[Closed] which 160mm forks for....

I can't speak for the other forks but I got a 34 160 CTD recently and love it. Had a 32 150 rlc before which was way too flexy and for me the 34 is the perfect balance of weight and stiffness.

Was going to use a float 150 RL but I manages to sell that so am coming from a similar place to you and the sub 2kg Is appealing.

The 160mm 34 is about 8mm shorter than the 160mm Lyrik/36, if that bothers you.

Personally, I'd be going coil lyrik RC2DH. Weight penalty is 100% worth it for me. But you could build a Rocket up in a few different ways. But I'd also be investigating the 55.

BOS Deville

Having used Lyriks, Deville's & 36's they are all much of a muchness. All feel slightly different, but no better or worse.

I prefer a fork with a 20mm axle, for ease of swapping between our bikes. I can cope with the extra 100g of the 36 over the 34 as well 🙂

55's can't be lowered.

Hob Nob - Member

55's can't be lowered.

On the one hand, 😥 . On the other, it removes the temptation to replace my Lyriks.

I can cope with the extra 100g of the 36 over the 34 as well

No to be pedantic but 190g difference Float 34 160 to 36 160 nearly half a pound. Some can justify and id love to have an extra 36 180 van for mini dh...

Ok so that discounts the marz then...

Most probably the lyriks, are people still thinking the coil is the way to go? There seem to be 3 options, dual air, solo air or coil.

I have solo air rc2dh lyriks and they're pretty good, but I think 34s would be your best bet if you've the dolla. Having used 36s and coil x fusions I would say they're all much of a muchness too.

passtherizla - Member

Most probably the lyriks, are people still thinking the coil is the way to go? There seem to be 3 options, dual air, solo air or coil.

The lyrik air spring is actually very good, and surprisingly coiley- I guess because it's so big? So it'll depend what you really want from the bike.

I say coil, because my Lyriks really are like little Boxxers, and they're fitted to what is much like a little downhill bike. But air is a perfectly good option and not everyone wants a little Boxxer.

the bike will be built 1x10, pro2 evo on 521's, reverb, zee drivetrain, gonna use my formula RX brakes for now... it will not be my only bike, but will get ridden round trail centres, and am planning on doing a few uplifts... I have spare 2x10 drivetrain for Scotland 🙂

Be daft to discount the X Fusion forks out of hand I think. Well priced, good quality (I was informed that they're made in the same factory as Fox). Never ridden any but Skyline cycles seem to like them. Certainly worth a look.

Another option, if you can live with a 15mm axle...
[url= http://www.xfusionshox.com/en/product/forks/slant/2013-slant-rl2-dla.html#3 ]X Fusion slant[/url]

And a bit of a wildcard...
[url= http://www.pinkbike.com/news/SR-Suntour-Durolux-RCA-Fork-Tested-2011.html ]Suntour Durolux[/url]

I've not ridden either of course!

I wouldn't bother with the Lyrik coil. ~2.5kg is going to be a heavy fork, when you arn't going down (most of the time).

Cheap BOS on SportPursuit at the moment...

My '09 55 RC3s that are for sale 😛

Can I just ask, why 160mm? I thought the Rocket was designed to work best with 150mm forks.

Because with 160's its exactly what I'm looking for... its designed for use with 140, 150 or 160 forks. It may well work best with 150's but I want a very mini DH bike that I can also pedal I suppose. Also I have a history of battering forks with 32mm uppers.

So I've been doing some soul searching..

If I was prepared to take the weight penalty of the Marzocchi it seemed sensible to look at the comparable coil forks from the other guys...

Rockshox lyrik coil is a little lighter than the marz, so thought that was the best option, I decided to have a look to see if i could buy one form any where... can I heck. Will email loco.

anyone know what the fox van 160 rc2 fit is like?

The Marzocchi 55's RC3 Ti's are 160 mm 2010 and 2011. Great fork.

lyrik coils are great, I've broken two sets of revelations now through normal trail riding (and arguably poor servicing on one set...) on a blur lt, nothing beats the reliability and feel of coil. Marzocchi 55's seem good too. Bos are probably better, but way too much money. Reading your requirements carefully I reckon lyrik coils or 55's.

the older 55's are pretty hard to find new.. I have looked.

