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Dear all,
I am looking for a good value fork in the region of 100-120mm travel (not bothered what)for a hardtail (on one Inbred) I have been building. Currently I’m running it with at 2001 marzocchi z4 of the 100mm variety, which I’ve had since new. The fork is still going strong and was perfect for my old frame which I used for mainly leisure xc, however now I’m riding mostly trail centres and I feel I need a little more. Over the years I've tinkered with the fork, different oil weights, rebound adjustments and air pressures. I’ve tried to set it up to cope with riding the trail centres. If I set it up for big hits, it just rattles like crazy on the chattery stuff. Or if I set it to soak up the chattery bits it’s useless on the bigger stuff.
I have been looking around at what’s available and the market is awash with forks at this travel, which one do it get? Weight is also an issue, I don’t want to go much heavier. The z4 weighed in at just over 1.6kg. I also don’t want to spend a small fortune either around £250.
Would a 120mm travel fork set it up softer do the job better or will a more modern 100mm fork have a better control?
Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks 😀
Pikes.
Coil > Air.
Pikes aren't ideal for that. Heavy and not very controlled, at least with the standard internals.
I'd probably be looking for Rebas ideally with the newer damper.
However, I did see these on CRC t'other day:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=90496
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They might not look like much, but they have the TPC damper which is brilliant, very controlled in use. 1.6 kg and £290 reduced from almost £500.
I'd get [url= http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/frame-forks/forks-shocks/fox-suspension-forks/fox-32-f120-rlc-fit-forks-2010.html ]These..[/url] bit over budget but you get an extra 10% off at checkout so £315, and you can space em down to 100mm if you decide 120's too much..
Thanks guys! Just the kind of advice I'm after.
What are the maintenance requirements like? I used to service the z4s myself.
On the Fox it's easy to do oil and seal changes, plenty of how to's on the Mojo website like [url= http://www.mojo.co.uk/dustwiper.html ]This..[/url]
Its wise to send em off for a full service every year or so though, same as any fork, Loco tuning are a reasonable price for those and Loco frequents here offering advice pretty often.
khani - Member
I'd get These.. bit over budget but you get an extra 10% off at checkout so £315, and you can space em down to 100mm if you decide 120's too much..
yep, good forks, but 15mm axle so possibly need a new wheel/adapter kit
If I was to go for a used fork, which of the rock shox or marzocchi ranges would you suggest?
Having slept on it the answer is [i]still[/i] Pikes 🙂
if you're looking for used forks then try flat out cycles
Thanks gonzy, I had a quick whilst at work, looks promising. I'll have a better look later this evening.
If you get a set of pikes, once you get them rebuilt to get the damping up to modern standards, they'll just be too heavy 😉
Rebas with the best damper you can afford, simple answer.
I have just got some xfusion Velvet's - impressed so far and less money than fox.
Have you considered 2nd hand? I got a great deal on some DTSwiss XMC130s a couple of years ago from the classifieds here.
If you do, don't use PayPal Gift though 🙂
Riding mainly in nicer weather: Fox 32 F120s
Riding mainly in winter filth and gloop: RS Rebas
That's how I do it (with different bikes!). Fox's IMO are amazingly waaaay better performing than Rebas. So buttery supple and progressive on big hits. But. They need a lot of regular TLC, otherwise (apparently) their stanchions die.
RS forks don't appear to need this amount of love *quite* as regularly - as I can vouch for. I pretty much ignore my RS forks for months of winter, grinding away with no problems, over 4 years.
Something I'd never dare do with my precious Fox's... 😯
FWIW I had a set of F120s and didn't rate them at all- not very stiff, and very divey, compression tune was for feeling nice and reactive not for actually riding IMO. But ymmv 😉