Value of an active suspension on an urban / road bike

[Ken M]

I'm riding an ebike with 27.5 x 2.4 Schwalbe Moto X tires that has an active suspension (obviously many urban / road bikes do not have active front suspensions). When I lock-out the forks I really don't perceive that the ride quality is really any worse so I'm considering changing out the Magura active suspension forks for a carbon fiber fork.

I'm just wondering if there is a general consensus if a front suspension really adds much to ride quality of a street bike.

 

[Over50]

I have a lot of really bad roads and some railroad track crossings on my commute. I think in those conditions I prefer the suspension on my e-bikes over the fixed forks on my regular bikes (all have seatpost suspension - 1 regular bike has chromoly fork the other aluminum). My e-bikes have the same tires you have. I keep my front suspension on the e-bikes set pretty stiff and maybe I'm using 1/2 of available travel on average. I feel like its enough to take some edge off these bad roads. On better roads I also don't notice much difference when I lockout the suspension. If I had mostly good roads to ride I'd definitely have opted for a fixed fork e-bike for commuting (and still considering for the future given they've been resurfacing some of the major roads on my commute). If you do switch, I hope you'll post your findings and comparisons because I'd be very interested to learn from your experience.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I'm riding an ebike with 27.5 x 2.4 Schwalbe Moto X tires that has an active suspension (obviously many urban / road bikes do not have active front suspensions). When I lock-out the forks I really don't perceive that the ride quality is really any worse so I'm considering changing out the Magura active suspension forks for a carbon fiber fork.

I'm just wondering if there is a general consensus if a front suspension really adds much to ride quality of a street bike.

You could run your front tires at 30psi with a carbon fork, you really don't need any suspension fork. That's exactly what Trek did with their Super commuter ebike.
I have a Haibike Trekking S Rx with a heavy, cheap Suntour fork. Hate it. It's too heavy and doesn't respond to small road imperfections. A balloon tire would be far more responsive than a cheap suspension fork, at low PSI.

 

[Ken M]

I have a Haibike Trekking model that came with front forks that I just installed a 29er carbon fork on today (along with a carbon stem and bars). Only a few miles ridden so far but the front feels pretty soft / low on harsh vibrations. I did increase the tire from the 32 or 42mm to 51mm / 2" but have the pressure pretty high right now. I'm just trying to gage if the front suspension forks are more about marketing or real world street riding quality. I understand that large impacts will always be absorbed better by a fork but when urban riding those are infrequent and can be dealt with by just body movement.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I have a Haibike Trekking model that came with front forks that I just installed a 29er carbon fork on today (along with a carbon stem and bars). Only a few miles ridden so far but the front feels pretty soft / low on harsh vibrations. I did increase the tire from the 32 or 42mm to 51mm / 2" but have the pressure pretty high right now. I'm just trying to gage if the front suspension forks are more about marketing or real world street riding quality. I understand that large impacts will always be absorbed better by a fork but when urban riding those are infrequent and can be dealt with by just body movement.

A good fork with 35m stanchion/air channel (< 2kg weight) can be very useful if the riding conditions are harsh. But for city riding, not so much.
I ride my Stromer ST2 with Big Ben tires at 29-30psi. They feel better than the cheap Suntour fork on the Haibike trekking model. The non-speed version of the Trekking has RockShox paragon, which is a decent fork but the speed version of the bike has a heavy, useless fork.

I did increase the tire from the 32 or 42mm to 51mm / 2"

Thought you had a Super Moto X tire?! I would say your setup with a carbon fork and 2.4" Super Moto X would be a great choice.

 

[rich c]

What kind of suspension fork? Air or spring? I have one of each, and I really dislike the spring fork. The air fork is so much nicer. I'm about at the point that I won't ride without an air suspension fork. Just so much easier on my arthritic wrists and joints. I rode on some Chicago streets with my son, it was about like riding on a single track!

 

[Ken M]

I mentioned that I have a bike with 27.5 x 2.4 Moto X tires but failed to mention that is has a Magura TS6 air fork . When I ride it with the forked locked I really don't notice any decrease in ride quality as most of my riding is urban / street. I changed the active fork on a Haibike Trekking model to carbon and just began riding it. I wanted to see for myself if an active fork really added to the ride quality and I'm not so sure they do.

I'll post more information soon as I'll be putting upwards of a 100 miles on Haibike this week with the carbon forks installed.

 

[Ralph]

Ravi is right about dropping pressure in tires to soften the ride. On his suggestion I did that with my Stromer ST2 that has no suspension. I had the chance to test ride the Trek Super Commuter speed bike with Bosch center drive. Great looking bike that reminds me of the ST2. Nice riding bike but the Stromer is so much more bike. I guess it should be since the Trek is 5k and the Stromer is 7k. I also rode some of the new Trek class 2 20mph bikes. I think they were Shimano Step
drives. OK, but not strong like the Bosch.

 

[GuruUno]

I too have the Trek Super Commuter since June this year and am breaking the 1700 mile barrier as of today. Many different conditions on roads and trails and I am considering a suspension fork. Coming from an Izip E3 Peak I can say it’s a totally different ride but I do miss the RockShox. If I do spring for the fork I want to get the right one the first time so any advice is welcomed. Going to the Expo in Philadelphia on Nov 4th. Hopefully some manufacturers reps will be there to pick their brains.

 

[Ralph]

I rode several of the Treks without suspension and the ride was hard on pavement as most didn't have plus wheels. The one with front forks and narrow wheels was much more comfortable. If I were buying a Trek, it would definitely be the Super Commuter. The shop said they could put a suspension fork on it for around $600, but I would play with the air pressure a bit as Ravi suggests. Please reply to this thread if you get a chance to ride any of the Giant E bikes at Expo or anything that you thing might surpass the Super Commuter. One thing that stood out riding all the bikes at Trek LBS was how quiet and strong the Bosch engine is. First time I have ridden a Bosch. I want to try the Bulls Brose engines as well.