I’m considering jumping onto the 29er bandwagon, most likely a full-suss 29er, 100mm or 120mm travel (Tallboy or similar).

Would ideally like to custom build it myself. Any recommendations on forks?

Would be used for trail riding in Surrey Hills, South Downs, 4-5 weekends a year in Wales. Maybe a few of the less serious marathon / XC events such as Big Dog.

My Rebas (2010 model IIRC) have been great. Work well, don’t fall apart. Not much more to say.

Rebas are a better price than the Fox Float/Talas alternatives as well, but only up to 100mm from what I can see online.

Yeah, I think that’s right. 100mm on a 29er is loads though IMO – especially for the sort of use you’re talking about. I use 130mm forks on my 26″ bikes and 100mm 29er is comparable.

I have 2011 Reba’s from On One, brand new cost me £299,120mm travel, tapered steerer and 20mm thru-axle, on a Scandal frame, very stiff and very good, thoroughly recommend them.

That’s interesting. I’m planning on doing some demo rides so I might find 100mm is enough, you’re right.

Team members are using (Loco Racing, Niner stans ergon Loco uk) Rockshox Sids, XX and RCT3s (RCT3 has best damping but is crown adjust not remote on bars like the XX)
Or Fox RLC Kashima FIT, the issue is that Rockshox only supply 100mm max forks in the UK this year, so you have to get Rebas and Revs., from abroad.
Performance wise it’s pretty close between the RCT3 RS forks (sid or rev as reba not specced with that damper but can be upgraded) and the FIT Foxs.
The fox’s probably edge it slightly but they’re more exspensive and need more maintainence.

make sure you get a 29er specific stem too. I’ve got a neg 13 degree one with offset to aid with the fork rake. I’ve had less punctures as a result.

29er Stems.. I never even knew they existed!

29er stem?

Never seen one of them…….

I could understand having a negative rise stem if you are below a certain size height and had problems with the height of the front end?

Paceman – Head for the Hills are doing a demo day this sunday at holmbury and they’ll have some 29ers there if its any help. Need to register with them and donate a few quid to the hurtwood trust.

You’ll need 29er specific bars and saddle too.

Don’t forget the pedals. Most important contact point IMO.

I’m booked in to get some 29er specific lungs fitted.

I’m booked in to get some 29er specific lungs fitted.

😆 POTD!

I’ve got 3 Rebas (120mm Team Maxle tapered and Non Tapered and a QR 80mm SL) and they all perform great.

Only problem i have encountered with both the maxle forks (which i believe is finally sorted for 2012) is that the lowers are slightly offset which means that the tyre is closer to the disc side meaning i can’t run more than a 2.25″ tyre as it rubs the leg. Just had the lowers replaced under warranty for my new set (the tapered ones) and the new lowers are still offset, just not as badly. Seems it’s a fairly common occurrence (i did a thread on this recently if you check my forum history) but is bad QC and shouldn’t happen.

I have always used RS and never liked the one set of fox forks i had and don’t like their service intervals or cheese-made stanchions. I’ve never serviced any of my forks but may try Mr Loco at some stage on my older maxle reba’s as i’ve read good things about him.

got 2 pairs of maverick sc32s, been faultless, shame they’ve stopped making them

had a pair of Manitou minutes (now called Towers) – fitted them, they work, are adjustable, light and good value + have not required any looking after.

On topic, I plumped for Suntour Raidon (100mm) air with 15mm maxle thing when building my Scandal and am very happy considering the price of them. They perform at are far greater quality than the cash value would suggest (even before the CRC discount).

Just need to find something with the right interior diameter to stick in the hub to make the funky QR work correctly.

I’ve got the Fox Floats 120 on my Tallboy.So far so good.Plus i have the advantage of being able to lower the travel for racing.

Ditto ocrider, only on a voodoo. No hub issues with mine though. The lowers are only greased seals tho, no oil in there. They got a lot plusher when I added 10cc of 15wt to the lowers (manual suggests this for racing). They occasionally leave grease on the stantions too, but not really a big deal.

Having said all that, small bump performance etc. aint as good as my 26″ rebas etc, so I’ll probably sell them on and get some rebas come summer.

Ocrider, i have some Suntour Epicons on my SS and i’ve tried all sorts to fill the gap between the 15mm hub inserts and nothing ever works, i just make sure i always take my 15mm ‘bodget’ stick with me on my rare ss rides incase i need to remove the wheel.

Shame about the Suntour ‘Maxle’ as it’s a good idea and works well (in continuous hubs) but they obviously never considered that a lot of people now use convertible hubs like Hope or Halo (in my case).

Annoyingly seeing as they are my cheapest 29er fork they have better tyre clearance, straight lowers and a proper cable hose guide compared to all my Reba’s, just not as plush but that could be solved by IA’s approach.

