Pro connect upgrade advice please

[Polar753]

Hi, the title says it all.

Its the time of year to give my trusty steed an early xmas present.

The bike is a great bit of kit, but I agree with previous reviews, the brakes are a bit weak for the weight of the bike, with me being a pasty muncher not helping the cause either.

The other known issue is the ride is a tad on the harsh side especially as the council are broke and wont fix the roads. No surprise at the amount of 4x4 that have appeared recently.

So with the new bikes getting front shocks and disk brakes i'm getting green eyes and rather than buying a new bike, how about an upgrade?

I could forget the shocks and just put some of these on. Any idea which version?
Magura HS33 Black Brakes 2011 | Buy Online | ChainReactionCycles.com

Or I have found these:
SR Suntour NCX D Suspension Fork

Which are similar to what is fitted to:
Electric Bikes - Commuting - Kalkhoff Pro Connect S Electric Bike

I realise that I'd need a new wheel which increases the cost, plus the hassle of changing out the forks is a bit of an unknown as well as purchasing disk brakes, but I think the upgrade would be worth it.

I'm a bit reluctant to chat to a standard shop as I can't be bothered with the eye rolling when I say ebike...

Anyway if anyone has done it i'd be really interested how it worked out.

Cheers.

 

[Morgann]

Disk brakes? The V brakes on my C8 seem fine.
Try a suspension seatpost to soften the ride a bit; it's going to be my next but one mod... After the 16 tooth rear sprocket of course.

 

[NRG]

Couple of options off the top-of-my-head:

1) Low cost option, fit a set of Schwalbe Big Apple tyres for extra comfort and fit the HS33 brake on the existing wheel front only to increase stopping power. I have the HS33 on my Proconnect S and they work really well...add a rear one for even better braking.

2) Go with the Suntour NCX D Lite 1 1/8" steerer...cut to length, use existing headset if compatible, fit new disc compatible front wheel or rebuild exiting one with disc compatible hub add in hydraulic disk brake of your choice...I would forget suspension seat posts they seem to rarely work well IME...

 

[andyh2]

Polar, I bought an 09 PC from here. I generally prefer rigid forks to the complications of sus forks, but found the PC ones brutal. I was very lucky and found someone selling a pair of sus forks from their 2011 PC for £25 posted. Having got them on the bike I'm very pleased and would happily have paid the new price for the ride improvement. I'm 13-14 stone and I suspect that for proper off road the spring would ideally be a heavier weight one. On road and easier tracks though the extra sensitivity is actually a bonus and being an electric bike I'm not out of the saddle on the hills so there's none of that bouncing around you can get with softer forks on non-e bikes. It does have a remote lock out facility but I don't use it.

The 2011 PC fork is disc only (and has mounts further up the stanchion for the mudguards so they clear a disc brake, just have to cut the stays down to fit.) I thought I'd need a new wheel, but turns out 'those' 28 spoke shimano wheels are disc ready for a shimano centre lock rotor. I got a 6 bolt rotor adapter and fitted my favourite brake -a cable operated Avid BB7 disc brake. Very happy with the braking too now. Still V brake at the rear as the frame won't take a rear disc, but since the front does most of the braking I'll not worry about that. You can get a single BB7 for £50 and use the standard PC lever with it (you'll need centre lock to 6 bolt adapter though, got mine s/h for a tenner). You might prefer a hydraulic disc, but would have unmatched brake levers.

All in all very worthwhile improvements. I can relax much more when I ride now without fearing road imperfections. Especially nice since I don't always see them coming up in the dark. Might fit a suspension seat post too.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Suspension seatpins and cheap suspension forks are beter than no suspension, but not by much. If you want a more comfortable ride, you need high quality (normally expensive) stuff like proper air forks from Rockshox or Fox. If you're lucky, you can pick them up second hand on Ebay for a good price. I started with the cheapo Suntours, then upgraded to Rockshox Darts, which were better, but I didn't know what I was missing until I tried the Rockshox Rebas on the Haibike. Now I have them on my main bike and Fox Floats on my other one. I'd never go back to lesser forks just for the comfort that they give. I don't even bother looking for the broken surfaces any more - I just glide over them. It also helps a lot to have air suspension on the rear, but that's not an option for you. Sprung saddles are another option for you. I find them better than the sprung seat-pins.

It's not a difficult job to change forks - about 10 minutes if you know what you're doing.

 

[andyh2]

Ordinarily I'd agree that no suspension is better than cheap suspension. I've ended up sticking with rigid forks and bigger tyres off road as otherwise I'm always considering a fork upgrade. However, I reckon the standard 2011 PC fork is fine for road and milder tracks. Better forks would be, well better, but I don't think better forks are needed for e-bike commuting. I was tempted to go for a decent steel fork, but in my case it was actually cheaper as I bought s/h.

