# single fork bike



## deadcowboy (Jun 25, 2008)

hey yall, 
a bit ago i picked up a mountain bike mag, forget which one. and the feature bike had a single fork bike, or instead of a fork it had only 1 rod goin to the wheel, do ya know this bike. ive been trying to find it. not that i can affordit just wanted to check it out agian.


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## Call_me_Al (May 31, 2008)

that is probably a lefty on a cannondale that you are thinking of.


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## GuruAtma (May 17, 2004)

It's called a "Lefty" fork, made by cannondale. They're good forks. You don't have to remove the wheel to change a tire. But if you do have to remove the wheel for some reason (like fitting it in your car), it's more involved than a traditional fork.


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## deadcowboy (Jun 25, 2008)

thanks


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## davis (Jan 12, 2004)

GuruAtma said:


> It's called a "Lefty" fork, made by cannondale....You don't have to remove the wheel to change a tire.


I hear this wonderful feature mentioned all the time in Lefty debates. I've never ridden one and I don't care to rehash any other assets/liabilities of the Lefty except for the one above. I would think it would be more cumbersome to change a tube on a rim while it was still attached to the frame, no? Doesn't seem like an asset worth mentioning. I'm guessing some/many Lefty owners still remove the rim to change flats, no? Just wondering.


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## aaron04 (May 26, 2008)

There is no way I could ever get used to looking at that, it is just too strange! I'm sure its a good bike, but it never stops looking like there is something wrong. Kinda like a one legged man, I almost feel guilty for looking. A.H


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## OldNick (Aug 7, 2006)

aaron04 said:


> There is no way I could ever get used to looking at that, it is just too strange! I'm sure its a good bike, but it never stops looking like there is something wrong. Kinda like a one legged man, I almost feel guilty for looking. A.H


Hah! That';s just what I was thinking!

Also it made feel as if I would have to ride with just one pedal, cranking! 

Nick


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## aaron04 (May 26, 2008)

OldNick said:


> Hah! That';s just what I was thinking!
> 
> Also it made feel as if I would have to ride with just one pedal, cranking!
> 
> Nick


Yeah, or that maybe you would fall over when you ride it.


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## Berkley (May 21, 2007)

davis said:


> I hear this wonderful feature mentioned all the time in Lefty debates. I've never ridden one and I don't care to rehash any other assets/liabilities of the Lefty except for the one above. I would think it would be more cumbersome to change a tube on a rim while it was still attached to the frame, no? Doesn't seem like an asset worth mentioning. I'm guessing some/many Lefty owners still remove the rim to change flats, no? Just wondering.


I agree, but I imagine that if you and I raced and were pretty good at it, then changing a flat would be something we'd want to do as quick as possible. Keeping the wheel on would be marginally faster if you practiced at it.


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## xocomaox (Jun 6, 2008)

Too much weight on the left side? I wonder how good the shock is?


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## benlineberry (Jul 26, 2007)

A friend rides one on his scalpel and prophet. The forks have a nice ride.


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## wreckedrex (May 2, 2007)

xocomaox said:


> Too much weight on the left side? I wonder how good the shock is?


They look sort of goofy from the pilots seat, but they don't feel weird at all. I've ridden 2, one on a caffeine 29'er and one on an uber scalpel both for reasonably long demo rides on "real" trails. Nice ride and super rigid but they seem a little high maintenance.


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## Moustache rider (Jun 1, 2007)

xocomaox said:


> Too much weight on the left side? I wonder how good the shock is?


Countered by the weight of all those drivetrain parts only on the right side.


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## OldNick (Aug 7, 2006)

wreckedrex said:


> Nice ride and super rigid but they seem a little high maintenance.


Interesting. How so on the mtce side? That could be of interest, because while they look goofy I suppose they take off a bit of weight, and have the potential to be popular.

Nick


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## oilerfan30 (Apr 20, 2005)

Ride one and love it.


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## Mountain biker 41 (Oct 13, 2007)

A guy at my lbs says they suk and are a joke, yes he is expierenced, no I dont have an opinion on them, dont bag on me


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## EDizzleVR6 (Oct 4, 2007)

ive ridden one, its sweet for xc riding, because it has great traction and it uses a through axle, but ill never ride one, it looks retarded!


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## OldNick (Aug 7, 2006)

Fixed it.

Nick


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## hamilton5 (Jul 31, 2006)

That picture made me laugh, Its funny. Good photoshop skills too!


