Recommend a suspension fork

Mickb

All,

I've a Raleigh M-trax 400, had it since new and never really used it. Looking now to get back into a bit of mountain biking with it.

I've been looking at the Marzocchi brand of forks for it, can anyone recommend something in the €250 price range. I've been told that I need a fork with 80mm of travel, as anything over that may (will) crack the frame.

Cheers.

MiCk B. :-)

Ciaran500

You can't really go wrong with anything from Rockshox or Marzocchi in that price range, just be carefull that they come with the right brake bosses. Alot of the new forks are disc brake only.

The advice I got when I was getting my forks was buy the same size as I currently have on the bike +/- 20mm. So if its 80mm on your bike now you should be ok with 100mm forks, also alot of forks come with spacers so you can reduce them down from 100mm to 80mm. That should give you more choice.

kona

Ciaran500 wrote: »

You can't really go wrong with anything from Rockshox or Marzocchi in that price range, just be carefull that they come with the right brake bosses. Alot of the new forks are disc brake only.

The advice I got when I was getting my forks was buy the same size as I currently have on the bike +/- 20mm. So if its 80mm on your bike now you should be ok with 100mm forks, also alot of forks come with spacers so you can reduce them down from 100mm to 80mm. That should give you more choice.

yes go 100mm, what type of riding are you doing, because there are heaps of set ups, and the wrong one will be crap tbh, and what size is your frame, can you post a picture??

em as regards spacers??the only adjustable travel forks are the air sprung marzocchis and the rockshox system where you turn a knob to adjust. never seen spacers on forks, only on the steerer tube.

also, if your bike is old you may have a threaded headset which will seriously limit your choice as would a 1" headset.

best is a 1 1/8" aheadset:)

also is the bike worth spending the guts of e300 on a front end??

Morgan

Something like a Rockshox Reba or Marzocchi MX Pro/Comp would be a good choice. 100mm travel would proably be fine - what year is the bike and what forks are on it currently?

Mickb

Cheers for the replies. It's a rigid fork at the moment.

I was told the 100m would be too much and might bust the frame.
80mm was what I was recommended by some guys in the know at the local bike shop, that amount of travel should suit the age of the frame as well.

The stem is an Ahead so there should be no issue with replacing the rigid fork.
Overall the bike is near spotless, full ti frame Xt/Lx components, so I'm happy to spend a few quid on it. (Other option is a new bike.)

It's an 18" frame (not sure but I can measure and take a pic). I'm just looking to get out for a bit of XC, nothing serious, not going to be racing or anything on it.

Cheers.

MiCk B. :-)

kona

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=26539

these lads will be ideal, they have v-brake mounts too:)

Ciaran500

kona wrote: »

em as regards spacers??the only adjustable travel forks are the air sprung marzocchis and the rockshox system where you turn a knob to adjust. never seen spacers on forks, only on the steerer tube.

Its different to adjustable travel forks, my Revelations came with one. Its just a piece of plastic that goes inside the forks to reduce the travel.

kona

Ciaran500 wrote: »

Its different to adjustable travel forks, my Revelations came with one. Its just a piece of plastic that goes inside the forks to reduce the travel.

so you have to open them up??
so unless you bring to a rocco authorised service centre, its bye bye warranty??:eek:

bit primitive?? id have expected more from rocco

Mickb

kona wrote: »

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=26539

these lads will be ideal, they have v-brake mounts too:)

Cheers for that.

Any idea if there is much of a difference between them and the 08 version
(08 version:http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=21562 )

MiCk B. :-)

Ciaran500

kona wrote: »

so you have to open them up??
so unless you bring to a rocco authorised service centre, its bye bye warranty??:eek:

Never heard of that, no real way of telling if they have been opened. They're simple inside anyway.

kona wrote: »

bit primitive?? id have expected more from rocco

What s wrong with primitive? Some 80mm forks are the 100mm version with a 20mm spacer inside them. I know for a fact last years 80mm Rebas are setup like this.

Mickb wrote: »

Cheers for that.

Any idea if there is much of a difference between them and the 08 version
(08 version:http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=21562 )

MiCk B. :-)

The 07 ones are air sprung and you can adjust the rebound on them(not useful to the average rider), the 08 ones are coil. An air spring is lighter and is more adjustable, you can buy a shock pump and set them your weight. With a coil you have to get a new spring if the spring isn't right but you get a "plusher" feel with better small bump compliance. If you do a google you will get page and pages of people arguing over which is better.

kona

Ciaran500 wrote: »

Never heard of that, no real way of telling if they have been opened. They're simple inside anyway.