Dead easy to do, as the damper etc is sealed.

Literally, undo footnuts, whip off lowers, clean the seals, back on half way, skoosh of oil in each leg, do them back up again.

running Fox Evolution 32mm 100mm on my 2012 Stumpy Evo, with the Specialized hub featuring OS24mm axle caps and DT Swiss 10mm skewer – feels plenty stiff in the front end

open bath fork (lots of oil) with rebound and lockout (adjustable compression – with lockout mode)

work just as well as previous Fox forks I have owned

100mm on a 29er wheel feels more than adequate considering I am riding the same trails I was riding on my previous bike (26″ wheels) which had Fox 36 Float RC2 set at 150mm

i went for fox float rlc kashima 15mm BT 32’s at 120mm for my nicolai helius ac 29er..

interestingly, even though they’re longer than my 140mm 26″ floats, theres no more flex noticeable [albeit they are tapered].

great dsamping and super plush…. lovely

Had maxle Reba Teams at 120mm, way too much travel for me. Running a Fox F29 now. Not as good as the Reba, to be honest, but they were only £100 second hand off here because of a short steerer & sloppy bushes. Sending them off to LoCo this week, for a tune up so hoping they come back nicer. But to be totally honest as soon as my Niner steel forks arrive I’ll be back on them. Had some Swift rigids & loved them. For me 29ers work best with a nice steel rigid fork.

29er coil lefty max is great

reba’s work well

they do get damaged by exploding wheels though 😉

Cheers guys, sounds like 100mm might be the way to go. 120mm might be overkill for my local trail riding. Just tough to judge coming from a 140-150mm 26er.

100mm Reba’s here on a On One, not much to say but they work really well as Reba’s do, much like the 26″ versions i used before.

I do think rigid forks work really well with 29ers though.

IA’s handy hint noted. I’ll may just try that.

Gutted about the lack of success in finding a shim to make the qloc work, Mr tall. Its a really nice system.
I was thinking about ptfe tubing or somesuch, but the closest I can find has a 15mm outside diameter 😥
I’ll just have to stick to having a long, pokey thing™ (old qr skewer) in my pack.

For a tube, why not get some thin plasticard ( modelling shops sell it, or cut up a folder) and roll your own tube, as it were? Just roll it round the axle, tape up, cut to length, job’s a good un! doesn’t need to be strong/structural…

I’m demo’ing Marzocchi 44Ti 120mm 29er forks on my Tallboy. Only 6hrs on them so far, but first impressions very good. Very plush, like old school Z1 plush, yet don’t blow through their travel. I’m 11 stone so only running them with 40psi and the air chamber full open. Very strong, with absolutely no unwanted flex when slamming it down through twisty rock strewn trail. I did a few laps of Laggan black yesterday and was grinning like an idiot at the extra speed I was hitting sections at, by the end of the afternoon I was getting 119mm travel. No matter what you get, a tapered steerer and one of the various bolt through options makes a hell of a difference, the Marzocchi has both (QR15) Weighed with a 220mm steerer (kept long as it’s a demo) they come in at 1990gms, which interestingly is only 120gms heavier than my old 80/100 QR Rebas. Variable lock out goes from solid to moving when hitting bumps (like a Terralogic Fox) effective and simple. Seems like Marzocchi are now a viable option to RS / Fox – oh and best thing, a three year warranty! I’ll give them another 20hrs or so and see how they fare.

I have 44 Ti too and they wee all over my taper reba maxles!

I’ve got 100mm QR15 Rebas on my Solaris, which I haven’t given a moments thought to since setting them up – which is probably a good indication that they’re doing their thing. On my Niner I’ve got open bath 120mm Fox F29s which also seem perfectly alright, if not quite as keen to use all their travel. I’ve never had reliability problems with either Roxkshox or Fox, but from friends’ experience RS are much more supportive if you have any problems under warrantee.

My f29’s were ace round follow the dog today, even through the braking bumps of death! 😯

100mm non tapered Reba RL’s with a 9mm QR thingy from superstar

Not yet felt underforked and no problems to report, very happy with them

Re the qloc/hub dilemma, I was thinking about ptfe tubing if there was the slightest risk that the shim would rotate. It does have to be pretty flush to prevent that clever expanding gubbins from opening in the smallest of gaps.
If I was Suntour, I would be selling these and ti ones aftermarket. As I’m not, I’ll just whinge anonymously on a thread about 29er forks.

I’ll just whinge anonymously

It’s what the internet’s for, crack on!

RS have reduced travel options for 29er REBAs for 2012.
So you can have 80-120mm travel and dodgy lowers….or this years 80-100mm with good lowers. Still do up to 120 for 26″ though…

Now if only On One would get some more of them maxle, taper Reba 29ers for cheaps…

Anyone seen any good offers?