Monday, March 26, 2012

Review: The Mosso Fork


Now the legendary Mosso fork. I have had it for a while, on my above commuter, I was using it in conjunction with Schwalbe Big Apples 2.0 (before I fitted it to knobbies above). The most popular review on Eightinches.com on the same fork made note on the following points:
Positives:
Stiff
Light
Cheap
Can be used with v- or disc brakes
Durable
Zero maintenance (due to lack of moving parts & aluminum construction)

Negatives:
Stiff
Difficulty installing star nut and bearing race
Low axle-to-crown height (394mm from axle center to top of crown)

Negatives:
The fact that the author put "stiff" in both the pros and cons was really what pretty much sums up this fork, it is crazy stiff, and yes I had read his review before going ahead with the purchase. Since I knew it was going to be so stiff, Schwalbe Big Apples was the natural choice for the front tire (Whatever for the back). I ran about 30-35 psi and this made the ride more comfortable than my road bike. The air inside my tubes eventually deflated slower till it hit single digit psi (<10 psi) and if felt so fun, like having some travel in the fork. So I guess the stiffness (or harshness) was no longer an issue for me.

When I was selling this fork, a buyer highlighted that the shape of the prongs of the fork are really bladed and knife like, while other higher ends fork are rounded. A rather good observation! Because it's so thin, vibrations are really hard to diffuse into the fork and are transferred straight to your hands. Just imagine the Mosso fork is your skating shoes, not really meant for anything other than perfectly flat ice rings! Of course you can help alleviate that by wearing think comfort socks (the Schwalbe Big Apples).

As for the crown race/bearing race I couldn't even get it anywhere near the bottom of the steerer with a hammer, down to the bike shop than... I needed a star nut anyway, so yes it's hard to get it down, but nothing a bike shop can't do for a small fee.

Low axle-to-crown height, this is actually a "Pro" for me. I ride it on road mostly, and wanted something low and aerodynamic! It fits perfectly! What's more, due to the lack of distance from the front wheel and in combination with how light the fork is, steering is incredibly light. It's so light that I wish all mountain bikes handle like this fork. Effortless is a understatement! Probably one of my favourite qualities of this fork

Price? I paid less than SGD $80 (USD $65) for it, you can get it cheaper from wholesalers and if you get it in bulk, but that is another story...

I also rather the disc brake mount be a IS mount instead of a POST, since I had to spend on a ridiculously overpriced Shimano adapter...

Final Verdict? It's great! Light and therefore fast! But the most compelling factor has to be it's price. Cheers!

4 comments:

  1. Was looking to start riding again after more than a decade of sedentary life. Chanced upon your site while looking for a good used bike (preferably MTB).

    Much has changed since I last rode; if you know of any shops/stores selling such bikes, I'm all ears. (Budget $150-$300).

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  2. For used bikes, you can't beat togoparts.com/marketplace!

    The last time I checked, Cheap John at Sembawang had a new Mongoose MTB, disc brakes and 8 spd...

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  3. I ran a straight fork like that (looks like the MTB FK26M3 on the mosso website) for about a year - maybe a year and a bit. It is 100mm suspension corrected so ocassionally I fitted a 29 inch wheel with a 2.1 tyre WTB moto raptor on it. The tyre had about 3mm clearance. The bike is a Giant Boulder 26 inch.
    I used this fork with the 29er wheel (as well as a 26 inch wheel fitted with a 2.5 WTB dissent tyre) for quite a few runs at the You Yangs, Australia. I took it through rocky sections and some small jumps, etc. I also used the bike as a commuter every once in a while. Still, it should be noted that I have a few other bikes so it was not used every day, or even every weekend.
    The fork is crazy light and it has quite a bit of flex, you can see it mostly when braking. It performed quite well for a year or so. It is not too hard on the wrists.
    All the time I had the fork I felt a little uncomfortable about its flex and durability.
    Fair enough, a week ago I checked it and it has a huge crack just above the brake caliper screw point. If I did not check it, it would have certainly failed.The crack is spread over half of the left steerer.
    Bottom line: if you want to use it for a commuter or want to run it only for a season, it may be a viable option. Otherwise, only use it if you like really extreme sports, like suddently riding without a front wheel.

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    Replies
    1. Interesting, the 29er wheel, rocky sections, small jumps...

      It's like we are almost talking about a totally different fork here. But anyway, this is one of the reasons why people don't go carbon. When Carbon fails, it's usually without warning. What we call catastrophic failure, it totally breaks in half. Or more.

      Even my SID Race 100mm started fail... Crazy amount of flex I got scared, I took it out and found a large crack on the steerer tube... But that's another story...

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