Bearprint original Zoom suspension forks rusty, what would be a good replacement?

[bazwaldo]

Hello everyone,

My original Zoom suspension forks are looking a little worse for wear.
The top chromed area on both forks are suffering from rust and around a drainage hole on the left fork on the lower part of the leg the surface is bubbling and in wet conditions rusty liquid often runs from the hole looking horrible.
I suppose this means the inside area where the spring is located is in a bad way.
Nothing lasts forever and so I will probably need to replace the fork or upgrade it in the near future.
Should I go for another suspension fork?
Maybe a normal steel fork without suspension would be the way to go?
How would I choose a replacement?
I have no idea what size or length I would need, should I entrust my LBS to guide me on what is best?
Being a fairly generic chinese type of Ebike I suppose the fork type is some standard size.
I wouldn't want to spend a fortune but would like to replace the Zoom fork with something of better quality.
Can anyone suggest a budget but decent replacement?

Thanks for any advice given.
Best wishes,
Barry.

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi Barry,

The following link shows the changes that I made to a FreeGo Eagle http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/6557-freego-eagle-upgrades-2.html which is I believe identical to the Bearprint.

 

[bazwaldo]

Hello John,
Thank you for that link you did a great job there.
I do not have your knowledge and experience of choosing and fitting bike parts but your great work with the Freego gives me hope that I can achieve something similar.
Best wishes,
Barry.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Nearly any forks will fit your bike as long as they have a 1 1/8" steerer tube that is pretty standard. After that, you need the disc brake mounting the same way as your existing forks unless you want to buy an additional adapter. The last thing is the length of the steerer tube. New forks come with a long steerer tube that is often too long, so you have to cut a piece off, or you can use spacers, which gives the opportunity to raise the handlebars a bit/lot.. If you buy used forks, the steerer tuble will probably alreadt have been cut, so you have to check that it's long enough for what you want. Measure the height from the bottom of your frame steering tube to the top of your stem: That's the length of your present steerer tube.

There's lots of really nice used forks on Ebay, where you can get them pretty cheaply. Just look at these Rockshox Darts that would suit your bike well and give a bit more comfort than what you had:
dart in Bike Parts | eBay

Changing forks takes about 15mins:
Remove front wheel
Remove disc caliper
Undo stem cap
Undo two stem clamp screws
Slide out forks
Prise off bottom bearing inner from bottom of forks with hammer and small screwdriver
Slide it on to new forks and tap it down being careful not to hit its bearing surface
Slide new forks in
Slide on stem and spacers
Screw in stem cap tight and then back off 1/4 turn; Check that forks turn freely.
Tighten stem clamp bolts
Fit wheel
fit caliper
Test for free-play by holding on front brake and pushing baike back and forth. If you feel clunking from the steering head, loosen stem clamps and tightn stem cap, then re-test until no play but still free movement of steering.

This procedure assumes cartridge type bearings. Some have loose bearings, so when you slide out the forks, you have to be ready to catch any loose balls that fall out. Once the forks are out, collect all the balls and glue them back with grease, which will hold them in place until you slide the new forks back in being careful not to dislodge them with the steerer tube.

Finally, if you can find some nice forks, and can wait until June, bring them to the Bristol show and I'll fit them for you while you have a look around as long as Lynda makes me a cup of tea on her Cyclecharge stand.

Summary:
Step 1 measure your present steerer tube and check whether you have post mounts or side mounts for your disk caliper(Darts have post mounts if you look at the pictures)
Step 2 Choose and buy your forks and the caliper adapter if necessary.
Step 3 Fit them
Step 4 Enjoy them for at least another 12000 miles.

 

[NRG]

Yep, just about any replacement will be better than the truly awful zoom forks fitted to most ebikes from the factory...horrid things.

 

[Cyclezee]

Yep, just about any replacement will be better than the truly awful zoom forks fitted to most ebikes from the factory...horrid things.

I do recall the ones that I had on the Eagle were particularly bad, bottoming out over relatively small bumps.

I imagine the later FreeGo ones have been upgraded.

 

[bazwaldo]

Thanks everyone for your contributions and particularly d8veh (Dave) you make it sound so easy and it probably is - it's when you have never done anything like it that it seems potentially difficult and easy to get wrong!
There is no substitute for experience.
Those Dart forks were interesting in that there were versions 1, 2 and 3 up for sale.
Is it correct to think that the higher the number the more recent and better the fork would be?
What about a non suspension fork as an alternative?
I understand that steel forks have a tapering curve which has inbuilt suspension properties.
Plenty to think about and ponder.
There is no hurry - perhaps I will take you up on the June Bristol offer Dave - I hope the weather is better than last year when it seemed to rain most of the time I was there.
Still it was great to meet you and Saneagle and Funkylyn.

Barry.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

There's no substitute for decent suspension forks for normal riding - especially on an electric bike where you don't need to put in so much pedal effort. Non-suspension forks are for the purists who believe in efficiency rather than comfort.

The higher the number, the more recent the Darts.