…would I regret it???

Ok, I had some lovely Fox 36 Vans on my Foes but sold them shortly before going on holiday ( I want some air forks as I'm between springs on the Vans).

Anyhoo, when I came bag from holiday the mountain of bills etc meant that there's no way I can get together at least £500 for some nice new Fox 36 Floats.

So.. I'm considering buying some cheap 'zocchi 55's for half the price, as a temporary measure just so I can get back out on the bouncy bike (have been confined to hardtail for about 4 months).

Am I going to notice a huge performance difference between Fox 36's and 'zocchi 55's??

Is my buttery, ti-springed, Curnutt shocked rear end going to feel all weird with some clunky forks matching it??

cheers

If you get the '08, or I think the '09, tst2 model (bottom of the range) then there is a conversion you can do from tst damping (very basic and crap) to a nice shim stack damping system.

The Air 55s are supposed to be unreliable, the tst2 are coul with air assist.

I have the tst2 to replace some 05 66rc that were super supple. The tst2 after the shim conversion are a good comparison to the old 66rc, and I'm quite happy with how they work.

You can do the conversion for about 20 quids worth of shims if you know how to take forks apart. There's a very good guide on mtbr shocks forum. Step by step photos/instructions

Hmm, interesting stuff Andy but I'm afraid I'm not blessed with technical and / or fettling skills..

Any suggestions for a cheap, reliable 150mm ish air fork not requiring being taken to bits??!?

tbh I have the 55's on my ransom perhaps I was lucky, they work very well, I have used 66's, 36 talas and 32 talas and they work impecably, having the travel adjust and lock out is a bonus, my only downer is the weight of them! apart from that they are spot on… but I have been told when they do fek up they are not good! time will tell

I have gone from 55's to 36 Vans. Oh how nice it is to have a full 6 inches of plush, buttery travel.

On the plus point: The 55's will make you ride better once you get working forks.

I bought a pair of Marz coil 55Rs from Canada in July for just over £200. Heavy but pretty damn plush and they were perfect for the front of my Bullit. Sadly the weight had me doing a u turn back to a short travel frame after a couple of weeks so the 55s were stripped and reduced to 140mm travel (pretty simple internals and just a question of swapping a spacer around). Shortly after this though the rebound damper hydrolocked (a not uncommon problem I've since discovered) and I was left with just 60mm travel. A quick call to Windwave and UK Bike store and a new damping unit was on its way (cost me £50 as obviously they weren't covered under UK warranty) – they've been faultless since (fingers crossed they stay that way as I really like them). I think that UK prices are now around £280 for the 09 55R but it may be worth going for the 2010 RV model at £320 in the hope that they've addressed the cartridge problems.

My mate is very happy with his Nixon Super 145 Intrinsic. Only 2400g, 20mm axle and very nice damping and small bump sensitivity. Intrinsic damping is kinda like SPV but I had some SPV forks and Intrinsic works waaay better. Wide range of adjustments. He had it now for over a year and no reliability issues. Just don't get the IT travel ones and You'll be fine. Can't really call them Manipoo as they are performing faultless, light, stiff and were cheap on sale from Wiggle. Had a go on his bike couple of times and Nixon does the job very well. Just stay away from the black finish uppers as it wears off and looks ugly.

I would also stay away from 08 Bombers especially the more complicated ones (ETA, ATA, Doppio Air etc). The 2010 range of Marzocchi looks nice and just received a 44 RLO for my mate. It's got a solid feel, no play like my old XC500 so 2010 models could be safe to buy. Still needs to be installed and tested but the out of the box feel is very nice plus came with a 3 year warranty 🙂

Hmm interesting stuff.

I've had 140mm Nixons before and tbh I've got so used to the lovely stiffness of the Fox 36's.

Are the base model 55's going to be utter gash then:

160mm 55's for £206ish quid..

That mod for the tst2 looks interesting and the results seem to make a shit fork great for very little cash.

