Strange fork configuration?

[Uncle Leo]

Strolling with my wife and kids at the Uptown Art Fair yesterday, a guy walked by with what looked like about a 10-year old Specialized bike, I couldn't see a model, I'm thinking either Rockhopper or Stumpy. Anyway the fork was something I've never seen before. It was some sort of linkage that looked almost like a rear suspension linkage.
I asked the guy about it but he was rockin' his iPOD so I couldn't get his attention.

Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Something custom, or some extremely short-lived feature?


By the way I just spent 1/2 hour scouring the internet for "Specialized suspension history" and didn't find anything.

[transplant]

Is this it? A Lawwill Leader?

928

[ibismojo2001]

That might be it but how about an Amp Research fork.

[Uncle Leo]

Is this it? A Lawwill Leader?

928

Not this one, but here are some pictures of the Leader:

http://www.bikepro.com/products/forks/lawill_index.html

Anyone have one of these?

[Uncle Leo]

NOT the Lawwill Leader, DEFINITELY the Amp Research.

http://pages.prodigy.net/stevehoglund/misc/AmpFront.jpg

Again thanks for the answer.

(The Leader looks even more bizarre than this one)

[jeffgude]

These were actually pretty well regarded by the bike mags. They supposedly performed well. I can't imagine the durability was real good, just imagine the play in those linkages.

[phaberman1]

A guy I know customized his Amp Research fork and turned it into a suspension seat post. He says It works great. Looks a little funny though.

[SKullman]

I've ridden a few and race many miles on them. They are laterally stiff, light as hell, and take less upkeep than any rockshox. Takes a good amount of riding (like 2 season) to develope any play in the bushings, you can still order kits from AMP and are totally user servicable. 2.6lbs for the AL version, 2.4lbs for the Al/Carbon.

downside, higher total height. 70mm travel = slightly higher than modern 80mm forks, rebound tuning requres changing oils in damper, disc mounts proprietary.

I've really been scratching my head wondering if it's worth making a 29'er fork out of one. preferably the F4.

[r32657]

I vaguely remember those things needing to have a lot of maintenence/lube in regards to the pivots, since binding was an issue.

[Tex]

I vaguely remember those things needing to have a lot of maintenence/lube in regards to the pivots, since binding was an issue.

You might be thinking of the Girvin Proflex fork. I had one of these and I swear I fixed it as much as I rode it.

http://www.risseracing.com/applications/images/girvin.jpg

On the AMP fork, I have a buddy that still rides one and he still likes it. Even though he used to work at a bike shop and has ridden several newer forks. Go figure.

[Standard]

The Grivin's were bad, but the updated/rebranded Noleen versions worked great. I still have mine, I'd slap it back on if I could remember how much spacing is needed under the top clamp of the fork.

[soupboy]

From a technical perspective I recall that they were claimed to be superior to telescopic forks in terms of resisting brake inputs ("dive").

Modern damper technologies achieve a lot of that without all the incremental moving parts that are prone to wear and tear.

Those went the way of Biopace chainrings and U-brakes.

[Tex]

Those went the way of Biopace chainrings...

Be careful of what you say. They're back, only this time they call them "osymetric" chainrings. :eyeroll:

http://www.osymetric.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26