Stability maintaining shock absorbing bicycle front fork and trailing arm assembly

Claim 1

In combination, a bicycle having a bicycle frame and a stability maintaining shock absorbing bicycle front fork and trailing arm assembly for mounting a front bicycle wheel on said bicycle for rotation of the front bicycle wheel about a displaceable axis of rotation, wherein said bicycle has a steering spindle pivotally mounted in a front frame portion thereof for pivotal movement of the steering spindle about a steering axis; wherein said stability maintaining shock absorbing bicycle fork and trailing arm assembly comprises: a hub member rigidly attached to said steering spindle for pivotal movement therewith; opposed left and right fork members each having a top end and a bottom end, and being rigidly attached adjacent their top ends to said hub member so as to depend therefrom; left and right trailing arms operatively mounted one on each of said left and right fork members, respectively, for pivotal movement of each trailing arm about a common pivot axis oriented generally parallel to said displaceable axis of rotation of said front bicycle wheel and generally perpendicular to said steering axis and disposed forwardly of said steering axis; bicycle wheel mounting means disposed one on each of said left and right trailing arms so as to permit mounting of a front bicycle wheel thereon such that the front bicycle wheel rotates about said displaceable axis of rotation; wherein, when said front bicycle wheel is mounted on said bicycle wheel mounting means on said left and right trailing arms, said left and right trailing arms are concurrently pivotally movable between a forward position whereat the displaceable axis of rotation of the front bicycle wheel mounted on said front fork and trailing arm assembly is disposed forwardly of said steering axis and between said steering axis and said common pivot axis, and a trailing position whereat the displaceable axis of rotation of the front bicycle wheel mounted on said front fork and trailing arm assembly is disposed closer to said steering axis than when in said forward position and is also displaced vertically closer to said common pivot axis than when in said forward position; variable length shock absorbing means comprising an upper component and a lower component, wherein said upper and lower components are slidably engaged one with the other for relative movement between an extended configuration and a compressed configuration, with said upper component securely mounted on said hub member; a linkage arm having a top end and a bottom end, and being pivotally mounted at its bottom end to a selected one of said left and right trailing arms for pivotal movement about a linkage arm lower axis, and pivotally mounted at its top end to said lower component of said shock absorbing means for pivotal movement about a linkage arm upper axis, with said linkage arm upper and lower axes being substantially parallel to said displaceable axis of rotation; and spring biasing means operatively mounted between said hub member and the selected trailing arm having said linkage arm mounted thereon, so as to bias said shock absorbing means to said extended configuration and to bias said left and right trailing arms to their respective forward positions.