UNDERSTANDING BMX FORK OFFSET

These days there are many different offset options when it comes to BMX forks. I honestly never thought about different offsets for my own bike up until a few years ago but once you dive into the reasoning behind it all and get an understanding you realise it’s well worth knowing about it.

HOW BMX FORK OFFSET IS MEASURED. 

The offset is measured from the centre of the fork leg to the centre of your dropout where the axle would be. You can refer to the diagram below.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE IN BMX FORK OFFSETS ?

Forks that have an offset of around 18-20mm such as the Cult Sect forks (18mm option), Stress BES (19.66mm) and the Colony Sweet Tooth (20mm option) are ideal for someone that does a lot of front end moves such as nose manuals as it creates a more responsive bars which can can also help with barspins. It also creates a shorter bike overall which in turn makes it easier for spinning for hop 360’s, 180 barspins and other moves.

Forks around the 25-28mm fork offsets such as the Division Balata forks (25mm), Colony Sweet Tooth (25mm option), Stress Voskhod (28mm) are the most common and universal fork offset because you can pretty much ride anything with them and feel comfortable. Or you can try our the Cult Sect forks which have a 28mm offset option if you’re leaning towards a bit of transition riding but still love hitting spots as well.

30mm+ offset forks such as the Colony Sweet Tooth forks (30mm option),  are generally found on riders bikes who mainly ride deep bowls and trails because it creates a smoother ride when riding larger transitions. It also makes the bike a lot less twitchy which is better when you’re air out of a bowl or jumping a large set of trails as it creates stability.

"I run 30mm offset forks because it keeps your wheel base longer, and your weight behind the front end rather than directly over it , this helps the over all stability and gives a less twitchy feel" - Jayden Fuller

Check out the detailed artile we wrote on BMX stems here for even more valuable information.