# Fairly new to OFF ROADING so what front forks



## Psycolist (14 Nov 2013)

I've had an epiffany this autumn and found a love for OFF ROADING. After YEARS of road rding, my limited experience so far has been, bridleways, fields, footpaths and farm tracks. Next, my sites are going to a proper OFF ROAD track, not in competion, just for pleasure, somewhere like Danbury in Essex. My question is, what do I need to look for in a pair of 29er front forks. At the moment I ride a homebrew hardtail with cheapie Suntour coilspring front forks with limited travel, friction rebound and lockout. I am looking to invest in something much better (expensive) but have no knowledge or experience with this component. What should I be looking for.There are a multitude of Rockshocks, Manitou and Fox forks on fleabay, some at VERY scary money, as well as plenty of Suntours but If these better (expensive) forks are a worthwhile investment, WHY are there so many used sets up for sale. What should I be looking for in terms of features and any recomendations will be studied carefully. I'm not Rockafella and would only want to spend a max of £150 new or used, and dont want to be having to have a service every 10 mins. Ta in advance for any responses.


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## Cubist (14 Nov 2013)

Firstly, new with your budget will leave you with a pretty limited choice, and probably not much of an upgrade. Here's my two penn'orth,you may get conflicting views.

A fork needs to work to be of any use. There are loads of forks out there as you notice, and loads are for sale because folk love upgrading them. Firstly, let's discount the crap, because, quite frankly, there's loads of crap out there for sale, and loads sold as OEM on new budget bikes. So, coil sprung Suntour with limited rebound damping and stiff coils so you can barely adjust the compression or preload can be struck off your list.

To help you navigate technical trails your fork needs to track the ground by compressing where you want it to absorb impact, and then return to it's starting position (rebound) in a controlled way. If it just springs back to where it was as quickly as it compressed, it would just spit you off the bike, so you need a fork with rebound damping. You also need to be able to adjust the rate at which the spring works to suit your weight and riding style, so that the spring compresses as much as you want it to without plunging through its travel all in one go. Coil sprung forks do this via a preload setting, and/or swapping springs for softer or stiffer versions if the preload is not within your weight range. Air sprung forks do this via increasing or decreasing air pressure inside the spring to suit your weight.

That's all you need. Everything else in terms of bells and whistles is frippery to an extent (although some of the frippery can be fun or useful, but not essential!) so you don't need remote lockout, pushloc, poploc, you don't necessarily need adjustable compression damping, motion control, flight control, dual air, dual position, dual crown, duelling banjos or turbonutterbastard buttons.

The budget you have will get you a good quality, working, useful fork. Coil forks are simple, easy to service (as are all Rockshox by the way, you just need to be brave to do them yourself) and in your budget look for a Rockshox Recon or Sektor fork. You should get pretty near new for those models. Next on my list would be an airsprung fork, lighter than a coil, but not necessarily better, but a saving of about 400g so not to be sniffed at. Here I'd be looking for a Rockshox Reba, dual or single air, or an X-Fusion. Suntour do some decent air forks with their Epicon and Raidon models.

You may find a fox float within budget, but in my experience Fox forks tend to be a bit flexy in XC flavours, and need servicing twice as often as Rockshox. They are also more expensive!

Lastly, if you're buying used look for unmarked stanchions, service history, and check that the steerer length and diameter fits your head tune and headset. Also don't forget to make sure the fork dropout fits your front wheel axle, or that your hub can be adapted to fit the fork's axle/dropout.


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## Crackle (14 Nov 2013)

The Raidon's are definitely one to consider but are flexier than the Rockshox.


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## Psycolist (14 Nov 2013)

Excellent, wow, you took alot of trouble writting all that for me, cheers Mr Cubist sir. I had looked at the Epicon, but there seems to be a general feeling among some cyclists that Suntour goods dont quite cut the mustard somehow. Not, I hasten to add, in my experience. Just a little clarification please. You comment that all Rockshock forks are coil sprungable and able to be serviced D.I.Y. but then go on to say about the Reverb (air controlled rebound). Can these more sophisticated but lighter forks also be serviced at home. I love a bit of D.I.Y. (in the cycling sense anyway)


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## derrick (14 Nov 2013)

Might help.
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/forks-suspension/


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## Cubist (15 Nov 2013)

Psycolist said:


> Excellent, wow, you took alot of trouble writting all that for me, cheers Mr Cubist sir. I had looked at the Epicon, but there seems to be a general feeling among some cyclists that Suntour goods dont quite cut the mustard somehow. Not, I hasten to add, in my experience. Just a little clarification please. You comment that all Rockshock forks are coil sprungable and able to be serviced D.I.Y. but then go on to say about the Reverb (air controlled rebound). Can these more sophisticated but lighter forks also be serviced at home. I love a bit of D.I.Y. (in the cycling sense anyway)


My pleasure!