Are the Lyrik coils uturn? I don't think the standard coils can be internally adjusted from 170mm. Plus there is always the problem with getting the right weight spring.

My DPA Lyriks feel much smoother than my coil Pikes.

Why not have Tom's 55s off him for £300? Bit heavier than lyriks mind but they are supposed to be great forks.

the 2013 coils can be adjusted..

I would prefer something a bit newer than an 09 fork.

Been having a good look and from a availability stand I'll probably have to go for the RC2DH solo air, I've had a play briefly with a similar fork and it felt nice enough, certainly nicer and stiffer than the 32 float I was comparing it to... excellent price too, can pick some up for less than £700 brand new 2013 model from several places.

why no dual position or coil anywere online? 2013 forks not shipped yet?

pretty much decided on some fox 36 160 rc2 fit... anyone got an idea as to where has them for the best price. The best price I have found didn't come from a google search result...?

After having a ride on some BOS Deville I'd definitely say get some. They were amazing- great small bump sensitivity but lots of support when you want to pump berms and rollers.

I had considered them but servicing and what not, has put me off. I'd prefer something I know I can get fixed in case I knacker them... so It seems it may well be worth starting a new thread for the question I asked just above your post.

They've just got a new distributor in the UK in the form of Surf Sales so that point is no longer valid. 😉

BOS

I've got BOS on my Rocket, I like it.

BOS distribution is still a concern, brand new distributor and no idea what their support will be like. Though Surf Sales are a good company that doesn't guarantee they'll have evertything in place.

Bos Deville. I took a risk and bought my second set from Germany - glad I did; I know its fairly subjective but in my opinion they perform so much better than the other forks I've tried. The only other fork I liked were the RC3ti Marzocchi - hardly anything to choose between them and the BOS when caning it, but I just preferred the more supportive feel of the BOS at normal trail speeds.

I've had 2 sets of BOS now and had no problems whatsoever so the warranty issue hasn't come into it. With regard service Jtech will tackle them, Surf Sales look a good option once trained up, mad Elk in Ireland do them, and if all else fails I can get them to France.

Coil RC2DH was discontinued. You can only get the Lyrik U-turn coil which is 160mm

They've just got a new distributor in the UK in the form of Surf Sales so that point is no longer valid.

Until the next time, and the next time, etc.

Even when they had a distributor if you had a problem, there was a large element of luck if they had the bits in to fix, or you were in for a long wait.

Apart from they arn't an better than the other top end options.

If you're going with the CTD shock I'd plump for the 34 CTD forks as well. Really nice combo

looking at the BOS stuff, it describes itself as Opened bath, I thought the other guys had gone away from this system in favor of isolated technologies? to stop the air and oil mixing... Also I can find a fox 36 160 rc2 fit for £100 less than the BOS.

I'm not quite sure about the FOX 34 CTD, only thing gong for it as I can see if that its £10 cheaper that the 36, I'm sure the 36 is a nicer feeling fork.

Fox 36's are awesome IMO!

passtherizla - Member

looking at the BOS stuff, it describes itself as Opened bath, I thought the other guys had gone away from this system in favor of isolated technologies?

Nope. Fox use isolated (FIT) on a lot of their forks but not all. Marzocchi use it and you can't fault an RC3 Evo really. Not sure of the others.

Is there any benefit of going for the fit rc2 fox 36 over the open bath version? its about £300 cheaper... anyone aware of any bargains on a Fox 36 160 RC2 FIT? where is the best place to get them? cheapest place I have found doesn't come up on a google search.

serving cost is REALLY worth looking into properly.

Can't speak for rockshox, but most LBS can do oil/seal service for about £50
fox we do for about £40 for oil & seal, but ifyou need bushs or anything else weird done then off to mojo and with bushs you won't see change from £150.
Marzocchi, windwave do themselvs for like £65 inc bushs I think it is, maybe £80 inc the return postage which is hella cheap IMO.

Also to 'maintain' the warranty with FOX you have to service them at a registered service centre every 15, yes, FIFTH-TEEN hours of riding (thats every weekend in most peoples books!). The Kashima coated ones are slightly more durable from what I've seen

Somebody on here recently made an excellent comment on Bos stuff, alongoing the lines of " is the 2-3% increase in performance really worth the extra hassle of ownership, associated problems, uncertainty etc"
Have to say I hadn't looked at it like that but thought it was a good point well made!

