On Saturday night, beneath the brilliant mild of a Waxing Gibbous, I made historical past:
Bear in mind in “Raiders of the Misplaced Ark” how Indiana Jones turned the primary individual in hundreds of years to affix the headpiece to the Employees of Ra, and in so doing was capable of finding the movie’s eponymous ark?
Effectively, due to Paul of Traditional Cycle I had my very own Employees of Ra, and with it I turned the primary individual in over 1 / 4 of a century to unlock the complete potential of the Trek Y-Foil:
And right here it’s on a moonlit shakedown trip:
For years, individuals have been setting the Y-Foil up as a triathlon bike as a consequence of 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 had been full of purple prose, like this:
Oy.
Suspension had already conquered the mountain bike market, and by the early-to-mid Nineteen Nineties shock forks had begun to look on the entrance of Paris-Roubaix:
To bike designers, highway suspension appeared inevitable, they usually had been configuring their choices accordingly:
So when Trek had been creating the Y-Foil they determined it needed to be appropriate with a suspension fork in order that they wouldn’t miss out on the subsequent massive factor. For this reason the inventory fork has that elongated crown:
This was a race bike, and one Trek would have made obtainable 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 had been launching the bike, the UCI declared the bike unlawful, so by way of advertising and marketing it fell into what engineer Jim Colegrove known as a “black gap.” It was an aero bike, but it surely didn’t have the geometry of a real triathlon bike, or the 650c wheels that had been widespread on the time. The primary 12 months for the Y-Foil was 1998, and in that 12 months’s catalogue it’s simply type of there with no rationalization:
A 12 months later they appeared to be pushing it as a triathlon bike:
And after that it was gone.
Trek had supposed for the Y-Foil to be a “mic drop” what with its radical design and all, however as an alternative they type 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 really put a suspension fork on there, and I’ve actually by no means seen a Y-Foil geared up with one myself. So now, 27 years later, I set about configuring the bike the way in which Trek supposed, 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 right 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 type of unexpected drawback, regardless of how ostensibly simple 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 end in fixed rubbing.
Fortuitously, I had simply acquired a moderately well timed package deal from Samantha on the Previous Spokes Residence 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 drawback:
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 an alternative, together with the shorter nut from the rear brake:
I doubt that is the “proper” technique to do it, however what the hell, it appears to work.
Usually talking, I don’t actually look after suspension. Nevertheless, whenever you’re using a motorcycle just like the Spouse Oil you’ve bought no alternative however to let down your inhibitions:
It’s type 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 effectively go together with it, and after a number 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 bought one chilly 20-ish mile trip on it (in addition to the very temporary moonlit shakedown spin), and…to this point it’s sort 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’re feeling such as you’re mendacity on a down mattress topper. In fact 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 method. Take a look at the rear tire clearance:
That tire is nominally a 25, however should you’re accustomed to Gatorskins you understand how slim they run:
By the way in which, I put that tire on there after discovering this on Friday:
And sure, that was in truth the inside 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 truth it’s so shut the cable adjuster really touches the water bottle:
It’s not a problem in follow, however on a brake with a chunkier adjuster it in all probability might be:
Clearance up entrance is equally tight:
In the event you wished to sum up biking the Nineteen Nineties with a single picture, you possibly can discover no higher one than this picture 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 an entire loopy contraption round them as an alternative.
Actually, between the shock-absorbing beam and the suspension fork, all the bike is one gigantic workaround.
However as soon as you recognize and settle for this you may totally benefit from the bike in the identical method you could take pleasure in a comfortable drink or a quick meals burger that arrives at its deliciousness by having method too many questionable elements. And the fork appears to work…decently:
With out the handbook I do not know if the fork is meant to lock out fully, however with the change 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 coated with metallic 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 considered one of my Rivendae, and even the Cervino with its 30mm tubular tires, and I wouldn’t have needed to flip a change, 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 number of months it could simply really feel prefer it’s stuffed with marshmallows.
