On Saturday night, beneath the intense mild 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 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?
Properly, because of Paul of Basic Cycle I had my very own Employees of Ra, and with it I grew to become 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 experience:
For years, folks 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 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 growing 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. Because of this 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 solely attainable US Postal may 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 fashionable on the time. The primary 12 months for the Y-Foil was 1998, and in that 12 months’s catalogue it’s simply form of there with no clarification:
A 12 months later they gave the impression 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 form 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 outfitted with one myself. So now, 27 years later, I set about configuring the bike the best way 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 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 form 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 should be good to ensure that them to remained aligned with the rim–even elevating or reducing the stem a hair is sufficient to shift them out of alignment. So it appeared to me that the motion of a suspension fork would possibly lead to fixed rubbing.
Thankfully, I had simply obtained a slightly well timed bundle from Samantha on the Previous Spokes House 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 lovely 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 brief 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.
Typically talking, I don’t actually take care of suspension. Nevertheless, while you’re driving a motorcycle just like the Spouse Oil you’ve acquired no alternative however to let down your inhibitions:
It’s form of like going to some over-the-top membership or restaurant and being served a ridiculous cocktail–positive, you’d by no means order such a factor, however whilst you’re there you would possibly as nicely go along with it, and after just a few 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 acquired one chilly 20-ish mile experience on it (apart from the very transient moonlit shakedown spin), and…up to now it’s type 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 will get a lot the identical impact with some larger quantity tires, however do not forget that this was 1998 and no one thought that manner. Take a look at 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 best way, I put that tire on there after discovering this on Friday:
And sure, that was in reality the interior 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:
The truth is it’s so shut the cable adjuster really touches the water bottle:
It’s not a difficulty in apply, however on a brake with a chunkier adjuster it most likely may very well be:
Clearance up entrance is equally tight:
When you wished to sum up biking the Nineties with a single picture, you might 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 maintain utilizing the identical skinny ones however construct an entire 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 you already know and settle for this you may totally benefit from the bike in the identical manner that you would be able to get pleasure from a mushy drink or a quick meals burger that arrives at its deliciousness by having manner 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 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 coated 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 every of 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. Positive, it’s enjoyable now, however in just a few months it could simply really feel prefer it’s filled with marshmallows.