 

[RussJ]

I have fitted telescopic type suspension seat posts in the past and found them to be better than nothing but only just...
This time round I used a parallelogram type on my Pro Connect Disc 8 which is far more effective. I bought a Suntour post for about £30 and find it far more comfortable than the telescopic one. The only thing that you need to get used to is the slight rearward motion when you hit a bump...
Russ

 

[Scottyf]

I've been playin with the idea for fitting a better seat post. Since i still enjoy the rigid feel of a hard tail as I feel they are more predictable and don't like the idea of being cramped on a 26inch MTB for commuting.
Maybe its just me but I prefere the longer wheelbase of a 29er.

Only problem is there is never any decent 29er front forks of 700c forks that are worth there salt cheaply.
Same with seat posts.

I think if I upgrade to a better fork (Mine are blown and knackered and seals have gone but there only cheap front suspension) and a more plush seat post and I think i'll be a happy bunny.

Anyone recommend any decent 700c suspension forks?
And affordable rear seatpost?

 

[mikep]

Suspension forks - my BH is fitted with the Suntour NEX fork with mechanical lock out (the model down from the NCX?), I can't say that I'm that impressed with them due to the slight forward/backward play in the forks and using the bike on cycle tracks and the road I'm not actively convinced, that even when properly set up with preload, that they improve ride comfort. What I have found more effective at combatting ruts on tracks and poor road surfaces is a set of 622x50 Schwalbe Supreme tyres. I've set up the suspension forks hard on the adjuster and leave them locked out which allows very limited travel if I do hit a pot hole, but at least they don't "dive".

Interestingly my wifes Raleigh Dover has Raleigh badged RST mechanical suspension forks (without lockout) which do seem to perform quite well with no fore / aft movement, and handle the differing surfaces much better than the Suntour forks. Both pairs of forks are approx max 65mm travel.

I suspect much of it is too do with the spring fitted to mechanical (as opposed to air) forks and their designed weight range.

I intend to replace the Suntour forks with a reasonable pair of steel forks, which hopefully will provide an element of flex and save 1kg+ of weight.

 

[flecc]

Another vote for Schalbe Big Apple tyres, they really are "suspension for bikes" as claimed. The 2" ones would be sufficient to bring a big improvement for minimal effort.

 

[kitchenman]

Another vote for Schalbe Big Apple tyres, they really are "suspension for bikes" as claimed. The 2" ones would be sufficient to bring a big improvement for minimal effort.

Big Apples are great. But it does depend on the terrain. On my flint infected commute I have been getting some punctures. If I was still using the Spirit I would have to replace the BAs with MPs. My Street Machine now has MPs 2 inch on the front (20") and 1.5 inch on the rear (26") ... and now as the cold weather bites I have a nice warm feeling inside! ...

 

[JamesC]

I purchased my ProConnect when they first arrived, back in May 2008.

At that time, they were offered only with solid front forks which were fine for me on good tarmac, but extremely harsh on gravel/cinder tracks.

I had the opportunity to compare the solid forks with the RST coil spring forks (Verso Adjust) fitted to the Agattu and Tasman. These gave a very comfortable ride; ideal for the town and for carrying the grandsons in front child seats. But I found them to be a little too soft for longer rides around country roads and tracks.

I think it was 2009 when the ProConnect S arrived with hard, coil spring forks (RST again). A number of reports came in to the forum saying that these were hard by comparison with many suspension forks; particularly in comparison with long-travel, off road suspension.

However, I decided to try them, partly because there were no question marks about these forks matching the frame and headset of the original ProConnect.

Having some give in them compared to the solid forks was a relief and did take much of the pressure off my shoulders, and I posted favourable reports here in the forum.

But my 30-40 mile rides began to include more variable/off-road surfaces - shoulder discomfort returned and I felt that there was too much bounce/loss of contact when riding on gravel or stony tracks.

As an aside, the hard coil springs in the RST forks could be softened with a little more weight at the front, and proved to work quite well with front panniers.

Perhaps I could have tried harder, but I was also unable to find out much about the exact model of the Kalkhoff RST forks and exactly what internals could be changed to vary the ride. The "remote lock out" could only make the ride harder, and so was of little use.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, there are any number of alternative forks for 26" wheeled bikes, but the options for 700C wheels are considerably fewer. The market is dominated by Suntour and RST.

I was keen to try Air Sprung forks rather than Coil Sprung, so that I did not have to define "hardness" and "softness" in advance.

I settled on the Suntour NCX E RL Lite.

I have been using these over the summer, and enjoyed every minute of my cycling, regardless of surface. Wear and tear on me has improved immensely, but more than this has been the improvement in control on rough surfaces - an all round succes.

