Q: What is it good for to put the panniers with my shopping at your fork?
A: You can care more shopping home (4 panniers) and you can put the delicate stuffinto the suspendet front panniers. I live in Eastern Germany and this is my way to get apples and tomatoes home. If I put the apples in the rear panniers they have to be eaten immediately.
Q: How much travel has the reiseradgabel?
A: about 60mm It cannot be said exactly as the Suspensionelement has no defined stop. As the reiseradgabel has no prestress it's about 40mm practical. Keep this in mind when you are planning the geometry.
Q: How much offset/rake shall I order?
A: Standart is 42mm at modern Frames. If you have an old frame which was not supposed to get a suspension fork the head tube angle will be changed due to the higher fork. You need more offset to compensate that. You are here at the right place as this means you need a custom fork. This will result in a more relaxed behaviour of steering. Having the wrong offset to the head tube angle sucks.
Some old bikes and Utopia Bikes have 68° head tube angle and 65mm offset to make them more relaxed than most other bikes. If you are unsure ask! This is important.
Q: I want a pedelec.
A: Put the hub motor in the rear wheel or better use a motor at the bottom bracket or in the chain. If it uses your derailleur system or gear hub it's much more efficient. An hub motor in teh front whell will cause the reiseradgabel to dive on acceleration. I have not tested it and I don't know how much, but it will suck.
Update: reiseradgabel MOTOR is available now, more parts of which some might need care or replacement but a solution for people who already have a front motor, want all whell drive or the flying spaghetti monster knows.
Q: Why are dropouts, housing of the suspension element an flange from construction steel.
A: There is no Advantage using the 25CrMo4 (1.7218 or 4130) in those places, but would be difficult to get, weld and bend. S355 is used on the laser cut parts whi is already the better construction steel (old name St52, manganese steel)
Q: Which brakes shall I mount?
A: If you use rim or disc brakes is your personal decision, while the hose/cable integrates better on disc brakes and the unsuspendet mass has about half the effect on disc brakes (caliper) compared to double on rim brakes due to the mountig position which noticeably reduces the grip of the front wheel on coarse cobbles. (In 20" I would only use disc brakes for several reasons.)
In both cases I'd prefer hydraulic brakes. One reason is the hysteresis, especially on disc brakes. (Read google if you don't know about it.)
The second reason is: The reiseradgabel responds very sensitv. By this an the length of the lever the brake gets shaken and due to the good responsiveness permanently. (Cheap) V-brakes chatter on this. I don't like that and that's why I digged an old Magura HS11 out of my wonder box after some weeks riding a V-Brake on the Prototype.
The third reason is: Hydraulic Brakes using mineral oil (like Magura, Tektro, Shimpanso) not DOT4 (like Formula, Hope, Hayes) are very low on maintenance. As I said in the beginning I don't like stuff needing too much maintenance. Evil people would say I'm lazy. ;-)
Q: Help, my fork makes awfull cracking sounds!
A: That's not the reiseradgabel. It's the bearing of your hub or loose spokes.
The reiseradgabel works very good on all the small high frequent impacts like cobbles or frozen/dried tractor tracks etc. It does this also on the small impacts by the bearing/spokes and you can hear the move the lever makes like you can hear the needle of a phonograph. Be glad you here that early instead of getting surprised in the Sierra Nevada, Pampa or Kazakhstan.
Check all the other bearings now too. They might also be worn/destroyed by the same reason (salt, water, time) and don't have such a good indicator.
Q: I need a softer fork for my children's bike or long recumbent.
A: This can be produced on request. It can be 40mm less wide,
Q: Which wearing parts can I change?
A: The reiseradgabel has no wearing parts. In case the rubbers will be rotten in 10 or 20 years I can change them. If it happened to anyone with a car trailer using the same system please tell me.
Q: How often do I have to do maintenance or cleaning
A: never!
If you regularly go swimming with the fork you can spray new wax into the tubes and in those of your frame too. I guess you never did it with your frame and commonly noone else. Your hubs and bottom bracket will need more attention if you often cross rivers.
Q: Which low riders can be mounted?
A: The threads for mounting the low rider are about in the same height as at a stiff fork. You shoul use a low rider without arc. The arc would have to be extendet due to the travel of the wheel and the wider fork. Just use the Tubus Duo. At €50,- surcharge (incl. 19% VAT) I add one.
The Blackburn CL1 Custom would fit too as a cheap alternative, but I wouldn't take it.
The Thorn MkV fits and looks good. I never saw it life.
The Salsa Down Under would also fit. It's made from Aluminium, weighs 531g (manufacturer data). It's cheaper in the USA. In Europe I would stay at the Tubus.
If you understand German read http://fahrradzukunft.de/4/lowrider-lowquality/. None of the mentioned low riders fits but it explains some general problems which help you decide. I have a scar at my right elbow from a cheap far east low rider. It also killed a frontwheel and the fork, when it broke and crashed into the spokes.
Q: Why is the low rider not integrated?
A: I sometimes hit stuff with my front panniers. (roots, kerbsides, artificial obstacles in the city for pedestrians at rail and road X-ings) So the low rider is an object to wear and should be changeable
Q: I weigh 100kg and have plenty of baggage. I need it harder.
A: Order the Fork with hooks on crown and lever. Put some rubber rings on it and you'll go fine.
recommended for rider's above 90 kg.
An old bicycle tube knotted on the fork will do the same job and only looks ugly when you need it (with baggage).
Q: Will you ship to...?
A: I generally ship to anywhere except USA and Canada.
Q: Why don't you ship to norther america?
A: The legislation over there allows end users to be unbearably stupid and make the manufacturer responsible for it. (cat in the microwave case) My Assurance does not allow me to ship there. I would have to pay more than €10 000.- p.a. for that. Look for an Importer who takes the risk. Then it's no problem.
Q: There are suspension forks available at less than half the weight. Don't you think reiseradgabel is too heavy?
A: If you once rode one of those ultra light telescopic forks, you know they'll bend and get stuck even more often as the heavier telescopic forks.
Maybe the German A Kilo is a good alternative for you. You can also mount a Lowrider Pannier Rack (at 39€ surcharge, max. 10 kg, baggage is not suspendet (sucks at the beer break, but it has no influence on the spring tension)). It is a much more complex design, has half the weight and costs the double price. You can also mount discs up to 180mm. It has the double travel. Have a look at it. If you like to (be able to) adjust a lot you will maybe prefer it.
They have a FAQ too - including a Tabular. It claims a parallelogram/trapezoid suspension fork would be more responsive than a leading link one in general. Well, I don't believe that. My old AMP was definetly less responsive as all leading links I ever rode - and some of them are really punkrock. I would even say the flexibility of the tubing of the AMP was working more on the most small impacts as the mechanic that was supposed to do that. Well the German A is designed on a much higher level and more precise. I would appreciate if someone sends me one to test it.
Anyway the friction of seals and the shock of there fork will make it less responsive as the reiseradgabel reaches the ideal (max. theoretical possible) responsitivity.
Q: I had a look at th German A Kilo. I like your's more but I like a lower weight. I don't care about money.
A: In this case we can solve the weight problem. Give me a call.