What s wrong with primitive? Some 80mm forks are the 100mm version with a 20mm spacer inside them. I know for a fact last years 80mm Rebas are setup like this..

its easy to tell if its been opened, allyou do is look at the threads, and the seals:)
they are simple but id still like my warranty.

nothing wrong with primitive if it works, somtimes simple is better:), but considering it isnt better than air sprung and using them in middle of the road to the upper end of forks is madness.
if they were in judys or darts i wouldnt be suprised but in rebas and revelations i am.:eek:

Ciaran500 wrote: »

The 07 ones are air sprung and you can adjust the rebound on them(not useful to the average rider), the 08 ones are coil. An air spring is lighter and is more adjustable, you can buy a shock pump and set them your weight. With a coil you have to get a new spring if the spring isn't right but you get a "plusher" feel with better small bump compliance. If you do a google you will get page and pages of people arguing over which is better.

air sprung is better in my opinion if you are hitting bigger stuff and pushing the fork hard, its also lighter and less hassle to set up.
most standard springs in forks are for heavy riders and so you are left with buyng a fork, then sending it away to rockshox or TF to replace the springs straight away. for the recreational user this is OTT.

Ciaran500

kona wrote: »

its easy to tell if its been opened, allyou do is look at the threads, and the seals:)
they are simple but id still like my warranty.

No mention of not being allowed to open them.http://www.sram.com/_media/pdf/warranty/SRAM_Warranty_Policy_English_07.pdf

The manual also says
We recommend this service be performed by a qualified bicycle mechanic. To obtain service information or instructions, visit our website at www.rockshox.com or contact your local RockShox dealer or distributor.

kona wrote: »

using them in middle of the road to the upper end of forks is madness.
if they were in judys or darts i wouldnt be suprised but in rebas and revelations i am.:eek:

Again what's wrong with it?

kona wrote: »

air sprung is better in my opinion if you are hitting bigger stuff and pushing the fork hard, its also lighter and less hassle to set up.

Alot of people would disagree and plenty would agree, its all down to personal preference.

kona wrote: »

most standard springs in forks are for heavy riders and so you are left with buyng a fork, then sending it away to rockshox or TF to replace the springs straight away. for the recreational user this is OTT.

Replacing a spring is piece of piss. Undo one screw, remove a bolt with spring attached. Put in new spring, tighten bolt, redo screw. The €50 price tag did sting though.

kona

nothing wrong with them:)
im sure they are fine, i just wouldnt buy them because in my opinion there are better forks for the cash:)
obviously you are of the other opinion.

from what i notice on cars and bikes and other mechanical things 98% of the time a spacer is either a afterthought, or used to get out of a **** up in the design. usually spacers increase wear on joints too. however this doesnt fully apply to the forks.


as for the servicing, are you a mechanic?? do you work in a approved sram/rockshox service centre??
if you dont then you will have hassle with your warranty.

Ciaran500

kona wrote: »

as for the servicing, are you a mechanic?? do you work in a approved sram/rockshox service centre??
if you dont then you will have hassle with your warranty.

No and no, but it doesn't say anything about that in the warranty.

kona wrote: »

from what i notice on cars and bikes and other mechanical things 98% of the time a spacer is either a afterthought, or used to get out of a **** up in the design. usually spacers increase wear on joints too. however this doesnt fully apply to the forks.

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/3657/rszdsc00499mt8.jpg

The spacer is the piece of plastic at the top, it only lets those forks to extend to 100mm, remove it and you get 115mm. I don't see how it could cause any damage, wear or problems in the forks.

kona

you will have hassle with the warranty, ive sent forks off to them as "warranty" because a customer claimed it was covered, im not qualified to touch them so i just sent them off, they were returned and we were told they are not warranty due to being tampered with. now i didnt touch them so the customer did or paid sombody to do it.
all companies will find a way out of a warranty , its they way they operate, especially with bikes cars etc:)

also one of my mates had a set of sids ****ed by a certain bikeshop in the city centre near the ilac a few years back, and when he sent them to rock shox(at the time not owned by sram) he was told the same, and the shop told him to **** off too.

one way they could get you with the warranty is if you dont torque the nuts to the correct settings!

you seem to be fairly confident with them so i suppose you dont really care about the warranty(not great anyways), but for the sake of people who dont have the confidence to service their own, but have a go anyways, they are better not:)

oh ye i said the wear and tear doesnt fully apply, but i cant understand why they are using a spacer im sure there is a better way:)