When looking at Suntour forks:
"E" defines them as air sprung ("D" refers to coil sprung)
"RL" refers to Remote Lock Out (probably less important on e-bikes unless frequently riding without assistance)

"SF" = model year which I have shown as 2011 in the link above. (Mine were ordered as SF10 (2010), but have all the appearances of the 2011 model. Not sure why, but they look and function very well.

So far, I am very pleased with the choice. I am running the pressure in the forks at around 105 psi, and noticed that the pressure had dropped a little as we came into the cooler, autumn weather. A couple of minutes to top up the pressure, and all back to normal.

I should add that these forks are equipped both for V brakes (rim) or disc brakes.

I use Magura HS11 rim brakes on the front of the bike with the regular, long lever to reach over the rotary gear changer - I would imagine that the forks are just as effective if disc brakes are used.

James

 

[Polar753]

Hi all,

Thanks for the good advice.

I have already fitted a suspension seat post and that helped with comfort a bit, my biggest problem is constantly having to weave about to avoid the constant 3-4 inch wide / deep holes everywhere, if I do hit one it feels like the bike is going to fall apart, or me for that matter. The trails I often ride are better than the roads in many places.

I have thought about big chunky tyres, but I have just ordered winter tyres, very icy where I live today.
Top Contact Winter 2 Tyre

So really I'd like a reasonable air front shock with either HS33/11 or a disk setup, not that bothered, just want something that works.

James,I like the look of the Suntour NCX E RL Lite, its discontinued damn, can you remember what size you needed.

Thanks again.

 

[JamesC]

James,I like the look of the Suntour NCX E RL Lite, its discontinued damn, can you remember what size you needed.

I think that the Suntour NCX E RL Lite might well still be available in 2012, but not widely sold in the UK. I am awaiting an answer on that.

Your bike is a later ProConnect than mine, but I would expect the requirements to be the same.

Follow the link in the post above to the Suntour website, and click on Show More Details.
You will see the specification that you are looking for.

In particular:
Travel 63mm is normal for this type of bike
Steerer tube 1 1/8" diameter with 30mm diameter at the base to accept the Crown Race
Unthreaded steerer tube for your Ahead handlebar stem
Length of steerer tube 255 mm is the normal full length for a new set of forks

Note that you might need to reduce the length of the steerer tube depending on your saddle height and the posture that you like for your cycling.

For me, it is easy because I like to cycle in a fairly upright position, so I have stayed with the full length of 255mm, and added additional spacers to raise the handlebars. The handlebar stem on the ProConnect is adjustable for the final height adjustment.

Note also that if you are fitting disc brakes, the maximum diameter of the disc will be stated for any given fork, based on the position of the bolt holes for the brake caliper. These forks state 185mm as the maximum diameter for the disc, but I have no experience of the alternatives that you might consider.

Do take time to prepare for a fork change if you have no previous experience. Certainly it can be done quite quickly if the right tools and other bits and pieces are to hand.

James

 

[andyh2]

A 160mm disc rotor is plenty big enough so the 185mm max is sensible.

 

[Polar753]

Hi James

Thanks again, its nice to know your happy with the result and understand the issue of control over rough surfaces. All I need to do now is find somewhere that sells them and make sure they are compatible. There seem to be an infinite number of types and variations, but few 700c options.

Do you remember where you purchased from, the nearest I can find so far is:Suntour NRX S RL Air 700c Forks 2010 | Buy Online | ChainReactionCycles.com

I have even been considering a carbon fork as they are supposed to be much more forgiving.

Thanks again to everyone who has replied.

These looked interesting until I got to "no disk,v-brakes etc"
Rock Shox Ruby suspension road fork 700c Gr8 1" threaded Touring Panniers | eBay

 

[JamesC]

Unable to find them in the UK, I purchased from Bike-Components in Germany - the choice is black (schwarz) or silver. This company helped me out a couple of years ago with a next day delivery to a campsite when I was staying in Germany.

However, they are on long delivery at the present time from Bike Components so I would email them to find out a delivery date.

I find that the Germans and Dutch are much more interested in bikes and parts for larger wheels than we are in the UK. A much higher percentage of bikes use 700C wheels, and consequently you can find a wider range of forks.

James

 

[Polar753]

Thanks for that, I'm quite surprised how difficult it is to find 700c forks. I have read that its possible to use mtb forks with some kind of converter for the brakes, but it sounds a little messy to me.

I'll try to send an email to bike-components, otherwise the chain reaction Suntours look about the only option.

The uk does seem to be quite MTB oriented, I think its more of a looks thing.

Cheers

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I don't know whether these are any good. They might be better than what you've already got.
RST NEON 2010 700C CROSS TREKKING SUSPENSION FORK RED | eBay
RST NEON 2010 700C CROSS TREKKING SUSPENSION FORK | eBay

 

[Polar753]

Hi d8veh

I found those and decided to try and get something a bit stronger, and an air fork if possible.

Thanks anyway.