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## Heylerds (May 15, 2004)

OldNick said:


> Fixed it.
> 
> Nick


Ha ha ha, I almost choked on my coffee laughing


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## oilerfan30 (Apr 20, 2005)

You've ridden one, but will never ride one? That makes sense.. 
The rest of this isn't aimed solely at you. I've got one, and I'll never go back to a regular fork. They just can't touch the smooth stiff feel of a lefty. But it's all personal opinion, I'm not gonna be the 'hardcore fanboy' that pushes his feelings on everybody else.


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## The_rydster (Sep 27, 2006)

Don't try riding it with no hands


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## OldNick (Aug 7, 2006)

Heylerds said:


> Ha ha ha, I almost choked on my coffee laughing


Sorry about that! <G>

Nick


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## f3rg (Aug 29, 2007)

Nice pic, Nick (hey, that rhymes!).

If I had the cash, I'd get a custom frame made and put a Lefty on it. I've always wanted one of those odd-looking things for some reason.


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## wadester (Sep 28, 2005)

davis said:


> I hear this wonderful feature mentioned all the time in Lefty debates. I've never ridden one and I don't care to rehash any other assets/liabilities of the Lefty except for the one above. I would think it would be more cumbersome to change a tube on a rim while it was still attached to the frame, no? Doesn't seem like an asset worth mentioning. I'm guessing some/many Lefty owners still remove the rim to change flats, no? Just wondering.


I had to do this one time - and it works very well. You've got the bike on its side on the ground, propped so the wheel spins free - its like a workstand. Sweet.

If you don't like the looks, oh well.

As far as function, the chassis of a lefty is the least flexy thing out there. - it definitely goes where you point it. Only moves in the direction its supposed to. The only performance issue is the dampers - I run a Lefty Max with manitou TPC+ damping, and love it. Now they're going to Fox damping on the long Leftys. I don't care for the Cannondale factory damping, but it does work.


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## onbelaydave (May 10, 2006)

*Yeah they're junk*

No would ever try this with a Lefty










Oh wait, that is a Lefty :thumbsup:


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## DIRTJUNKIE (Oct 18, 2000)

I always was intrigued by "the lefty" but never to the point where I wanted one. I remember back in the day when they first came out like in 2000'. I looked into them just as a curiosity. And found out that they were actually the same design as a car strut. And because of this they are very stiff tough and compliant and actually over built for it's intended purpose. And quite possible, if they could lighten them up, one of the best designed forks for MTBing. Even if they did lighten them I personally would still use a traditional fork.


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## strangeland2 (Apr 8, 2006)

The_rydster said:


> Don't try riding it with no hands


Why?


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## oilerfan30 (Apr 20, 2005)

Not trying to convert you or anything..  Keep running a normal fork. 
But 2.7 pounds for a fork of 110 mm of travel is industry leading. That is lighter than a Rockshox SID, yet it still has 30 mm more travel. 
Thats what impresses me most about the Lefty Speed, the industry leading lightweight.

Don't attack me though  Mountain biking is all personal preference. There's always gonna be some stupid debate, whether its Lefty/Non-Lefty, SRAM/Shimano, SS/Geared, HT/FS..... the list goes on.
In the end, why not stop debating on the better part, and just go out and ride. :thumbsup: 
Speaking of that, I think I'll head out and do one right now.


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## OldNick (Aug 7, 2006)

hamilton5 said:


> That picture made me laugh, Its funny. Good photoshop skills too!


Actually I have to admit that it's just as well the picture is so small.  It was a rush job and is not as clean as it looks at that size.

Nick


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## onbelaydave (May 10, 2006)

oilerfan30 said:


> Not trying to convert you or anything..  Keep running a normal fork.
> But 2.7 pounds for a fork of 110 mm of travel is industry leading. That is lighter than a Rockshox SID, yet it still has 30 mm more travel.


And my Lefty max has 140mm of travel. :thumbsup: Anyone who says they can't stand or think about, "Wrap their mind around" what their front wheel looks while they're riding has a major problem.

* What the heck are you doing looking at your front wheel while you're riding anyway ! *:madmax:

(Satisfied 3 yr owner Lefty Max 140)


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## sandmangts (Feb 16, 2004)

I have owned 2. They are EASIER to maintain than any other fork I have owned. You do have to lube them more often but try fixing a seal on a fox or a Reba.


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## Deme Moore (Jun 15, 2007)

DIRTJUNKIE said:


> And quite possible, if they could lighten them up, one of the best designed forks for MTBing. Even if they did lighten them I personally would still use a traditional fork.


