On Saturday night, beneath the intense gentle of a Waxing Gibbous, I made historical past:
Keep in mind in “Raiders of the Misplaced Ark” how Indiana Jones grew to become the primary particular person in 1000’s of years to affix the headpiece to the Workers of Ra, and in so doing was capable of finding the movie’s eponymous ark?
Nicely, because of Paul of Basic Cycle I had my very own Workers of Ra, and with it I grew to become the primary particular person in over 1 / 4 of a century to unlock the total potential of the Trek Y-Foil:
And right here it’s on a moonlit shakedown trip:
For years, folks have been setting the Y-Foil up as a triathlon bike attributable to its aero design:
[From here.]
However that’s like making an attempt to stay Pterodactyl wings on a T-rex, and it seems what actually belongs on this bike is a suspension fork, go determine:
So allow us to return to the 1998, when Y-Foils roamed the Earth:
And paper magazines have been crammed with purple prose, like this:
Oy.
Suspension had already conquered the mountain bike market, and by the early-to-mid Nineties shock forks had begun to seem on the entrance of Paris-Roubaix:
To bike designers, highway suspension appeared inevitable, and so they have been configuring their choices accordingly:
So when Trek have been creating the Y-Foil they determined it needed to be appropriate with a suspension fork so that they wouldn’t miss out on the subsequent massive factor. This is the reason the inventory fork has that elongated crown:
This was a race bike, and one Trek would have made out there to its sponsored groups–and sure, it’s completely attainable US Postal might have determined to make use of the Y-Foil at a race like Paris-Roubaix. Between the beam and a suspension fork a rider would float proper over these cobbles.
However as Trek have been launching the bike, the UCI declared the bike unlawful, so by way of advertising and marketing it fell into what engineer Jim Colegrove referred to as a “black gap.” It was an aero bike, however it didn’t have the geometry of a real triathlon bike, or the 650c wheels that have been standard on the time. The primary yr for the Y-Foil was 1998, and in that yr’s catalogue it’s simply kind of there with no clarification:
A yr later they appeared to be pushing it as a triathlon bike:
And after that it was gone.
Trek had meant for the Y-Foil to be a “mic drop” what with its radical design and all, however as a substitute they kind of fumbled with the mic for awhile till it lastly fell into an unflushed rest room.
Although the suspension compatibility is talked about deep within the technical handbook, Trek’s advertising and marketing supplies appear to disregard it, Colegrove doesn’t know if anybody has ever truly put a suspension fork on there, and I’ve definitely by no means seen a Y-Foil outfitted with one myself. So now, 27 years later, I set about configuring the bike the way in which Trek meant, and till I hear in any other case I’m going to go forward and assume I’m the primary civilian ever to take action. To that finish, Paul even despatched me the correct wrenches for the scalloped Shimano headset:
Sorry, make that “head components:”
Whereas I’m admittedly inept, I all the time discover that when engaged on a bicycle there’s all the time some kind of unexpected downside, regardless of how ostensibly easy the job could also be. On this case, it was that the entrance brake bolt was too lengthy for the thin brake arch of the Ruby fork:
Moreover, even earlier than discovering this, I’d been involved about utilizing the Zero Gravity brakes with this fork. See, these ultralight single-pivot calipers are so delicate that the cable size have to be excellent to ensure that them to remained aligned with the rim–even elevating or decreasing the stem a hair is sufficient to shift them out of alignment. So it appeared to me that the motion of a suspension fork may lead to fixed rubbing.
Luckily, I had simply obtained a relatively well timed package deal from Samantha on the Previous Spokes Dwelling in Burlington, VT:
[They take donations and also have an eBay store.]
She’d examine my Brake Debacle and despatched me not one however two stunning pairs of 9-speed period Shimano Ultegra brakes. So I put in one of many rear brakes on the Ruby fork:
No downside:
I nonetheless had one other rear, so I went to put in that, solely to search out that the rear keep was too thick for the quick nt and bolt. So I used a entrance brake as a substitute, together with the shorter nut from the rear brake:
I doubt that is the “proper” solution to do it, however what the hell, it appears to work.
Usually talking, I don’t actually look after suspension. Nevertheless, once you’re driving a motorbike just like the Spouse Oil you’ve obtained no selection however to let down your inhibitions:
It’s kind of like going to some over-the-top membership or restaurant and being served a ridiculous cocktail–certain, you’d by no means order such a factor, however when you’re there you may as properly go along with it, and after a couple of sips you begin to give up. Aesthetically, I’d argue it really works in context with the general madness of the bike, and I even assume it seems to be higher than that weirdly elongated inventory fork. As for efficiency, I’ve solely obtained one chilly 20-ish mile trip on it (moreover the very temporary moonlit shakedown spin), and…to date it’s form of enjoyable! The bike nonetheless handles properly–being designed for a fork like this it doesn’t do something wacky to the entrance finish–and so it retains its racy character while concurrently making you are feeling such as you’re mendacity on a down mattress topper. After all you may get a lot the identical impact with some larger quantity tires, however keep in mind that this was 1998 and no person thought that means. Try the rear tire clearance:
That tire is nominally a 25, however if you happen to’re acquainted with Gatorskins you understand how slender they run:
By the way in which, I put that tire on there after discovering this on Friday:
And sure, that was actually the internal tube bulging out of there, so I used to be on borrowed time.
One other quirk on the stern of the Y-Foil is how shut the brake caliper is to the water bottle, one thing that didn’t present itself with the a lot shorter Zero Gravity brake:
In reality it’s so shut the cable adjuster truly touches the water bottle:
It’s not a problem in observe, however on a brake with a chunkier adjuster it in all probability may very well be:
Clearance up entrance is equally tight:
If you happen to wished to sum up biking the Nineties with a single picture, you could possibly discover no higher one than this photograph of a suspension fork that may barely clear a 25mm tire:
Use a wider tire?
Naaah.
Let’s simply preserve utilizing the identical skinny ones however construct a complete loopy contraption round them as a substitute.
Actually, between the shock-absorbing beam and the suspension fork, the complete bike is one gigantic workaround.
However as soon as and settle for this you’ll be able to absolutely benefit from the bike in the identical means which you could take pleasure in a delicate drink or a quick meals burger that arrives at its deliciousness by having means too many questionable substances. And the fork appears to work…decently:
With out the handbook I don’t know if the fork is meant to lock out fully, however with the swap on this place it sorta-kinda does:
At one level I used to be descending with the fork “locked out,” then I got here to the underside of the hill and encountered a stretch of torn up highway that was lined with steel development plates. So I reached down and unlocked the fork and between the fork and the beam I actually did kinda float proper over it. Granted, I’d have floated proper over it on one in all my Rivendae, and even the Cervino with its 30mm tubular tires, and I wouldn’t have needed to flip a swap, besides, I’m having fun with the novelty issue:
Although as Paul factors out, the elastomers within the fork are temperature delicate. Certain, it’s enjoyable now, however in a couple of months it could simply really feel prefer it’s filled with marshmallows.
