Kona Project 2 forks

[silverclaws]

I am thinking to change my aheadset forks back to threaded forks, but I have a few questions;

I see a lot of Kona Project 2 forks about, which are threaded, one and and eight inch, being what I need, but what is it about these forks that is special, would they be a better option than say one of the forks of the ebay shop bankrupt and clearance bike bits ?

If I convert to the older threaded system, I would have to change the headset wouldn't I ?

How do I measure my bike so that I know what length steerer tube fits, is it just the length of the steerer tube on the bike plus the bearing race cups ?

The reason I am thinking about this conversion, is because I think the aheadset sucks, don't get me wrong, it is not that I think it is a pile of poo full stop, but it is not versatile enough for my needs. I grew up with quill stems and the ability to raise, lower and generally adjust them with ease, this thing I have, I just feel kind of limited with it. There is one other reason I wish to go back, and that is for the fitment of a brake cable stop above the headset, as the present position I feel to be an ill thought out idea, something which does not inspire confidence and in practice, doesn't work to my satisfaction.

I know with fleabay, I can get a fork for about a tenner, and an old Zoom stem, or even the once hankered after Proflex stem very cheaply, so the option is there to do it, even just for the experience. Has it ever been cheaper than now ?

One thing though I will go for though, a headset lock, as my old Deore XT headset was forever coming undone, why I have no idea, everything I tried worked for a while then came undone again.

 

[2alexcoo]

I wouldn't bother, those very cheap forks are likely to be hi-ten steel and very heavy. If your bars are too low couldn't you just get an ahead stem with more rise on it?

As for the brake hanger, I am using one of these on my ahead setup:

 

[Mr Panda]

Easy enough to convert back if you want to - just replace all the ahead bits with relevant sized quill apparatus for your bike. LBS will advise if you're unsure. Alternatively you could try an adjustable stem unit on the ahead set up (although I 'm not a fan, had one before but just didn't like it)

I got a temporary set of bankrupt ahead forks off the saracen chappy and they weigh in at 1010grams which was better than i expected. Good quality too with just a few storage marks. I have a set of Project 2 Jump Forks which are 1250g

Heres another question for folk - if a frame was supplied with 1" forks - can you change the headset and use 1 and eighth forks and headset or won't that fit?

 

[silverclaws]

Yes, I saw them, the Satori Heads up stem extender, it is still a possibility, as with that I could add a cable hanger for cantis. The Heads Up thing allows up to a three inch rise, attained by spacers, my idea was to use one and decide the height I like then go at it with a pipe cutter to cut the excess off, as sure it will annoy me.

The aheadset thing I have now, there is no way I can raise it to fit a hanger, not even 3mm due to some berk cutting the steering tube too short, as it is of the two clamping bolts that hold the aheadset on, one of them is not doing much except distorting the stem clamp, it is clamping fresh air.

 

[Anthony]

I don’t know exactly what it is about P2s but they have always been regarded as a good fork. BITD, people used to fit them as an upgrade to other makes. Personally I prefer Orange F7s, but then again somebody bigger and heavier than me might find F7s too flexy, I don’t know. P2s have always been renowned for good handling and accurate tracking, and I’d be surprised if the kind of forks you see on bankrupt stock sites were as good.

P2s come in either triple-butted (c850g) or plain-gauge (c1,050g). The pg model was supplied most years only with the Hahanna and Fire Mountain, and to my taste the tb model is far superior, although again if you’re 16 stone you might prefer the heavier fork. Many eBay sellers and buyers don’t appear to differentiate between tb and pg, so consequently their prices are surprisingly similar.

Up to 93, P2s had a 39cm axle to crown length, but from 94 to 96 they were made to a ‘suspension-adjusted’ length of 41cm. Which is better for you depends on the particular frame you have in mind.

Yes you would need to change your headset, at least the upper part. In my experience, you need a fork with a steerer c3cms longer than your head tube, although as you say that will vary slightly with the stack height of the headset. Kona made their steerers 32mm longer than the head tube to suit the Impact headset.

And to Mr Panda, no sadly it isn’t possible to fit a 1&1/8 steerer to a 1” head tube.

 

[Err]

P2s come in either triple-butted (c850g) or plain-gauge (c1,050g). The pg model was supplied most years only with the Hahanna and Fire Mountain, and to my taste the tb model is far superior, although again if you’re 16 stone you might prefer the heavier fork. Many eBay sellers and buyers don’t appear to differentiate between tb and pg, so consequently their prices are surprisingly similar.

Up to 93, P2s had a 39cm axle to crown length, but from 94 to 96 they were made to a ‘suspension-adjusted’ length of 41cm. Which is better for you depends on the particular frame you have in mind.

Just a quick question on weights of Triple Butted and Plain Gauge P2s. On the bikeman site it lists the weight as 1040g for TB P2. Is this because of the uncut steerer and suspension corrected length? Or is it possible these are actually PG forks?

Kona Project 2, 440mm a-c: One of BIKEMAN's all time favorites. A truly nice, suspension corrected, triple butted CrMo rigid fork for 26 wheels. The distance from the center of the axle to the crown race is 440mm. This fork would look great on any type of mountain frame. Especially for you single-speeders looking for a light weight rigid fork. The fork has a 1-1/8 Inch threadless steerer tube and does NOT have disc mounts. The fork weighs 1040 grams on the Bikeman Scale.

http://www.bikeman.com/KON-P2MTN440.html

 

[Caramba Kid]

Just a quick question on weights of Triple Butted and Plain Gauge P2s. On the bikeman site it lists the weight as 1040g for TB P2. Is this because of the uncut steerer and suspension corrected length? Or is it possible these are actually PG forks?

Yeah they'll be PG, I have 2 sets of 390mm axle to crown TB with 200mm threaded steer (for 21" Kona frames) and they weigh 900g

 

[Anthony]

I have a 44cm triple-butted P2 here with a 22.7cm steerer and I've just weighed it at 933g. On the same scale, a 1995 tb 41cm P2 with 14.2cm steerer weighs 785g, a 1997 tb 41cm with 18.8cm steerer weighs 848g and a 23cm Marzocchi steel steerer weighs 268g. So if a steerer weighs something like 11g/cm, then most if not quite all of the difference between 95 and 97 is in the steerer, but the 44cm is slightly heavier than a 41 (as you would expect).

A 1998 pg 41cm with an 18.5cm steerer weighs 1016g, and I think they've made them stronger since then, so I would expect a modern 44cm pg with full steerer to be well in excess of 1100.

Nevertheless, that 1040 for a tb is a bit heavier than I would expect for tb, although I don't know what the modern spec is. In any case though, Bikeman are a reputable firm and surely they wouldn't try to pass off pg forks as tb?

 

[njgoldby]

Did some frames come with double butted P2's in the mid 90's? I can't remember.
It may have just been an incorrect e-bay or online shop listing I have seen.