Dude you be smoking too much crack. They are lighter than any conventional fork dollar for dollar.

Expensive, proprietary and annoying to get serviced? Yes. Heavy, hell no. Unless you fill your air bladders with helium or something...


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## HotBlack (Feb 9, 2008)

Bah. They ride just fine. CDale engineered the sh*t out of them, over under sideways down, and they're both stiffer and stronger than most forks on the market. & smoother to boot. Plus, you don't have to take yer wheel off to change a tube. heh.

They look ridiculous, like a damn pogo stick though, but then that's just my own alchohol-fueled dumbass opinion. The look is a love/hate thing. You know when ya see it.

Jeez, there you go on your anti-proprietary kick again Deme. What, Ferarri should only build cars so long as every part they use is compatible with an 82 buick? How does technology improve? Where do you draw the "good enough" line and restrict innovation?

If you think your full suspension bike is going to last you forever, worry about proprietary. If you're actually going to ride it, you need to understand, FS bikes aren't lifetime bikes, aluminum bikes aren't lifetime bikes, and aluminum FS bikes... well, don't be afraid that in 10 years, what if Cannondale dissolves? First, ain't going to happen. They'll be traded countless times, but there are too many people who have lost big time on that brand to let it go down the tubes completely. As long as they exist, there will be parts for those forks. A lot longer than the lifecycle for those frames anyway...


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## wreckedrex (May 2, 2007)

OldNick said:


> Interesting. How so on the mtce side? That could be of interest, because while they look goofy I suppose they take off a bit of weight, and have the potential to be popular.
> 
> Nick


One of the demos puked it's guts while I was riding and both guys I know that ride them have had their seals re-done at much shorter intervals than my traditional fork has required. I think I'd be willing to deal with it though, I'd *love* to put one on my SS chameleon.


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## oilerfan30 (Apr 20, 2005)

Hmm...thats weird. I've been running my Lefty for 2 years now (and I log a ton of miles) and I haven't had it serviced once...
Maybe I'm just lucky.
(it is a Lefty Speed if that makes a difference)


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## wreckedrex (May 2, 2007)

oilerfan30 said:


> Hmm...thats weird. I've been running my Lefty for 2 years now (and I log a ton of miles) and I haven't had it serviced once...
> Maybe I'm just lucky.
> (it is a Lefty Speed if that makes a difference)


To be fair, one of them rides a truly ludicrous number of miles and doesn't take the best care of the bike. I've had great luck with the forks I'm running, but some folks have had issues so who knows?


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## oilerfan30 (Apr 20, 2005)

To true, I'm sure you could name ANY component, and somebody has had a bad experience with it.


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

Yup,
name the fork brand that has not had some bad apples.

From what I hear, Leftys actually work pretty well as suspension forks...


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## DIRTJUNKIE (Oct 18, 2000)

Quote; Deme Moore 
Dude you be smoking too much crack. They are lighter than any conventional fork dollar for dollar.

Expensive, proprietary and annoying to get serviced? Yes. Heavy, hell no. Unless you fill your air bladders with helium or something... 
____________________________________



Oh sorry I meant that they were pretty heavy back in the day when they were first introduced. They have since been lightened up to be competitive to traditional forks on the market. I have nothing bad to say about them as I have never tested one. And if you notice in my original response I said. 
Dirtjunkie Quote:
I remember back in the day when they first came out like in 2000'. I looked into them just as a curiosity.And found out that they were actually the same design as a car strut. And because of this they are very stiff tough and compliant and actually over built for it's intended purpose. And quite possible, if they could lighten them up, one of the best designed forks for MTBing.


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## oilerfan30 (Apr 20, 2005)

Competitve? It's past that.. I don't think there is anything that comes close to the travel and weight of a Carbon lefty..


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## nico2me (Feb 9, 2007)

You have to own one to really appreciate it. I have yet to talk to an owner who hates their lefty.


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## OldNick (Aug 7, 2006)

I've just thought.

If it's a single, is it actually a fork?

Nick


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## ryguy79 (Apr 12, 2007)

I love all the ignorance in this thread.


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## OldNick (Aug 7, 2006)

ryguy79 said:


> I love all the ignorance in this thread.


....and?


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## rabidweasel999 (Oct 22, 2006)

OldNick said:


> I've just thought.
> 
> If it's a single, is it actually a fork?
> 
> Nick


It's a chopstick!


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## Roswell52 (Mar 25, 2008)

I don't get it? Y would U want this? Now we can add another useless "I only jerk lefty Forum"...ut:


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