Bicycle suspension system

Abstract

A suspension system disposed in a bicycle fork. The suspension system includes inner and outer tubes, first and second bushings, a steering mechanism and a shock-absorbing mechanism. The first and second bushings are disposed between the inner and outer tubes to facilitate the sliding of the inner tube within the outer tube. The steering mechanism prevents relative rotation between the inner and outer tubes and is disposed between the first and second bushings. With this configuration, the ratio of the bushing length to the inner tube diameter is greater than 4, resulting in the suspension fork handling most lateral loads without binding.

Description

technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to bicycle suspension systems, and more particularly to suspension systems provided in bicycle forks. Background technique

[0002] Suspension systems, commonly used on handlebar vehicles such as bicycles and motorcycles, are designed to absorb shock and vibration experienced by the rider as the bicycle traverses bumps in the riding surface. The suspension system may be located in or near the fork, seat tube, head tube, and other frame locations of the bicycle. A suspension system in a head tube or steering tube may, for example, include an outer tube, an inner tube slidable in the outer tube, a damping mechanism, a steering control mechanism, and two bushings between the inner and outer tubes To facilitate the sliding movement between the inner tube and the outer tube. A disadvantage of this type of suspension is that when the distance between the two bushings or the bushing length is too small, the fork cannot cope wit...

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