The Original Cannondale Lefty?

[veggieburger]

I've always thought the C-dale lefty fork was a neat idea and quite the engineering feat. However, last night I was thumbing through an old Miroir de Cyclisme from the early 90s and found a picture of a Laiti VTT. Ever heard of these? What a whacky design!

http://tom.kat.free.fr/laiti/laiti1.jpg

[redir]

Yeah if I remember correctly Dirt Rag did a write up of that at some point. and yeah it is pretty wacky. I have a Lefty 29r and I love it. From what I understand similar technology is used for airplane landing gear so it's not exactly innovative but borrowed technology.

[crownjewelwl]

Yeah if I remember correctly Dirt Rag did a write up of that at some point. and yeah it is pretty wacky. I have a Lefty 29r and I love it. From what I understand similar technology is used for airplane landing gear so it's not exactly innovative but borrowed technology.

try motorcycles...a better comp

[torquer]

The moto comparison occured to me, too, and they do it out back!
I've always wondered how Honda & BMW (and others, I guess) can manage 100 ft.-lbs. plus through a single-sided swingarm, and Cannondale can't deal with our relatively puny output. (In my case absolutely puny.) Is the added weight that much?

[rice rocket]

The moto comparison occured to me, too, and they do it out back!
I've always wondered how Honda & BMW (and others, I guess) can manage 100 ft.-lbs. plus through a single-sided swingarm, and Cannondale can't deal with our relatively puny output. (In my case absolutely puny.) Is the added weight that much?

What do you mean can't deal with?

The Leftys are stiffer than most dual-legged forks, and still manage to knock more than a pound off.

[mvrider]

A recent incarnation:
http://www.englishcycles.com/custombikes/project-right/

http://www.englishcycles.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/right21.jpg

[ORMojo]

Right now - today - I'm working on getting my preorder in for one of these. These photos are from an early version, and the 2nd generation in all carbon will be available soon.
http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv48/ORMojo1/Alike_Fork_zpsf1221287.jpg (http://s668.photobucket.com/user/ORMojo1/media/Alike_Fork_zpsf1221287.jpg.html)
http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv48/ORMojo1/Alike_Fork_Installed_zps54c0d23f.jpg (http://s668.photobucket.com/user/ORMojo1/media/Alike_Fork_Installed_zps54c0d23f.jpg.html)
http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv48/ORMojo1/Alike_Fork_Installed2_zps19b1f5eb.jpg (http://s668.photobucket.com/user/ORMojo1/media/Alike_Fork_Installed2_zps19b1f5eb.jpg.html)
http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv48/ORMojo1/Alike_Fork_Installed3_zps77e695ec.jpg (http://s668.photobucket.com/user/ORMojo1/media/Alike_Fork_Installed3_zps77e695ec.jpg.html)

[Kirk Pacenti]

These were the first I recall seeing - late 80's.

Though, they were not strictly "lefties" because you could also get them in right sided versions.

[torquer]

What do you mean can't deal with?

Out back.
That English looks like what I'm thinkin' about; this is a great solution for belt-drive. Now, let's figure out where to put a rear disc...

[Mark McM]

The moto comparison occured to me, too, and they do it out back!
I've always wondered how Honda & BMW (and others, I guess) can manage 100 ft.-lbs. plus through a single-sided swingarm, and Cannondale can't deal with our relatively puny output. (In my case absolutely puny.) Is the added weight that much?

Power to weight ratio. Dual sided forks/rear swingarms have a higher strength/weight and stiffness/weight ratios. On a motorcycle, the higher weight for the single sides swingarm with the desired strength/stiffness is more than compensated for by the much larger power of the engine. On a bicycle, the weight of a single sided swingarm for the desired strength/stiffness would not be tolerated as well, due to the puny power of the engine.

Except for very specialized aerodynamic applications, a one-bladed rigid fork makes no sense for a bicycle, given the extra weight to achieve the desired strength and stiffness. But it can makes sense for a suspension fork.

For a balanced response on two bladed suspension fork there should be a spring and damper in each blade. The weight that Cannondale had to add to create a single-bladed fork with the desired strength/stiffness is compensated for by only needing a single spring and damper. The end result is a small weight savings over a two-bladed design.

Since there is no spring and damper in a rigid fork, there is no place to save weight, so a rigid single-bladed fork will weigh more than an equivalent two-bladed fork.

[Louis]

There are several ways to get stiffness, one of which is by adding material, another is through geometry. For a rigid fork I'm pretty sure the benefits of the geometry of a 2-legged design will trump any attempts to go with a 1-leg design.

[veggieburger]

try motorcycles...a better comp

Yeah....my old 78 Vespa had a fork on only one side. I guess my question is - which manufacturer was the first to introduce it to bicycles?