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Some manufacturers (e.g. Giant) claim to have custom versions of shocks and forks. For example, my Trance came with a Fox F125RL Fork, which you can't buy on its own (125mm travel). But I wonder how much custom tuning really goes on.
Do they have custom shim stacks or something to match the fork to the bike, or is it just the same off the shelf fork we can all buy with an extra spacer added/removed?
A lot of the time custom forks seem to be downgrades, maybe a nicer chassis with cheaper internals. Not in your case of course 😉
Oooo! I know this one...
I've got exactly that F125 on my Trance, and had occasion to talk to Fox Tech in the US to get a spare part for it. I suggested it may be just the 130 with a spacer, but after checking the serial no they said no, it was a custom size made for Giant. The internals however, are just standard, aparrently.
Not to say Giant don't have special tuning on some of their higher end models, and I'm sure people like Specialised do play about with the suspension more...
yep mostly downgrades and heavier bits to make it look better/more expensive on paper and to hit a specific price point.
That and add a spacer to make up for the fact we didn't check if there were going to be any 125mm 555mm Axle to Crown forks out next year I reckon.
Thanks folks. You're a cynical lot 🙂 but probably not far from the mark.
This question is all part of my quest to understand the differences between my two bikes: a 20" Trance with 69.5 degree HA and 125mm FOX forks and an (old) 18" Five (now) with 66 degree HA and 150mm RS Rev forks.
While both bikes are great fun, they don't behave the way I expected them too based on the numbers.
The Five is a much better climber than I expected and I actually prefer it to the Trance on really steep technical stuff. I'm putting this down to the fact that the single pivot (stiffening under load and digging in) suits my sit down and spin style of climbing.
The Trance is also a better descender than I expected. In fact I've had more OTBs on the Five than the Trance!
Part of this is no doubt down to the fact that what I call steep and technical is still pretty basic, so I'm never getting beyond the comfort zone of the Trance. But I think there it also has something to do with the way the forks work.
The single air (dual position) Revs seem very linear to me whereas the Fox forks feel very progressive.
Say, for example, I'm dropping the front wheel off some ledge onto a flat surface. The slacker HA on the Five should help, but in fact the Rev fork compresses quite easily and even when it gets to the point where it is perpendicular to the ground it's still not offering much resistance and over I go (again!). The Fox fork, on the other hand, starts off closer to perpendicular when it hits the ground but the resistance increases quickly and it just pushes on through.
Now, I know there are various ways to change the way the Rev behaves. But I was struck by the fact that the Fox fork works really well with the Trance and was wondering whether this was skill on Giant's part or whether they (or I) just got lucky.
If your revs are doing that, add more platform/low speed compression or whatever they call it on your model, my pitch tried to spit me off on Saturday riding down a steep-ish rocky track, a few clicks of low speed compression and all was well on the next one.
But what others said is generaly true, custom usualy means downgrades, or an inbetweeny spec (e.g. fox RL on an bike, aftermarket you can only buy R or RLC). The exception being Spesh who seem to do quite well with stuff like the Sektors on the Pitch which had an aluminium steerer and air spring, which made them more like a basic Rev than a sektor.
as has been said, the OEM forks that come on a bike may, in a small number of cases not be the same as the aftermarket versions...despite being labelled with the same make and model.
Do Manufacturers Really Get Custom Forks ?
For example, my Trance came with a Fox F125RL Fork, which you can't buy on its own
Answered your own question.
Yes as most people put above OEM. The likes of Specialized, giant, trek etc have the buying power to call Fox up and say exactly what they want for what price and Fox will have a go at making it. So it fits how the brand wants the frame to ride and at the right price.
Generally just parts bin raiding for different spec fork length, the only 'real' custom fork would the DRCV things, which you don't really want anyway. It's like the shocks, custom tuned just means it a specific comp/rebound/pressure/air vol setup for 'joe/jill average' weight and how they think they'll ride.
Oh and different decals (red ones are fastest 😉 )