Building up a Tallboy 3 and I’m in need of some 120 or 130mm 29er forks. Budgeted a maximum of £500 for forks. So far considered 3 forks largely based on budget. Anything else I should consider?

– Xfusion McQueen HLR. ~£460 These seem to get good write up and have more damper adjustment than most. Probably the heaviest/burliest fork though. I have the cheaper damper version on a hardtail and have no complaints yet. Shorter 46mm offset on these too which seems to be in fashion.

– 2017 Rockshox RCT3 Pikes with older charger damper ~£430. Not sure if there are actually any significant changes to the damper, sounds like the main changes was the adjuster and the negative air spring.

– 2017 Fox Float 34s  Performance with GRIP damper ~£400-£500. Not really got a feel for these. I assume the damper is inferior to the other two. Probably the lightest fork of the three.

If you want to build it up a bit less on the burly side CRC have 2018 boost Rebas for £275 (less with BC discount and cashback).. 150mm but you could swap the air shaft and still have a cheap set of forks..

https://www.bike-components.de/en/RockShox/Reba-RL-Solo-Air-Boost-51-Off-Set-29-Federgabel-2018-Auslaufmodell-p56654/

Reba RL 29″ 429 Euros

120 or 130 mm available

Above mentioned 150 mm version from CRC: sounds like a deal…

Manitou Mattoc Pro gets good reviews and should come in at your budget.  Available in 120mm travel (adjustable up to 140mm) and 29 inch.

https://www.manitoumtb.com/products/forks/mattoc/

http://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/forks/manitou-mattoc-pro-160mm-fork-review