Chap in the States is selling a bunch of 'new old stock' SID's, thinking of picking one up for my Bow-ti… currently running the Bomber Z2 Super Fly's that came with it; nice forks I admit, but it'd be good to have a backup option that is 'period correct'…

He has the following available: SID Race (in blue), SID 100 (in red), SID XC (in black) and SID SL (in blue and in black).

So what are the differences between the Race, 100, XC and SL variants? Any features/benefits to one over the other?

cheers chaps, appreciate your help and knowledge as always 8)

The 100's had 100mm of travel and were red or black (i think steve geall used them for dirt jumping!), the rest probably had 60 or 80mm of travel. Thats all i know

race had 63mm , xc + sl 80mm and 100 yep you guessed it 100mm.

I think race were the top model but don't know where the others come , what I do know is that when the xc are paired up with a 14 stone rider and a set of original Crossmax wheels they flop about and flex like crazy.

28mm stanchions – felt like they were made of rubber – avoid

Race, SL, XC in descending order. XC had Hydra-air, I think the others had different damping.

All were good at the time – very light and unbearably flexy. Probably go for an SL over a race if the race is 63mm only and the SL is 80mm.

GB

Ah, the wonders of Google… Found a year 2000 Service guide, looks like the Race were the lightest (duh!) but the XC had more features?

-SID Race: New lighter weight, 2.5 lbs. and XXX Sealing System
-SID SL: New XXX Sealing System and All Travel System (63mm/80mm travel options)
-SID XC: New HydraAir technology, XXX Sealing System and All Travel System (63mm/80mm travel options), Homer Valve
-SID 100: New HydraAir technology, 100mm travel, XXX Sealing System, Homer Valve
-SID XL: New lighter weight, 3.5 lbs. and XXX Sealing System

28mm stanchions – felt like they were made of rubber – avoid

I figure they'll be flexy (but weren't all forks back then!? My Super Fly's certainly are, kind of scares me watching them flex back and forth under braking!)

my daughter had some sid XC100's that worked fine for her but yet again she was only 10 and weighed the same as a wet face flannel. They were dead reliable and still hold air (they're still in the garage somewhere)

I had some SL's. Very plush but flexy. Very light.

i used to have 80mm SLs in blue.

They were incredibly flexy, but that's almost a period feature.

I sold mine on ebay, and got £126 for them.