# Has anyone tried the White Bros. Tandem Fork?



## Team Fubar Rider (Sep 3, 2003)

I am looking to do some upgrading on our tandem (C'Dale MT1000 with about 1 stock part left). We currently have an old school Judy XL with Englund Air cartridges in it (these were the ones made for tandems, as per their tech dept.) Obviously, this fork is ready for the museum and we need to upgrade. My criteria is a fork that has 4-5" of travel and will withstand the forces a tandem puts on a fork, which puts me preferably into a double crown fork. About the only fork that fits the bill is the White Brothers Tandem fork. What can anyone tell me about the fork? Is it worth it or should I be looking at something else?


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## Trails4Two (May 12, 2008)

*White Fork*

I was making the same decision for our tandem and ended up with an ATC fork (www.atcracing.com) For us it came down to two things 1) I wanted 5" of travel 2) the white just looked too skinny. I talked to other users who said the White is good, but does wiggle a bit. The ATC is very solid and has a lower axle to crown measurement, so it should affect your geometry less. That said, I'm in the process of getting rid of mine after having issues with the bushings. They were re-speced slightly tighter to reduce play, but mine were too tight and caused sticking. They are aware of this and can use old style bushings if you choose. We are now on a Marzocchi Jr T, which feels great, but would be way too tall for your bike.


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## TandemNut (Mar 12, 2004)

Pros: 
If you're a team around or under 300 lbs, the fork is an excellent choice. 
The IMV damping circuit works very well, and for the '09 model year it will also have a full lockout mode again (which it really didn't need). 
The Thru-axle comes out with 3 allen bolts, so that's easier than some other forks.
The fork weighs about 5.5 lbs, which is in the ballpark of virtually any other light-ish fork that can be used on a tandem.
WB's durability has improved dramatically over the past couple of years, and to date we haven't had any service issues with the latest generation of forks.
The crown to axle measurement is tied for shortest with ATC's fork, so you'll have less effect on the Cannondale's geometry.
For racier teams who aren't clydesdale, the fork climbs very well and provides some very effective bounce control on smooth surfaces.
Based on what you're running now, it will feel like a dramatic improvement.

Cons:
If you're a team much over 300 lbs, you'll get less performance out of the fork.
For heavier teams, it seems that the air spring assist needed to ramp the spring rate up also makes the fork less responsive to small bumps and trail noise. A less responsive fork tends to flex front to back more, which bugs me a little to watch.
The disc rotor is within 1-2mm of the fork leg, so you can't run rotors with alloy centers like Magura's Ventidisc or Hope's 2 pc rotors.
The fork is relatively expensive.
The fork does flex with heavier loads on it.

We have a WB Magic 100T on our demo daVinci (newly returned to the demo fleet), and Kim and I spent quality some time on it a couple of weekends ago. Before airing it up considerably, I was able to bounce on it by myself and bottom it out pretty hard. After airing it up, the fork became much less plush.
Our team weight is about 370+ lbs (most of that is me).


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## Team Fubar Rider (Sep 3, 2003)

Big Nut,

We're a tandem team that is of similar, ahem, stature as you. If not the WB, then which fork? I am not opposed to a single crown if it is the right fork, as well as more (or less) travel if, again, it is the right fork.


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## TandemNut (Mar 12, 2004)

ATC's tandem fork is still a good choice. I spent Saturday at a festival with our demo tandems, which always gives me an opportunity to watch the fork action when folks are riding the tandems.
The ATC's that we have are well-broken in, and are buttery smooth and reasonably plush for a non-open bath fork; it was clear watching them work Saturday that it's a good platform. 
The trick is to get one past the recent bushing fit issues. I think ATC has worked that out, the last few we've had through here have been fine. I still think it's the best tandem fork for the money.
White Bros makes an inverted DH fork that they've built at 120mm travel for me a couple of times. I haven't had enough experience to know how they're doing long-term, but the fork is certainly stiff, plush and tuneable. Kind of expensive though.
We're talking with a Japanese company about building us some forks, but not sure how soon we'll have something (testing the prototype now). Cost on that will be mid to high 700's at least.
I wish we had more options!


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