Fork Choices

[xckeefe12]

I'm planning a pretty lengthy tour incorporating the CT, GDT, AZ, GET, and any other trails I can find on the way. I'm putting together a mountain bike with a Jamis Dragon frame, but getting stuck on the fork choices.

I'd like to have a coil instead of air, just for the sake of reliability. Checked out RockShox, Marzocchi and Fox but haven't come up with much. The only coil fork with a good range for touring seems to be the RockShox Sektor RL Coil U-Turn, 100-140mm.

Here's the link:
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/FK268A19-Rockshox+Sektor+Rl+Coil+U-Turn+Fork+11.aspx

Not too much info out there yet, anyone have an opinion?

Thanks

[AZTtripper]

Sounds like a cool tour makes me jealous.

If you really want reliability why not go rigid. Just kidding actually I have done some riding on a rigid bike and it can be brutal.

I have had good luck with Fox air shocks on the AZT thru ride.

Even a coil shock can have a problem hard to imagine on a brand new fork but if you loose dampening things will get bouncy. I have had some issues with my reba once the dampener went out and the thing rode like a soft spring slapping on both ends of the travel it was rideable though. I should think you could keep riding anything no matter what as long as it's not a catastrophic failure.

If it were me and I was buying new I would go light weight for this kind of thing as well as Fox more pricey but better built IMO. Though I have a Reba and think Sram has done wonders with the company and their warranty rocks IMO. But warranty's won't do you much good in the field.

Have a great trip looking forward to seeing a trip report.

Tim   

[bartspedden]

Marzocchi makes a great product. I run their 888 for DH and have fallen in love with their spring technology. I would be swapping out my talas with a marz if they had an adjustable xc fork. And that's what you are looking for right? If not, did you consider their 44micro ti?

[AZTtripper]

Talas is a sweet fork I had one on my last 26r Fox didn't have a 29r yet when I bought the Reba. I have heard great things about Marzocchi as well.

[bartspedden]

I put a little scratch in my talas Stanchion last year just before nationals that caused a seal to fail.  But the guys ay the fox tent rebuilt the shock for me and I just sanded out the scratch. For a 2006 that I have absolutely abused with everything from pump tracks, to dirt jumps, to xc races, to endless single track, the Colorado trail, I'd have to give the talas a 5 star durability rating. I basically learned how to ride a mountain bike with this fork, so it's had to survive all my mistakes over the tears. I'm no fork mechanic but I think scratched stanchions caused just as many on springed forks as they do air sprung forks, maintenance seems to be the key here. Just wiping the crud off is huge! There's nothing more abusive on a fork than downhilling and I've blown up multiple air forks. So far the Marx springs are holding up for me (and teammates) really well. Better then the 2008 air forks for sure! I've seen failed springs too, just not as many, so they do seem more durable. For trail riding though I LOVE an adjustable fork, and to the best of my knowledge there are not any adjustable sprinted forks on the market. I'll ask some folks that know more this though.

[AZTtripper]

I have had both spring adjustable (rockshox psylo) and then the Talas. I had the pre Sram rockshox and the quality was nothing compared to after Sram. The big difference I found with the Talas was that I could change the travel on the fly both up and down. With the spring it's not really possible to go up on the fly only down. Not that big of a deal if you are stopping anyway.

[bartspedden]

After spending some time on the sram web site, it's pretty clear that there's a number of forks that use their coil u-turn technology, so there's plenty of travel range options there.  I've got an email in to my marz guy and will let you know if they have an offering.

[jp3d]

I'd stay away from all that travel adjustment nonsense. Winding the U-turn knob in and out all the time gets old fast. It is a cute way to make your bike heavier and your wallet lighter though. For a hardtail just go with the standard 4" travel fork the frame geometry was designed around.

I'm pretty impressed with RockShox's air forks, not so much with Marzocchi (forks with the "tst" damping were horrible, maybe they've fixed them by now).

Air has the benefit of allowing you to increase the spring rate when you are riding with a load (don't forget to increase the rebound damping as well). Coil is nice because it "just works" and is usually "close enough" unless you are a particularly heavy or light person, in which case you have to buy and install the correct spring.

[xckeefe12]

Thanks for all the replies. I actually bought a bike used a few days ago and it came with a Fox Talas from '07. It's basically brand new, the bike has only been ridden a few times. I love the fork but it doesn't have lockout on it. Am I crazy to think I could ride over 7,000 miles without lockout?

If not, I suppose I would take the plunge and pick up a Fox 32 F100. Doesn't seem like there's a huge bias towards coil forks, and $900 seems like a lot of reliability. 

[Michael_S]

In my experience Fox makes the most reliable and stable forks on the market ( well except for rigid). The Talas is a great fork. I've ridden RS and Marz. forks and had issues with both. The Marz. forks do have it nailed for plushness though.
I find a lockout is very valuable on most non technical sections. I would switch it off and on many times during a ride.

Since you have it, ride it and see what you think.

~Mike

[jp3d]

I think lockouts are a pointless "feature." I bet the effort spent engaging and disengaging the silly thing is more than it could possibly save, not to mention the additional wear on your body and the suspension components that occur when it is engaged. Have you ever seen any quantitative data backing up the use of lockouts? Nope. Just hype. If the fork is bobbing up and down like crazy it's not the fork's fault, it's the rider's inefficient form, which is just as inefficient (but less noticeable) with lockout engaged.

[sean salach]

I think lockouts are a pointless "feature." I bet the effort spent engaging and disengaging the silly thing is more than it could possibly save, not to mention the additional wear on your body and the suspension components that occur when it is engaged. Have you ever seen any quantitative data backing up the use of lockouts? Nope. Just hype. If the fork is bobbing up and down like crazy it's not the fork's fault, it's the rider's inefficient form, which is just as inefficient (but less noticeable) with lockout engaged.

Why don't road bikes have suspension forks? Lockouts allow you to put more effort into applying power to the pedals and less effort into trying to keep the fork from bobbing up and down on smooth terrain. The 'form' required to minimize fork bob is a moot point on a rigid fork or when the fork is locket out. The effort it takes to hold that form, and the limit it places on power application to the pedals would exponentially be more than the effort it takes to move your thumb a couple of inches to engage a bar mounted lockout or move your hand 1 foot or so to engage or disengage a fork mounted lockout.

[jp3d]

The effort it takes to hold that form, and the limit it places on power application to the pedals

I'm my opinion generally efficient form for mountain biking (and biking in general) is the same as form that limits fork bob: smooth pedal strokes and a still upper body. If your fork is rigid any force that would go into compressing it would simply go into doing "push-ups" on the bike instead. This just moves your body up and down: wasted work that isn't moving you forward.

I remember a few years back hearing about some testing done by one of those German mountain bike magazines that found the efficiency gain due to lockouts on mountain bikes to be negligible regardless of form, which is more qualitative evidence than I have ever seen in favor of lockouts.

[sean salach]

I would be interested in reading that if you could track down a link.