No, tapered forks are not the same size, behind the word tapered there are different types of threaded and threadless forks which you have to judge and examine by removing the steerer tube of the handlebar, the main sign of the tapered tubes is that the bottom end of these forks has greater width and diameter and thicker than the upper ends, it can only be observed when installing or upgrading bike forks. all the new and modern forks are manufactured as tapered forks and old models and traditional forks are non-tapered forks.
Tapered forks are narrower from the upper end and wider at the down bottom end and the bottom end means at where the two legs of the forks are meeting and connecting with each other which is called the fork crown, it is the parallel place where the tapered forks are different from the non-tapered forks. the difference in the width at the upper and ends of the tapered forks is 0.5mm, the upper end of the tapered fork which is attached to the stem body is narrower and its size is from 1 to 1/8 it’s the narrow region and the lower end of the tapered fork has a width of 1.5, which is almost wider in diameter than the upper end.
If you have a tapered fork that is greater in length and you want to cut it to into shorter length then it is possible because cutting for a few millimeters of the tapered from their upper ends does not make these forks non-compatible with the stem body and headset of your handlebar, you can easily install the cut tapered fork on the same bike, but never touch the lower end of the tapered fork for cutting purpose.
Tapered Fork Sizes:
There are four types of forks which are threaded and threadless tapered forks with different sizes as given below.
- 1 threaded
- 1 1/8 threadless
- 1.5 threadless
1 Threaded Fork:
1 threaded fork is installed and is used for old and traditional bikes and also for road bikes, but these are rarely used for mountain bikes, 1threaded fork is easily installed on all kinds of headsets on any category of bikes but 1 threaded fork is not installed on tapered headsets and a tapered stem.
1 1/8 threaded:
It is the tapered version of the forks and these are advanced and modern forks as compared to 1 threaded fork, these are the most common forks for mountain bikes but these are rarely installed on road bikes. these are hard and firm forks and are used for hard and aggressive terrains. their width and diameter are greater than 1 threaded fork. these are installed for wider and thick tires, it is the reason that these are especially recommended for MTB based on their durability.
Can You Put 1 Threaded Fork On a 1.8 Headset?
Yes, it is possible you can replace 1 threaded fork with 1 1/8 fork but in this case, you have to buy an adapter for the headset and the down fork crown surface, after that the setup will become compatible with each other.
These are the sizes of different types of tapered forks but the major difference in the tapered forks is the width of the top and bottom diamt6er of the forks.
- 1 to 1 1/8 top width of the tapered fork
- 1.5 bottom width of tapered forks.
1 1/8 Top Width Of Tapered Fork:
It is the top width of the tapered fork which is narrower and cup-shaped, these are different from the straight forks, these narrow tapered width forks are new and modern discovery, these were invented and manufactured for mountain biking, road bikes have tapered forks with 1 threaded size but mountain bike forks were evolved from 1 to 1.5 size threaded and non-threaded forks.
1.5 Bottom Width Of Tapered Forks:
It is the size of the bottom width of the tapered forks which align above the fork crown surface. it is wider and thicker than the top width of the tapered forks. the main purpose of these different widths of tapered forks is to improve riding and learning skills on the trails. straight forks have the same top and bottom widths but tapered forks have different top and bottom widths.
Lower End Bikes With Tappered Forks:
Lower ends are non-compatible with the tapered forks because these are old traditional bikes and their frame are not compatible with the new modern tapered forks, tapered forks are also compatible with the straight headsets of mountain bike frames, if your bike has a straight headset at the stem body then you can easily install these tapered forks.
Tapered Forks Depend On Width And Size Of The Wheels:
if you are looking for buying a new tapered fork then you have to inspect the size of the front wheel, if the wheel size is 26 then there are specific tapered forks and if the wheel size is 27.5 or 29 then you have to look for their specific types of tapered forks, it is due to the difference in the sizes of the tapered forks.
Compatible Tapered Forks For Bike Hub:
The length of the hub and axles are different for different sizes of the tapered forks, so before buying a new tapered fork you have to examine the specifications of the hub, axle, and the distance of the rear dropouts of the frame so that the new tapered would be compatible with the hub and spacing.
Width of Tires For choosing Tapered Forks:
All the sizes of these wheels have different widths which start from 2.1 to 3.0. which is also a considering point when you are looking for a new tapered fork because wider tires do not fit on narrow-sized tapered forks and vice versa.