That's the reply from UK Bike Store about the reliability of 2010 models:

while the 2008 forks had lots of
problems, the 2009 forks were very reliable and the same should be
expected of the new 2010 range as that is what they have focused on.

£207 seems like a nice price for a new fork. Worth a try. I would imagine that if it's a base model that there is less to go wrong. RV damping is tried and tested as it is used in MX series as well and it just works. Plus MX series forks get pretty good reviews. I just don't like the stickers on that 55 🙂

I think I got lucky with my 2008 coil 55's. Been absolutely fine, but know of folk who've had issues.

are there any mods for the 55 ata 2008?

I've got a mint pair of 2008 55 ETA's I need to sell, they have had the TST cartridge fix done by windwave. Great forks IMHO but bike cull means they have got to go. Drop me a mail timbo_tepATyahoo.co.uk if interested.

You could get a 2nd hand pair of Pikes for under £200 or if you spend a bit more the new 150mm Revelations look good for just over £300

ddmonkey – ok mate, I'll have a scout about but may well be interested.. will let you know.

GrumpyStevo – Pikes are a bit short but those 150mm revs sound nice- where have you seen them at that price??

lots of z150s going round on the classifieds at the moment – heavy but reliable as a reliable thing.

CRC have the 2010 revelations for £359, i am sure there was a thread about somewhere having them for £329 recently.

You did not say what Foes you have, but i have an FXR and run Coil Pikes at 145mm and they match the Curnutt nicely.

Magura Wotans work perfectly with the Curnutt shock & are cheaper than 36's.

If you get super stuck i have some 66RC2's & some Z1 SL forks – both brand new & cheap. Think they are 07 models.

To help out a Foes owner of course 😉

J

GrumpyStevo – yep I've got an FXR, interesting you say the Pikes feel OK on yours… mine feels a little steep up front even with 36's but I guess it depends on what you're used to.

Jamie – I considered Wotans but they're a fair bit heftier than the 36's it seems.

I might well email you though re the 66's and Z1 – might do as a temporary solution and I could always bung em on Southerndownhill or somewhere if and when I can upgrade….

"those 150mm revs sound nice- where have you seen them at that price??"
Merlin have them for £330, but they're QR only ..

GrumpyStevo- How do you manage to run Pikes at 145mm have you done a mod?

My mistake, they are 2007 Coil U-turns 95-140mm. Not 95-145mm as i thought for some reason.

Still feel fine at 140mm, i have a 2007 FXR specced with 5" inch rear travel. Think the newer FXRs have 6" inch or more so maybe that you need a bit more travel.

Am I going to notice a huge performance difference between Fox 36's and 'zocchi 55's??

Yes. if you set them up properly, the 55s will blow the 36s away. I have the '09 55 ATA Micro and it is every colour of amazing. most of my other forks have been old-school coil-oil open bath Marzocchis so I know what good suspension is meant to feel like… just be prepared to experiment *a lot* with the settings.

although I haven't ridden it, I'd expect the cheapest 55 to be very reliable and fairly plush out of the box, particularly if it's a coil with air assist. You'll pay a small weight penalty over the 36 Floats, but the 55 will still almost certainly be more durable and pretty much as plush.

Still feel fine at 140mm, i have a 2007 FXR specced with 5" inch rear travel. Think the newer FXRs have 6" inch or more so maybe that you need a bit more travel.

Ah that explains it – I've got the 150mm ish travel (6'') FXR hence it really needs at least a 150mm fork…

furry_marmot – interesting to get a positive review!

Hmm… still toying with idea of RS Rev 150mms but think they'd look a bit weedy on my bike (google foes fxr 2007 and you'll see what I mean.. it's a chunky beast)…

Does anyone know where I can get the re-designed TST Micro cart from?
I also bought forks from the US and have the hydro-locking problem, but Windwave want £120 for a replacement!