As for forks, pick the ones that look sexiest, float your boat etc...cause the small difference in ride characteristics between them all isn't worth getting excited about. Seriously.

neallyman - Member
Somebody on here recently made an excellent comment on Bos stuff, alongoing the lines of " is the 2-3% increase in performance really worth the extra hassle of ownership, associated problems, uncertainty etc"
Have to say I hadn't looked at it like that but thought it was a good point well made!

BOS service interval is TWO YEARS

Fox is FIFTEEN HOURS

Where;s the "Extra Hassle"?

Where;s the "Extra Hassle"?

When the air cartridge shits itself in the Alps and you can't get the parts quickly as you could with a Rock Shox.

The only things that will go wrong on my coil Lyrik are things I can afford to buy as spares to carry with me, eg 1x Mission Control Damper, Seals, Bushes and oil - and I can buy those spares from dozens and dozens of online shops and they always have the parts in stock. What's more, loads of shop mechanics know their way round them as they are often racers who have a lot of experience with the ubiquitous Boxxer. The Rock Shox service manual is good, they're easily user serviceable - whilst the BOS forks aren't.

Honourable George....
I should have qualified my statement by saying currently I own 2 sets of Bos forks. A set of 2k idyll rare and a set of devilles. Start with the devilles. It took 3 pairs from r53 before I got a set that worked. The set I have now are awesome, but it was weeks of struggle initially. Then my rare's...after 9 months of ownership all was fine, until the seals blew in Spain a few weeks back, oil and air mix basically rendered them useless and, unlike the mainstream forks, nothing you can do to sort them.

There's a big difference between the quoted 2 years and reality (9 months). As for fox's 15 hrs, quite easy to for yourself and I've had plenty pairs that lasted way longer without.

As I said, I'm actually a Bos exponent/enthusiast, but the extra 2-3% is not worth the hassle.

Please tell me about your ownership experiences...

As for forks, pick the ones that look sexiest, float your boat etc...cause the small difference in ride characteristics between them all isn't worth getting excited about. Seriously.

Sensible.

I can vouch for X-Fusion Vengeance. I have one (air) and it's a very good fork. Quality build and a load of really useful adjustability.

I think realistically I'm looking at either the Lyrik RC2L dual position with the DH mod or the fox 36 rc2 fit. service intervals are pretty close, can get the lyriks for about £700 and the fox for about £800. anyone seen them at better prices?

Cheezpleez - Member
I can vouch for X-Fusion Vengeance. I have one (air) and it's a very good fork. Quality build and a load of really useful adjustability.

have you tried to get them serviced yet?

My DH mod took me about 10 mins while I had the pinkbike instructional video running on my laptop. So easy to do.

IIRC you don't need to do the later Lyriks?

I thought it was only the early ones with the floodgate on the MiCo cartridge?

dunno in all honesty... when I spoke to loco about sourcing some he said That he could do me the RC2L with the DH mod and leave me the bits in the box if I ever wanted to put it back together, they have changed slightly this year I believe, you can no longer lower travel with a spacer you need to buy a different length stack... so maybe other bits have changed slightly too.

Possibly the case, I know there was a bit of an issue with lowering some of the 2012 forks too, which was annoying as my wife has some 170's on her bike which I wanted to lower, and it's proving to be a challenge.

Nice forks though - I tweaked mine a bit & you can really change how they feel with a few simple mods to pretty much the ideal for you. The only thing that put me off was the inner weight weenie in me.

I know what you mean Hob Nob, I think the weight is why I keep coming back to the fox 36, even though theres only a few grams in it.

Speak to loco about getting your wifes lyriks lowered buying a 170 and a 160 stack and having loco build them was one of my options and was very reasonably priced.

Fox is FIFTEEN HOURS

A marketing ploy to sell spares?

I've had my 36 Talas for over two years. They've been properly [i]touched [/i]once. They may or may not be performing at their optimum, but they still feel pretty good.

How many Fox owners actually service their forks every 15 hours?

£800 for new forks??? Crazy money.

£700 for the Lyriks is crazy money, £100 more isn't gonna break the bank... the new Talas 36 I haven't seen for less than £900!

Lyriks, RS will last longer and give less service / spares hassle than anything else and performance is great..

ended up going for fox float 360 160 RC2 Fit in black... for a very good price 🙂