After 2 winters worth of off road commuting with a owner whose been rather lax about ever cleaning anything my Magura Odur forks are looking a little sorry for themselves and the anodizing is going on the stanchions.
So it's time to replace them. Criteria are 100mm travel QR and they must be air forks as at 60Kg even with the lightest spring I've very rarely got more than 60mm travel out of my current 85mm forks. I'd also like something that I can do basic servicing on myself, I've never been able to find any guidance to servicing the Odurs. Budget is £250 - £300. Ribble are showing some good deals on Rebas at the moment although when I checked yesterday they didn't seem to have any in stock. So what should I be looking at?
thanks
Up the budget slightly and go for a SID Race.
Reba's would be fine or SID's if you want splash some extra cash.
And if you go for SIDs, get them from [url= http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/marzocchi-and-rockshox-suspension-forks/rockshox-suspension-forks/rockshox-sid-race-2010.html ]Merlin[/url] as they're disgustingly cheap.
I too would heartily recommend SIDs, but if you are a slouch with cleaning and servicing don't bother they need tender looking after.
Thanks
Those SIDs do look a bargain.The Rohloff at the other end has made me rather lax with cleaning but if I went with the SIDs I've got RC31's I'd use for winter commuting.
The SID's are awesome, if I could justify them I'd have them in a flash, but all my bikes a re steel now so cant justify light forks when the MX pro's work perfectly well and are more in keeping with the weights of the other components.
I've two sets of SID's one has been sent back to Merlin due a casting problem (thanks guys for the prompt service) and my new pair that came with my bike are in the process of being sent back to CRC for the same problem.
Front tyre rubs of the left leg when fitting a tyre with a bit of width (even my 2.1 Rocket Ron) which i think has been mentioned on here before.
Performance apart from that has been great.
Rebas are very good for the money. Also, (if I can mention the F-word) I've found Fox F100RL's are good - dunno what pricing is like though. Wife & I have both got 'em on our short travel bikes. I'm 90kg with full kit on and have tested the forks down some pretty challenging terrain and have been pleasantly surprised. These aren't the latest forks with 'FIT' damping though - tried one of those and it's small bump sensity was non-existant (Rebas/normal F100's felt much better in that respect).
My bike came with F100RLs with the FIT and the remote lockout. They were truly attrocious! Tonnes of stiction, a really noticable 'platform' in the travel and a massive plastic lockout lever. I sold them and bought the SIDs, very glad I did.
thisisnotaspoon I take your point and my bike is currently a tank at 32lb. It was configured as a road commuter when I bought it 4 years ago with touring tyres full guards a rack a Rohloff and a Son dynamo hub. Weight didn't really matter but 2 years ago I thought why the hell am I riding to work on the road when I can do it off road. This though is hopefully the first step in turning it into something a bit more pleasant to ride up the hills. The end goal is something not unlike Rip's belt driven Zion.
Well I'm leaning towards the Rebas on Merlin as I think the SID,s would be a bit like me putting a V8 in my Fiat Doblo. The only thing I'm unclear about is the differences between the SL and the Race. The specifications appear identical on the Merlin site and even the RockShox web site doesn't appear to show any differences. What am I missing?
The specifications appear identical on the Merlin site and even the RockShox web site doesn't appear to show any differences. What am I missing?
The SL's you need a 3mm (or it might be a 2.5mm) allen key to adjust the floodgate damping threshold, the Race's can be adjusted via a little thumb dial.
Personally, having owned several sets of Rockshox with the Motion Control damping system, I find that the floodgate sensitivity is something you set once, then leave alone thereafter. Hence it's not really worth spending the extra money for the Race's over the SL's IMO.
Incidentally, quoted weight is 1625g (3.58lb) for both forks on Rockshox website, and they appear to have no other differences in their spec.
Thanks mboy, I can splash out on both a 2.5 and a 3mm allen key if I go for the cheaper SL's.
My bike came with F100RLs with the FIT and the remote lockout. They were truly attrocious! Tonnes of stiction, a really noticable 'platform' in the travel and a massive plastic lockout lever. I sold them and bought the SIDs, very glad I did.
Strange as i have exactly the same fork but with the open bath damper...as smooth and controlled as my rev teams. I have heard people having troubles with the fit cart models and small bump sensitivity...
I must admit I didn't give them a chance to really bed in, I decided that the SIDs felt really nice out of the box, so I sold the Fox before it got too 'used'. Perhaps had I ridden it a few more times it would've got better!
It also weighed 130g more than the SID team with the same length steerer.
I've ordered the Reba SL's from Merlin and they've been dispatched. Only problem is that from Saturday I've got a 21 day run of working so it'll be July before I can fit them.
I've got some Reba's. I'm below the weight on the side of the forks for air pressures so it took some adjustments to get it right...but I love them!
Although that deal on the SIDs on Merlin looks good 🙂