I'm considering a new bike - my first full suss bike. I'm torn between two build standards with a price difference of about £500 - £600, which seems a bit steep to me considering the difference in spec. The frame and wheelsets are the same, as is the finishing kit. The groupset on the lower build spec is one notch lower in the SRAM line, which isn't an issue for me. From where I can see, the main bulk of the price difference seems to be with the suspension, and i'm trying to decide if it is worth it or not.
The lower build spec has Rockshox Revelation RL Solo Air forks with a Monarch R ML rear shock
The higher build spec has Fox 34 Float CDT Adjust Fit Kashima forks with Float CDT Adjust BV Kashima
There is a circa £100 rear shock upgrade in both options to a Fox DHX RC4 Kashima (again, non the wiser!)
I realise the Fox option is the better set up, but by how much? I've looked at the specs, but it doesn't mean that much to me, and i'm struggling to find decent reviews on the two.
Can anyone explain the main differences and if anyone has any experience of either option? I ride a varied range of natural terrain and trail centres and do like to get some air when I can!
Cheers.
I've got revelation dual airs and a monarch shock on my Pace 405 and it handles all the trail centres an xc riding i do nice and easily. I've not ridden fox to be able to compare but I've certainly got no complaints over my boingy-bits.
I also gather that rockshox stuff is a bit easier to service than Fox - again I cant compare but stripping and servicing my stuff is nice and easy with a pint nearby...
look at the price of a fox 34 ctd and the price of a revelation rl and you'll see where the bulk of the price is !.
Like for like, the 2 are pretty comparable but that's a lower spec Rockshox tbh.
The Fox 34 is all the rage just now because it's 2 more than a 32... But in terms of stiffness it's not far from a Revelation tbh, it's mostly just Fox doing their usual and turning a weakness into a selling point.
Anyway, waffle over- I don't like CTD but it's still an overall better fork and shock setup. It isn't £500 better though. Personally I'd go for the cheaper option, and if I wasn't happy with the Revs maybe drop a little money on an upgrade for them, which'll still be less than £500. But ymmv.
Thinking the same with Transition Coverts and bandits. Not decided which to pick either.
Upgrading to Fox 34 afterwards will cost more than price difference. That's not speaking about shock and other parts.
If you can I'd deffo go for Fox 34, they seem to get good reviews. I've personally ridden various Revelations and now Fox 36/Marz 55 and bigger forks feel much more safe and robust.
P.S. The Revelations in question are one of the simplest models, no fancy damping so really not much to stick to. If it were RCT3 or RLT Ti or smth else along these lines it would be worth considering IMO but in this case if you can spend more straight away - I say do it.
RCT3 damper closet in performance to the CTD FIT unit, the fox is a bit better than the RCT3 in standard spec. with a tune on the RCT3 the comp and rebound units the difference is a bit less.
The price reflects the difference, I run RCT3 Dual air Revs..
AndreyE - MemberUpgrading to Fox 34 afterwards will cost more than price difference.
Oh yeah, buying the lower spec then upgrading to the 34s makes no sense (tbh buying 34s at all makes no sense to me, but hey)
But buying the lower spec then squeezing better bits into the Revs [i]if[/i] desired could do. The RL Rev is a good fork and no reason to assume that the OP won't be happy with it after all, it's more than fit for the job at hand.
Or to put it another way, I'd worry less about best, and think more about what will do the job well, because there's nowt wrong with motion control at all.