I’m looking to upgrade from my current 150mm Sektors to something a bit more burly for my local Lake District riding.

Unfortunately I’m a skint father-to-be & funds will limit me to the second-hand market & at the moment I’m thinking Rockshox Lyrik solo air from 2013ish.
Were these any good?
What were the coil & uturn versions like?
Should I consider anything else? eg Fox 36
Are there any other older forks I should particularly avoid?

Thanks in advance

I picked up a set of X-Fusion Slant forks (34mm stanchion, 160 or 140 travel) on the classifieds for a rather keen price – only getting round to putting them on the Five now, but can let you know how they perform?

In my case, the comparison would be with Fox 32 and ridden fairly hard around Innerleithen – so not too dissimilar to your set-up..

Lyrik coils would be my choice. Yeah they’re very heavy but they’re also godly, pretty much a sawnoff Boxxer. Mine pretty much ruined me for other forks, my RC3 Tis weren’t as well controlled, the modern Pikes and Lyriks are just not in the same class imo, only my stupidly expensive 2015 36s have been competitive and they’re still not as good. (maybe a coil conversion in a modern fork would do the job but I’d still rather have the mission control than the RCT3/charger damper in the new stuff)

Uturn adds functionality and is reliable, the only downside is even more weight. (uturn is nice in that the fork works correctly at all lengths, and isn’t impaired at all by having the length adjustment- so you can happily run around with it at 130mm or whatever.) It’s slow to operate though.

There’s 2 different dampers, the Mission Control and Mico DH. The standard Mico has a lockout but doesn’t perform quite as well- but you can easily modify it to remove the lockout and once you do that, it performs almost the same. (obviously, it’s a coil so with no lockout it can be quite bobby… Your call on what’s most important, I lived with the blob)

The air is actually pretty good too, but the coil is only 200g more and worth it IMO. I’m pretty sure you can retrofit any of the coil setups into the air fork, should you choose. Don’t under any circumstances buy the 2-step, it is appalling, unless it’s so cheap that you can economically fit a coil.

Marz 55 rc3 ti

Just about still the best suspension fork I’ve owned, it was like a hot knife through butter on Lakes rock.

Marzocchi 55 rc3ti would be my choice. They’re fairly bomb proof and have a top drawer damper that (in my opinion) out performs anything Rockshox have yet to offer.

The downside is that you’re stuck with only one spring weight, but you can put air in the help with that. That said, I had some 2013’s and even at 96 kg they performed well enough.

Some here – http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2014-Marzocchi-55-RC3-V2-Ti-/112256068722?hash=item1a22fbac72:g:n-QAAOSwa~BYaiAI

Or these – http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/275-formula-35-ex-180mm-forks-weigh-in-at-1800g-as-new-comdition

Thanks for all the feedback so far guys! Lyrik Coils sound favorite so far, providing I can face lugging the extra weight up hills 😀
They sound like they’d provide the plushness I’m after.

I loved my Bos Devilles. really, really well controlled and supportive forks that always worked beautifully.

will5210 – Member

They sound like they’d provide the plushness I’m after.

Actually if you want outright plushness the 55s may be better. The reason I preferred the Lyriks was control/composure, the gnocchis are incredibly smooth and soak up chatter like nothing else, really is lovely, but they also go through travel much easier. By the time I had mine as controlled as I wanted them, they were pretty choked with damping. (a custom tune could have fixed that no doubt but that’s expense)

Matter of taste really. I think I’m a pretty picky eater when it comes to forks!

Air Lyriks on my old Mega 2012.
Changed them to Pikes eventually.

The pre 2010 55 rc3ti weren’t as supportive but 2010 onwards they were as supportive as anything else out there mid stroke. However, they’ve always been more sensitive at the top of their travel, even when compared to other coil sprung forks. The best version was the V2 circa 2013, which can be had for a song. They can also have the shim stack tuned to suit you and your riding style.

I had Fox 36’s on mine, still got them if you decide to go that way. Not sure what they are worth.

Mugboo, what year are your 36s?

Marzzochi 55s seem quite sensible money so I’ll look out for those too as well as Lyriks.

Thanks for everyone’s input & thoughts

Good question, 09 I think. I’ve had them since new. Loco upgraded them to FIT I believe. They are set at 140 at the mo but easily changed and barely ridden since the last oil change. They’ve had slight vertical marks since 2011 but I’ve done the service religiously since then. They’ve barely been used over the last three years, they have been on my HT. Straight steerer.