I have a huffy 3.0 fortress mountain bike, I have to ride on some bumpy roads and trails, I have a friend who has a bike that has suspension. I rode it once and it was very smooth when I went over a speed bump. So I wondered if it was possible to install a suspension onto my bike. I tried to search it up, but I didn't find anything helpful. So I decided to see if any of you can answer that.
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Certainly it can be done. Rather silly from a financial standpoint, however, since a new bike would almost certainly be cheaper. – Daniel R Hicks Feb 7 '17 at 3:38
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For the fork see: bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/7472/… Adding a suspension fork, even if all clears, could change the geometry and handling. – Craig Hicks Feb 7 '17 at 5:48
You could add a suspension fork (this bike seems to come with a very low quality one) or suspension seatpost or suspension stem.
On such a low end bike though, only the suspension seatpost would make sense -- for the other options, you're more likely better off getting a new bike.
Another option is to get the biggest tires that fit and run them at a low pressure, which should provide some shock absorption. But this bike wasn't intended for use off-road really -- just to be ridden a few miles on road.
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The advantage of a seatpost with suspension is that it is easily removable and can be transferred to another bike later. This is also a significant downside. Plus the cost of a good one could exceed the whole purchase price of a BSO. – Criggie♦ Feb 7 '17 at 1:38
You can but if it was ME, I wouldn't do it.
The fork would cost more than the bike is worth. You may be able to find a used bike that accepts larger tires at the or near the same cost as a good quality fork. I ride with a bike shop mechanic that has a bike with 4.25 or 4.5 + size tires and it is surprisingly softer on bumps than most full suspension bike. I rode it and was amazed. You also, have the added benefit of not having to replace expensive suspension parts when they wear out
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True, but fat tyres are significantly expensive, locally double the cost of ~2" tyres. – Criggie♦ Feb 7 '17 at 4:40
If you add front suspension you must worry about geometry and handling changes. Is it possible/sensible to add a suspension fork to an old mountain bike?
A paralellogram seatpost is helpful. Until recently, only Thudbuster was available by their patent ran out and now there is plenty of identical looking competition.
I was doing a lot of off road riding on a Surly Crosscheck. I got a Thudbuster seatpost. It helped a lot for the shocks on my rear end. But it didn't help at all for the shocks on hands and through hands to head. After about a year I developed a focus problem in one eye. Got a full suspension bike and have never looked back.
Now I went the opposite way. I put aerobars on the MTB, which is great for long distance mixed terrain riding, so that I can take the weight off my hands now and again on the road parts.
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1the reason of why i had posted this is because that it said on my bike "huffy 3.0 fortress trail rated" so i thought that it was a mountain bike, and it had oversized wheels. i think 2.0 and so i tried it and at the time it was good, but later i had started to notice, "if it is a mountain bike, then why dont i feel any suspension?" i checked out some other questions similar to this, and i saw the one where it told you how to ride without suspension, it kind of worked, – Gabriel Feb 14 '17 at 23:56