Need a set of front forks

[Max Tolerance]

Not now, not today but "soon" I will be needing a set of front forks for my Wisper Wayfarer. My own fault, washing the bike down, cleaning it within an inch of it's life and not putting any protective coating on the fork bodies and now they have rusted, not badly but I know from past experience it is only a matter of time before they start to leak. So my plan is to start looking now for a set of replacement forks.
I would be very grateful for your suggestions. I am not looking for some MTB downhill racer forks but on the other hand there are some bloody big potholes on the canal paths round here and some days the forks just don't do their job.

 

[saneagle]

Not now, not today but "soon" I will be needing a set of front forks for my Wisper Wayfarer. My own fault, washing the bike down, cleaning it within an inch of it's life and not putting any protective coating on the fork bodies and now they have rusted, not badly but I know from past experience it is only a matter of time before they start to leak. So my plan is to start looking now for a set of replacement forks.
I would be very grateful for your suggestions. I am not looking for some MTB downhill racer forks but on the other hand there are some bloody big potholes on the canal paths round here and some days the forks just don't do their job.

There's nothing in washing that makes them go rusty. It's the salt that they put on winter roads that does the damage. 27.5" forks are relatively expensive for decent ones that don't go rusty. You can generally go by the colour for how likely they are to go rusty. Shiny chrome is the worst, black is not too bad, and that olive colour is the best. There's gold too, but I'm not sure about that because I've never had any.

 

[Nealh]

One expect's Wisper will sell replacement forks.

 

[Raboa]

Forks Archives

Discover the ultimate selection of bike forks designed for performance and durability. Explore our range of mountain, road, and hybrid bike forks.

wisperbikes.com

https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/rockshox-judy-silver-tk-2021-fork?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwktO_BhBrEiwAV70jXgRgKxH3YkZCJy-mt1yUTvx89Kd1XTW9jj5xmD39yYcSEJ83MXY8UhoC0J0QAvD_BwE#183=390&185=21462&197=19667&301=16000&405=19189

 

[AndyBike]

Not now, not today but "soon" I will be needing a set of front forks for my Wisper Wayfarer. My own fault, washing the bike down, cleaning it within an inch of it's life and not putting any protective coating on the fork bodies and now they have rusted, not badly but I know from past experience it is only a matter of time before they start to leak. So my plan is to start looking now for a set of replacement forks.
I would be very grateful for your suggestions. I am not looking for some MTB downhill racer forks but on the other hand there are some bloody big potholes on the canal paths round here and some days the forks just don't do their job.

They dont do their job because they are cheap and suffer from stiction, so they only really react to bit impacts, and with little control due to poor or very very basic dampers.
And then there is the weight, 6lb+ in many cases, which is a fair bit on the front of the bike, and just adds horribly to the overall weight if you have to lift or carry it anywhere.

Do you know what the steerer size is ? Cant really tell from a pic of the bike. Maybe 1/8"-1/5" tapered, or 1/8"-1/4" tapered or whatever. Maybe Wisper could enlighten us on that score.

Pic also looks like a bolt through, though maybe just confirm that.

But if all as above 27.5", 110x15, 100mm, tapered
Step up from the RS silver- 50 quid more.

RockShox Judy Gold RL Motion Control Suspension Fork - 27.5" - 100mm B

RockShox Judy Gold RL Motion Control Suspension Fork - 27.5" - 100mm Black Premium performance at down-to-earth prices. Judy is ready to tackle any trail at a moments notice, and with Gold level providing aluminium plungers and a Motion Control damping cartridge, this makes it the ideal...

sportandleisure.com

 

[Max Tolerance]

Well, thank you all for your contributions, I didn't realise it being 27.5" it was such a big deal. I would have thought anything bigger would be fine (to a degree) of course there would be a point where the mudguard wouldn't fit and I am not sure about the rest. Certainly I will be exploring the Rokshox option and Winstanley bikes aren't too far from me so I would actually go and speak with someone before purchase.

 

[Max Tolerance]

Well, off I went to Winstanleys Bikes yesterday, actually I didn't make the journey there I called in on my way back from Knowsley. As I have often seen, a really massive, comprehensive website doesn't correspond to the equivalent physical presence though there was a great deal of stock on show and some truly impressive bikes.
Now as some of you may remember some time back I had an "incident" which resulted in me breaking a couple ribs. I had also broken the thumb throttle on the bike but I hadn't noticed.
Anticipating a real struggle getting the handlebar grip off I was in the market for some new grips.
Anyhow a really pleasant assistant there (Aaron) helped me with some advice and went off to get grips from the stock. The ones I would have bought off the Interweb I didn't like at all when I actually felt them, Silicone, bit like my ex's T1ts all promise and no substance.
We spoke for a while and he gave me some bits of useful advice, especially regarding the battery on my pal's Cube bike (lost the key for the battery so I am going to drill it out, the lock, not the battery).
I have a much better understanding now of front forks and my choice has widened a little more, I also get this part about the different axles and I think I can solve my conundrum easily enough regarding the 9mm QR axle my bike came with. In order to change axle types it is necessary to change the wheel! Sounds pretty logical to me.

 

[AndyBike]

Always felt that a bolt through axle is far superiour to a 9mmQR on the safety aspect.
Not that I've ever had a QR come out, even bumping about offroad, but it does a bit more than simply hold the wheel in, in that it also helps considerably with the stiffness, which itself contributes to wheel tracking.

As said, never had a wheel part company with the bike but after doing a seriously steep hill(road), that was really really long I got up to about 60mph

Doing 60 on a mtb isnt really that much fun, unless you call utterly shi****g yourself in mortal terror fun. I'd the distinct feeling that if anything happened to the front end, in shorts and Tshirt and no lid I wouldnt be walking away from such.

Thats the day I decided bolt through was the future of my riding.

 

[Max Tolerance]

So how do you go from 9mm QR to 15mm bolt through? Change the wheel?

 

[AndyBike]

So how do you go from 9mm QR to 15mm bolt through? Change the wheel?

Yes
But as 15mm bolt through is pretty much the norm now, getting a new front wheel for cheap is quite easy

Theres a little bit more to it in that your fork should be boost-which is 110mm as non boost is 100mm(old style). So you have to make sure your fork is 110mm to be able to fit the 110mm wheel
That said, pretty much all the 15mm bolt through forks on this modern era will be 110mm

Lucky thing is I've always went with Hope technology hubs, which can easily be changed from QR to 15mm or even 20mm, just by simple changing the end caps

Example -

https://www.hopetech.com/_repository/1/documents/Pro-4-Front-Hub-Assembly(1).pdf