? Can you feel it too? Or can you
just see it?

You know, the RS Judy fork these days is a very low end
fork, I would check it out but it might just be that flexy!

Check the headset by applying the front brake and rocking
back and forth while feeling around the hs cup for movement
with you hand.

Any noises when you do this or apply the front brake (except
for normal brake pad sound - same as back brake) is bad!

Does it do that when you wife rides it? I assume she weighs
less than you so if it doesn't shudder your weight is just
too much for it.

BTW you weight is on the upper range of what you could get
springs for even a higher end RS like the Psylo.

mikeg said:

Bike is a new Trek 4900 with the Judy fork. I bought it
for my wife, she'll rarely ride it. I just bought it for
her so she could ride with me when she felt like it. She
loves it, BTW, says it's the best bike she's ever been on.
She may ride a gravel road with it someday, other than
that it'll be strictly roads.

But tonight I've got my 225 lbs on this thing, and I'm
coasting down a nice paved incline and begin leaning on
the brakes to slow up a bit, more pressure applied to the
rear than the front, and I notice that the front fork
shudders every time I touch the brake. I'm doing maybe
20mph. I don't experiment to verify, but I'm pretty
certain that if I increase front braking pressure much
things are going to get scary pretty quickly.

So, is this just a "Trek thing", or should I take it in to
the LBS with the expectation that a properly adjusted Judy
fork on a Trek 4900 won't behave so badly.

Getting back into this whole bike thing is so cool, btw.
I'm 42 and haven't ridden since I was 25.

If the bike is set up properly for your wife, you should
stay the heck off it! (Unless, of course, she also
weighs 225.)

Are these V-brakes or discs? Take it back to the shop, and
tell 'em what happened. They should check it out for free.

For the riding you say your wife will do, suspension is counter-
productive. Big fat tires are plenty cushy for roads and
occasional gravel pathways. (But since you've got it, don't
set the shock super-soft, at least.)

Bill "random thoughts" S.

On 2004-07-11, mikeg penned:

Quoted message said:

Bike is a new Trek 4900 with the Judy fork. I bought it
for my wife, she'll rarely ride it. I just bought it for
her so she could ride with me when she felt like it. She
loves it, BTW, says it's the best bike she's ever been on.
She may ride a gravel road with it someday, other than
that it'll be strictly roads.

But tonight I've got my 225 lbs on this thing, and I'm
coasting down a nice paved incline and begin leaning on
the brakes to slow up a bit, more pressure applied to the
rear than the front, and I notice that the front fork
shudders every time I touch the brake. I'm doing maybe
20mph. I don't experiment to verify, but I'm pretty
certain that if I increase front braking pressure much
things are going to get scary pretty quickly.

You say that she loves it. Does *she* experience fork
vibration when *she* rides it?

If she's much lighter than you and the fork is set up for
her weight, I suppose all sorts of things could go wonky
when you ride it.

Quoted message said:

So, is this just a "Trek thing", or should I take it in to
the LBS with the expectation that a properly adjusted Judy
fork on a Trek 4900 won't behave so badly.

I never had fork vibration on my Trek. It sounds like either
a "the shock isn't set up for 225 pounds" thing or,
possibly, a "this bike may not have been set up well" thing.

--
monique

Quoted message said:

But tonight I've got my 225 lbs on this thing, and I'm
coasting down a nice paved incline and begin leaning on
the brakes to slow up a bit, more pressure applied to the
rear than the front, and I notice that the front fork
shudders every time I touch the brake.

Your wheel is likely out of true. Spin it and see if it
exhibits wobble at the brake pads. If so, get it fixed
at an LBS.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

mikeg said:

Bike is a new Trek 4900 with the Judy fork. I bought it
for my wife, she'll rarely ride it. I just bought it for
her so she could ride with me when she felt like it. She
loves it, BTW, says it's the best bike she's ever been on.
She may ride a gravel road with it someday, other than
that it'll be strictly roads.

But tonight I've got my 225 lbs on this thing, and I'm
coasting down a nice paved incline and begin leaning on
the brakes to slow up a bit, more pressure applied to the
rear than the front, and I notice that the front fork
shudders every time I touch the brake. I'm doing maybe
20mph. I don't experiment to verify, but I'm pretty
certain that if I increase front braking pressure much
things are going to get scary pretty quickly.

So, is this just a "Trek thing", or should I take it in to
the LBS with the expectation that a properly adjusted Judy
fork on a Trek 4900 won't behave so badly.

Getting back into this whole bike thing is so cool, btw.
I'm 42 and haven't ridden since I was 25.

Thanks for any input.

The Judy is a horrid fork. Actually, Rock Shox should've
called it Gumby. I constantly had problems with mine rubbing
on the brake rotor, especially when turning. Eventually, I
had it replaced with a much better (non-Rock Shox) fork.

There might be other problems with the frame (??), but most
likely it's just the fork. You should have the shop take a
look at it and try to duplicate the problem.

--
Slacker

Quoted message said:

I suppose all sorts of things could go wonky when you
ride it.

Yes! I'm not the only one that says "wonky!" *high-five*
--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

On 2004-07-11, ZeeExSixAre penned:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I suppose all sorts of things could go wonky when you
ride it.

Yes! I'm not the only one that says "wonky!" *high-five*

*grin*

It's entirely possible I picked it up from you, I suppose =)

--
monique