You have spotted a glaring error, which is that I have typed Reverb (which is a hydraulically operated seatpost) where I meant to type Reba. 

Not all Rockshox are coil sprung, but the good coilsprung Rockshox forks are capable, as long as they are properly damped. Not all Suntour forks are crap. but the undamped coil sprung ones are! 

Rockshox air forks are completely strippable and serviceable for the home mechanic. They have an air spring, (no coils) on one leg, and a hydraulic damping system in the other. The stanchions contain the air spring and damper cartridge, and in turn move in and out of the lower legs, which contain bushings to keep them gliding smooth and straight, wiper seals to prevent the ingress of grit, dust and water, oil-soaked foam glide rings to lubricate the stanchion and a small amount of "splashback" oil to keep the whole thing fed and lubed. 

You need to remove the lower legs, clean out and replace the old splashback oil, refresh the glide rings and wiper seals if damaged every 50 or so hours of riding. This is about half an hour's work, and requires a 5mm hex key, a 10mm socket and a rubber mallet to perform, plus a big screwdriver to pop out the old wiper seals if they need changing, and a bit of nouse to reseat the new ones. You can get wiper seals and glide rings off eBay for about £12-15, and use motorcycle fork oil as it's cheaper than the genuine shizzle. 



If the fork's performance seems tired, or annually, you need to perform a full strip and service. The air spring depends on air pressure kept in place by a series of nylon seals with O rings, and the damping cartridge is contained in an oil bath in the opposite fork leg, also depending on O ring seals and fresh hydraulic oil for efficiency. These O rings wear and need replacing. Again from eBay you can find O ring kits with instructions as to where to put them on the assemblies. Full kits also include new schrader valve cores for the air chamber(s) and crush washers for the lower leg fittings. You can download comprehensive Rockshox/SRAM instructions on how to do it, which comes with useful tips and photos. There are also good Youtube videos. The tools you need over and above the ones above are a pair of circlip pliers, a 24mm socket or ringspanner, a dowel and a bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol. You'll also need a small amount of 5wt hydraulic oil, (about 125ml, again motorcycle fork oil is fine) 

About two hours worth of truly satisfying fettling awaits those brave enough to strip an air fork!


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## Scoop940 (15 Nov 2013)

Tempting to give the Reba service a go myself, want to remove the spacers too to change to 120mm travel

I got my Rebas from Germany at a substantial discount, these look ok for your budget

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k1027/a113804/xc32-tk-soloair-29-100-disc-poploc-black.html

Have a look at others on that site too, delivery quicker than some UK suppliers!

Another option if you a planning on staying with gravel style trails without jumps and drops is some light rigid forks and go tubeless. Worth a thought anyway.


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## Psycolist (16 Nov 2013)

Many thanx to everyone ! Thats interesting about the DIY options for services, good info ! Very surprised also, that springs are equal to airsprung forks in all but weight. I was involved many years ago in model car racing, and I remeber from those days that the damping on shocks was as, if not more important than the spring. Many thanx to all again and will be investigating that link Mr Scoop


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## jowwy (21 Nov 2013)

Psycolist said:


> Many thanx to everyone ! Thats interesting about the DIY options for services, good info ! Very surprised also, that springs are equal to airsprung forks in all but weight. I was involved many years ago in model car racing, and I remeber from those days that the damping on shocks was as, if not more important than the spring. Many thanx to all again and will be investigating that link Mr Scoop



i have set of rockshox air that i have just removed from my jamis dakota 29er if your interested???


Rock Shox Recon Silver TK 29", Solo Air with Motion Control
damping, external rebound & TurnKey lockout, 32mm
stanchions, tapered alloy steerer, 100mm travel


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## VamP (21 Nov 2013)

Cubist said:


> Firstly, new with your budget will leave you with a pretty limited choice, and probably not much of an upgrade. Here's my two penn'orth,you may get conflicting views.
> 
> A fork needs to work to be of any use. There are loads of forks out there as you notice, and loads are for sale because folk love upgrading them. Firstly, let's discount the crap, because, quite frankly, there's loads of crap out there for sale, and loads sold as OEM on new budget bikes. So, coil sprung Suntour with limited rebound damping and stiff coils so you can barely adjust the compression or preload can be struck off your list.
> 
> ...



I really like my turbonutterbastard button.


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## Cubist (21 Nov 2013)

VamP said:


> I really like my turbonutterb****** button.


Word.


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## Adam Parker (21 Nov 2013)

I believe Merlin Cycles and On-one on the www. Are doing some good prices on suspension forks. Might be worth a look. I have both Fox and Rockshox, I'd always spec Fox for a lighter build bike. But love the hardiness and reliability of Rockshox. However I don't foresee you getting a decent condition pair of Foxes, Whether new or second hand for said budget. I'd look for some Rockshox Recons  Adam


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