I love my Rebas for the fact they don’t cost mega dollars but still seem to perform pretty much the same as anything else.
I’d like to treat my Wife to some new forks as she did so well at Afan recently after an 8 year lay off post-kids and Merlin have a great price on Recons. Are they worth bothering with or just a spring in a tube?
Cheers.

Aren’t the recons solo air so one side spring and one side air?

The set I had were really good and lasted me really well. I now run Rebas and they are noticably tighter and lighter.

Oh and by the way, if you go to Afan I can fully recommend the Glyncorrwg social club in the centre of the village. Whilst the Refreshment (old converted railway station) gets all the passing trade, I’ve always had such an enjoyable evening at the club and get welcomed like a local every time I (infrequently) go there.

Apologies for preaching to some of the converted on this Forum.

Work alright for me. Bounce a bit and make things softer. I know nothing, probably.

Somouk, thanks for the reply. My Wife is currently on 7 year old forks but is inexperienced. Are the Recons good enough to make a difference and keep her ticking over for a couple of years until I can afford something better?

Bounce a bit and make things softer

Do you work for MBR?

P.S. Thanks, exactly the basic ‘does what it says on the tin’ review I needed.

I try not to.

I just have not enough appreciation of the minutiae of suspension probably, front or back. My Recons are still in one piece and I ride my bicycle down hills. Suits me.

imo they are a understated fork i have extended mine from 100 to 120, 130 is possible if wanted iv been using them for 3years now easy to home service and seem to work well,mum also has them on her build and verry pleased and a gent in our club has ridden his hard for getting on 4 years now ther still strong but the stanchons are starting to discolour a little

My son has air Recon’s on his bike, they seem to work well. Careful with the model, as there is a great variation of them out there.

I use recons on my xc race bike. Which model are you looking at? Some have the same moco damping on as rebas, some just have ‘turnkey’ damping which is simpler but arguably more reliable.

Solo air does NOT mean one side air and one side coil – it just means you dont have positive or negative air chambers to tinker with, you just have the main positive chamber… Fine for most people, particularly the inexperiened who can’t tell the difference in subtle set up differences.

They’re great forks, no reason why youd want to upgrade them in the future really by the sound of their application.

I’ve got some Recon Gold Solo Air – certainly much nicer than the suntours that they replaced.

Still considering extending them to 120 from 100, though. How easy is it for the hamfisted?

If you loved her you’d give her your Rebas… 😉

Beating your chest & announcing your going fully rigid will further endear her to you.

Careful with the model, as there is a great variation of them out there.

This.

I would avoid TK models – the MoCo damper works better and there pictures floating around the net of the TK dampers self-destructing when locked out.

I liked my Gold RL Solo Air’s a lot and would still be using them if they were 15mm maxle.

Just got a set of those Solo Air Recons from Merlin – £198 for a 15mm axle, Motion control with poploc and PM brake mount. Haven’t put them on the bike yet but had a set of 351s a few years ago and they were great. The spacer is easily removed from the air side to get the other 20mm travel. Probably easiest if you look on YouTube for a vid.

Wouldn’t go up the range unless you want DNA damping or dual air.

I’ve got a set of Recon Race forks on my steel HT; great forks TBH.

Not as good as my Float RLCs but at a third of the price, they’re not a third of the performance, if you get my drift!

Got the ones from merlin, very good after 8 years on rigid. Still mystified on how to iaccess the valve to put some more air in! Any ideas or links?

Recently bought a set of Recon Gold Solo Air’s 2nd hand from this ‘ere forum and stuck them on MsD’s Myka FSR. The difference between them and the laughingly named ‘la femme’ Tora coil forks is like night and day. Neither I nor MsD could get much more than about 45mm of travel out of the Tora’s and they horribly heavy and made the bike steer like a barge.
By contrast the Recon’s are fantastic (and i have Reba & Pike units) responsive, supple and a hell of a lot lighter, really transformed the bike.
Plus, MsD is now happy with me 🙂

RockyMountain – er, not being funny but there is quite an obvious cap on top of the left hand stanchion that you unscrew to reveal the air valve.

RockyMountain. Assuming you don’t have the coil version 🙂

I have some old 351 coils on the XC bike (wound down to 100), not the lightest option, but the bike weighs in pretty low and I’m not a seriously XC minded, they have had a heck of a beating, 6 years old. Home services, still tight as a button and really responsive. Love em.

disclaimer: I have ridden no other xc fork, but both other bikes have pikes on, and while they’re softer and flexier, not so much I don’t still love riding that bike.

SV, how much do your forks weigh?

Probably got the coil version, has poplock on the right.
Lots of things have changed since I got my manitous in 1997! Maybe it’s why I went to rigid…..

Merlin seemed to indicate there were air, even recommended a pump.

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/frame-forks/forks-shocks/rockshox-suspension-forks/rockshox-recon-gold-rl-poploc-2013.html

I just put some recon SL’s on the wifes bike and she seems to like them.

Got them off a mate for £50 and they are 500g lighter than the manitou elite 80mm forks she had on her trek before.

I pinkified them for her too, with new (wonky) decals.

Definitely the coil version there RockyMountain – did you think you were buying the air fork?

Did not care, though I was always suspicious of air back in the day. Price was the key point, also poploc.

Whatever they are good, can get through things I couldnt on rigid. Rigid makes you look for lines and perhaps a better rider. With suspension I feel I have to put weight backwards, rigid forwards.

All good either way!

As long as you’re happy with them it’s good 🙂

they’re ace.

of course you can spend more, but you’ve got to spend a LOT more to get anything appreciably ‘better’.

(a bit lighter, a few more adjustments that you’ll never use, a few more manners during high frequency stuff)

Granny ring – will weight them later.

Thanks all for the comprehensive replies, I’ll get buying.