There are a number of questions you need to consider when buying a new bike. One of the biggest ones it whether or not to get a bike that has front suspension. There are as many opinions on this matter as there are bikers. Rather than present yet another pro or con argument, I’ll just lay out the facts.

1. Front suspension does make your bike heavier. How much does weight matter to you? Will you be loading your bike onto the front of buses? If you need a lighter bike, you might need to get one without front suspension.

2. Front suspension can make biking more comfortable. Hardcore, all-season commuters are immune to the discomforts that come with biking, but newer riders may want something that’s a little easier on their wrists.

3. Front suspension provides vibration reduction. If you’re going to be riding on rough terrain or gravelly roads, you’ll appreciate the vibration reduction.

4. You have to know how to fix them. It’s not all that hard, but if you are used to fixing your own bike and haven’t had one with front suspension, you’ll have to learn how to fix it if something happens to it.

How Front Suspensions Work

Front suspensions rely on coil springs to provide that extra cushion that can help reduce vibrations and the impact on your joints. To create springs that make for effective front suspension, coil manufacturers rely on sophisticated coil bending technology. The thing about bikes is that they are a sum of their parts, so a bike is only as strong as its weakest part. That’s something else you need to keep in mind when you buy a bike with front suspensions — is suspension something you really need, or is it just another set of parts that you need to take care of?

Remember, even if you choose to buy a bike with suspension and decide it’s not right for you, you can replace that fork with a rigid one. However, as they say, it’s always to measure ten times and cut once, etc. Decide whether you want suspension before you get a bike, and save yourself time and money.

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Photo credit: amphalon / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

~ Jack

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A friend of mine suspected that something was wrong with her derailleur, and she said as much to her boyfriend. Next thing she knew, he had taken the derailleur off her bike and taken the whole thing apart, completely stripping all of the screws and fasteners in the process. My friend was enraged. I told her that she had to find out eventually that she was dating Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, but she didn’t laugh.

“I have to get a whole new derailleur now,” she said. “Because he wrecked mine. I have to wait for it to be shipped! And I never asked him to do anything to it at all!”

Not wanting to play couples’ counselor, I avoided that last statement and asked her if I could take a look at the derailleur myself. She was right about one thing: it showed a lot of wear. In about another 100 miles she would need to replace it. But she could use it until she received the new one that she had ordered — if it could be put back together.

Button head screws from JHP Fasteners. We used these to put my friend’s derailleur back together.

Luckily, I have a lot of inventory from JHP Fasteners. I looked through what I had until I found screws and fasteners that would fit, and let her derailleur live for another week until she could replace it with a new one. I was surprised to hear they even had a version of the popular pem nuts which I hope to use on an ancient hub I’m repairing.

I’ve been a fan of JHP Fasteners ever since I met one of their reps at a tradeshow. Bottom line is, whenever I need to replace a screw or nut on one of my bikes, JHP Fasteners has what I need. A while back I decided to stock up and just ordered a bunch, which means I’m always prepared to help out a friend when her buffoon BF breaks her bike.

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