Tempted by a new set of 2012 fox 36 van rc2 forks for my covert frame. Hopefully skf have made a proper seal that does what it’s intended for!

Has anyone run the van for trail riding? Thinking a coil fork may be over the top for most of my riding (surrey hills etc) but i rode a mates transition tr250 and the 180mm vans on that felt awesome although i wasn’t riding up any hills!

Hugh

a lot of my friends run vans up the valleys cwmcarn etc dont know what its like down ur way though im guessing ur better off getting a new set of 34’s 150mm but 36’s is the norm for a transition covert im sure

Yeah 36’s are what the frame is designed around. I’m running lyrik solo airs at the moment which seem really nice compared to a mates floats but tempted by the van’s as i can get the 2012 for a good price.

i run a 2010 36Van RC2 on my evil sov for trail riding , single track etc, love it and wouldn’t swap it for anything,

Yep, I run some 2011 Vans on my Orange five, although they have been modified to 150mm.

I tried running it with some RS Revs, and even robbed the 32 Float’s off my Mrs’s bike, but I can’t stand air forks. Never got on with them, in any capacity.

Significantly prefer the 36 chassis as well. It’s noticeably stiffer, which is nice when the bike gets ridden like a little DH bike.

Van’s are awesome. I had some in 2009, changed to talas in 2010 and wish I had not bothered. Now on 2011 Talas and I still think I prefer the van’s.

I’ve used them (2008’s) for trail riding on a nomad with a coil rear shock. I loved them, i’ve also had 2008 36 talas rc2’s and imo the vans were a lot better. The vans were a lot smoother and I just set the hi/low speed compression up and left it where it was but with the talas I was forever fiddling with them trying to find the ‘sweet’ spot. Even though I had the talas I never really dropped the travel even on the climbs, I found it easier to climb in full travel. I’m reasonably heavy at 15-15.5 stone with kit and I was living in the lakes at the time so they were just the job for me but if your lighter or living somewhere a bit flatter they might not suit you as well. I’ve read good things about the floats so they could be an alternative if you want to save a bit of weight.

Edit : 😳 Just read your living in the Surrey hills but never been there so don’t know if they will be over kill.

Yeah floats are even better.

Fox 36 Van’s ROCK. I hate air forks and so have coil forks on both bikes, Pikes on the hard tail, Fox 36 Van R’s on the full us. 36’s aren’t light though, well my 2009 Van’s aren’t anyway. Super plush though.

For trail riding duties I think Fox 36’s might be a bit too much IMHO

I run a set of ’07 36 Van RC2 on my Blur 4X, so much better than the 32 TALAS they replaced, well worth the extra weight for the gain in performance.

I use 36 Vans on my only bike (Pitch) – which gets used mostly in the Lakes where it’s pretty rocky. I **** love it. They weigh the same as the Pikes they replaced too.

I don’t find it a problem riding up hills etc, I’m just not particularly fast but that’s mainly me.

Have you thought of Devilles, they feel better than any coil fork ive tried, and lighter to boot.
cat n pigeons spring to mind!

Removing the Floodgate gate parts from the damper assembly on Mission Control Lyriks makes a huge difference to the forks small bump sensitivity. May be worth trying on your’s before buying new forks?

I use my coil lyriks on an all-use trail bike… As long as they complement the bike and work well with it, it’s fine- all it is, is an extra pound on the front of the thing .

Honestly I don’t think you’ll feel that much of an upgrade going from air Lyriks to Vans, unless you go to the all-singing top end model. Especially if you do the floodgate deletion mod on the Lyriks. IMO people talk a lot of guff about the magic of coils, there’s a difference but it’s not night and day. I was really pretty disappointed when I coil’d my Lyriks, I’d believed the hype. Ah well.