I’m about to enter the 21st century and get some suspension having ridden fully rigid since 1988.

I can’t afford Fox so anyone got any experience of other reasonably light 80-100mm 29er forks?

Ahem: http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-29er-suspension-fork-in-excellent-condition-silly-cheap (review in the linked thread)

And having swapped to Rebas (for mainly vanity reasons) I have to say that there’s little performance difference if any

I run some manitou minute 29ers – 80mm. they’r really light, and i’ve found them nice and reliable. slightly divey, but i can live with that. I also run some 120mm 26″ minuted, bolt thru, which are also fantastic. unfortunately the bolt thru system i a pain in the backside when compared to maxle etc. however, i belive a new design is being bought in for 2011?

for the 80mm 29ers, QR should be fine, but i’d probably look at bolt thru for 100mm, as they aren’t the most stiff thing ever. great forks though.

the reba maxles are legendary.

Niner carboni upgraded to a set of these and cant ever imagine why i would put suspension forks back on. the weight you save is outstanding and they flex so much over the rough stuff. they are expensive for a rigid fork but still half the price of a suspension set up. :0)

Muchbettertom – you need to get yourself a slightly heavier negative spring/’ride kit’ I think – those Minute 29ers are air/coil hybrid – you can’t adjust the coil externally, have to replace the spring itself – should give it a better feel. Something like this one, in firm:

http://www.hotlines-uk.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=44523

Couldn’t see a specific one for your fork, but the Minute and Drake share many parts – give the guys at Hotlines a call and they’d be able to advise I’m sure – 0131 319 1444.

I’m running rigid carbon at the moment and 99% of the time I’m happy; main reason I fancy some suspension is for the Kielder 100, I rode rigid last year and my upper body was dead after 60 miles.
I tried the big volume front tyre, upper body workouts etc but however you look at it, 100 miles fully rigid is a long way.

I’ve got the minutes and they where a bit soft until I fitted the firm spring. Perfect now plus like the abs+ as you can change the platform on the fly plus parts are quite cheap. Think CRC have them at a decent price buy them you will not be disappointed.

I’ve a set of Tora’s on mine. In comparison to the Darts that I had on my previous bike (I’m comparing steel vs. alu and 29 vs 26 here so hardly scientific 🙂 ) I find them a much more comfortable ride than the Darts – when set for the same amount of sag.

these in 100mm , no probs so far

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=44497

thanks for the heads up cx_monkey, will look into it 🙂

i have some maxle reba teams, very nice indeed.

Another vote for the Minutes for a reasonably priced fork.

maverick SC32, cheap and light, easy to service, but you do need a specific hub

365/180 28/6/10 by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

29er Rebas on Ebay and with lock out! £284 plus PP. Bargain!

I quite liked my lockout Reba’s, though they were nice forks.

The I got some Mavericks that came with a bike and I’m amazed. Loads of travel, light and stiff. Very[/i] highly recommended.