Hello,

My 2005 z1 anniversary is getting ropeier and ropeier as time and crashes take their toll.

I’d like a coil Uturn lyrik to replace it but they only do them in air and in dual position now.

The choice is

2013 55 r- coil sprung rebound damper only 160mm
2013 55cr- air sprung, compression and rebound damping, 150mm or 170mm via a spacer
20?? 55 rc3- coil sprung loads of damping to fiddle with 160mm

Second hand is limited as the bikes got a huge head tube and needs 220mm of steerer tube.

Any suggestions? 8 years is a long time on one fork and I’d imagine that the next one will last as long as I’m only out once or twice a month plus loads in the summer.

Cheers
Martin

RC3 is the one to go for, generally speaking if the travel is right for your frame.

avoid 08 09 but get the rc3 tis ftw

RC3 from 2010 onwards, no earlier.

20?? 55 rc3- coil sprung loads of damping to fiddle with 160mm

as kimbers and Ecky suggest the ‘??’ is critical, avoid the wilderness years (2007-2009?). RC3Ti from 2010 onwards is fantastic.

i thought that the 2009 was the start of the 3 year warantee and return to reliability?

No, 2010 onwards. I have a set of the 2010 55r, which are great for a gravity bike, but do pogo on the climbs.

i thought that the 2009 was the start of the 3 year warantee

think it was ’09 in the US, 2010 in Europe, but ’09 55R’s for example (which marz touted as being simple back-to-old-Marzocchi-bombproof-values basics) are/were famous for having the damper cart fail and the fork hydrolocking so they still had issues then.

and return to reliability?

see above. I sold some ’09 55Rs which subsequently failed on the buyer and he emailed me to see if I had the receipts to try get them warrantied (I didnt) so it may well have had the 3yr warranty, just not the reliability.

a mate of mine has the ’13 55 R version & he recons its a great fork. £320 at CRC gotta be worth bearing in mind.

FWIW i have a ’10 RC3 Ti and don’t tend to mess with the compression damping – have it fully open/off.

I haven’t tried all those ones but the RC3 evo is amazing. I also loved the 2009 RC3 and rode it to death.

2009 was OK in my experience, my 66’s are ace and I have had to service them once.

In your position, I would probably go with the R, the RC3 is pretty expensive and tbh most of the ability to faff with the settings is superfluous.

I’ve just bought a set of 2013 55 RC3 evo v2, they seem amazing in terms of their ability to smooth a trail out, way way better than the fox 36 RLC fit air forks I had previously.

As usual there is a trade off though, and they feel like they do bounce around more when climbing, and they are a couple of hundred grams heavier.

My 2010 55R (called RV that year) weigh 2851g!!!!!

Got ’10 and ’12 RC3 Tis and they’re both mint. For some reason the older pair feel slightly better than the newer ones. Sacked Fox altogether for now.

My 2010 55R (called RV that year) weigh 2851g!!!!!

The 2014 version is down to 2479grams, which is a more palatable weight.

pretty sure my 09 55Rs weighed close to 7lbs 😯 , the Rev dual airs that replaced them closer to half that….

just ordered 55Cr 2014
to replace fox 36 rc2
Cant wait for the old butter feeling again

Hmm,

Still thinking.

2013 55r at £320 at CRC
2013 55cr at £425 at winstanleys

2009 55rc3 get mixed reviews, some love them some hate them.

2013 55 rc3 are 170mm and too long for my bike i think, 2005 giant reign that came with 145mm nixons.

2010 55RC3ti is 160mm

Alternatively: Do you realy want/need a 160mm fork if the bike came with 145mm though?

2010 44 RC3ti is 140mm but from 2011 onwards it was 150mm

Giants of that era were underforked and over stemmed, Reigns are 6″ (150mm) so a 160mm is just as suitable as a 145, and will slacken the head angle to modern standards.

Munqe chick had an XS ’05 Reign which came with the same 145mm forks and a 90mm stem, her 09 Cypher (5″ rear) came with 120mm fox, it spends a lot of time with Lyriks (spaced down to 140mm) on it and is a better bike for it.

Tall_Martin – see my for sale add in profile. Will do for £200 posted!!

Email if interested

Chris

take that winstanleys price with a pinch of salt. they gave me a right runaround when i tried to buy them. despite ringing up to confirm they had them in stock, they took my money and the forks didnt appear.

I’d agree with crash test monkey about the over stemed and under forked giants. Its had 150mm forks since 2006 and a shorter stem for most of that time too.

So while I don’t need 160mm, I’d be quite happy with it.

The 150mm 44’s are shorter in axel to crown than the current z1’s. The 55’s at 150mm/ 160mm are about 5mm longer.

Chris36830- yes but yours are 20mm too short in the steerer tube 🙁

My second last set of forks were off winstanleys and i vagely remember swearing never to use them again. I thought they might have changed their ways in 7 years.

Cheers

I run 160mm 55ETA (2008!) on a 2005 Reign. Fantastic.

I run 160mm 55ETA (2008!) on a 2005 Reign. Fantastic

have they died yet?

how about now? 😀

<pedant alert> Z1 anniversary fork was 2007. 10 years of the Z1 Bomber. Painted orange as was the Z1 BAM that started it all… 😀
Just replaced mine with a Sektor, very plush but may need new spring as it has a habit of blowing through the travel very easily, unlike the ultra(by comparison) heavy Z1 Anniversary

2012 55 RC3 Ti’s here – they are the nuts. Just got some 2012 66 RC3 Ti’s in the sales – can’t wait to try them next season 🙂