Suspension forks

[jbphilly]

I've got a Surly Troll that's currently my only and do-everything bike. I plan to pick up something to use as a beater/commuter soon and change the Troll's setup to more off-road specific specs for mountain biking and bikepacking. That's mostly within my understanding, but suspension forks are something I have no experience with.

What forks are you guys using and why? What kinds of specs do I look for, and how do I tell what's quality? My main requirement is durability; I want to have to worry as little about mechanical issues as is feasible. Then, of course, light weight is nice. And other than that, I don't even know in what other ways forks vary.

Help educate a newbie to mountain biking!

Edit: Oh yeah - I'm also interested in forks that have spots to attach a bottle cage.

[D45yth]

First of all you can't get any suspension fork with bottle cage mounts...any you may have seen will have been fixed on by some kind of brackets or clamps.  There will probably be some info on here somewhere, showing how to do it.

I've always used Rock Shox Reba's on any hardtail bikes I've built.  That's has mainly been due to the fact that they're a good fork, available in lots of options and I can get them for a good price.  The pricing part is from a certain UK dealer though, for the price they sell them for, it's not worth buying second hand (they're OE models).  I don't know what the deals are like in the US?  There are quite a few models with the RL being the most basic, I think.
The specs you would have to make sure of would be:  For 26" wheels, 1-1/8th steerer tube, 100mm travel and 9mm quick-release drop-outs (if you don't want to buy a new wheel/hub).  A lock-out would be good for road sections too.  
Mechanical issues shouldn't be much of a worry if you get you fork serviced when you should.  This is something you can't really get away from, although it's fairly easy to do the basic services yourself (if you're that way inclined).

[hitek]

I'm not a fan of suspension forks, I'm a old school ridge rider. I have the salsa Fargo V2 forks on my rockhopper, they have the spots for bottle holders or the salsa anything cages.

[jbphilly]

Just wanted to bring this topic back. I'm pondering whether it's worthwhile investing in a suspension fork for my planned cross-country, mostly dirt-road trip next summer. I hear stories about terrible-quality roads out west that strain people's hands after a while.

The other thing is, how exactly do you go about hose clamping bottle cages to your fork? The cages I have don't seem to have any way to intersect with the clamps...

[Colorado Cool Breeze]

Just wanted to bring this topic back. I'm pondering whether it's worthwhile investing in a suspension fork for my planned cross-country, mostly dirt-road trip next summer. I hear stories about terrible-quality roads out west that strain people's hands after a while.

The other thing is, how exactly do you go about hose clamping bottle cages to your fork? The cages I have don't seem to have any way to intersect with the clamps...

Checkout the Fox 32 Float 100 FIT RLC that would be my choice for your setup. Yep they are big $$$. Air is much lighter than spring.
They are bulletproof and have that cool feature of being locked for peddling and when the fork hits a bump it unlocks and adsorbs it (Lockout force adjust knob-RLC only).

My dirt road fishing bike/ daily rider runs a Fox 32 Float 140 FIT RLC. It's a 2009 model and still working perfectly.

Try P-clamps not hose clamps. The P-clamp uses a bolt to clamp to the fork and u use that bolt to attach your cage.
hth

Here is a pict of using a P-clamp to attach a fishing pole holder. Sorry I don't have anything better.

[trebor]

I like to use Planet Bike's bottle cage when clamping it to something.

Note how the way the cage is constructed there is a "tab" at just above and below the bolt holes. This is what I use to clamp. I think there are cages by other brands constructed in the same way. I just know that the cheap alum ones from PB have those tabs.

What I do is wrap a bit of old inner tube around the area I'm going to clamp, put a piece of electrical tape on to hold the tube in place while I position the cage and use a typical water hose clamp to mount it.


Easy to find parts, cheap, and pretty reliable when I've used them.

[jbphilly]

Do you have a picture of how you clamp the cages on? Those look basically like the cages I have, but I'm a really visual person and can never figure out how to do mechanical things from a verbal description.

[trebor]

wow - i had to dig to find this.... hopfully it gets the idea across.

[jbphilly]

Hmmm...not really. The part that's confusing me is how the clamps interface with the bottle cage...but thanks!

[Colorado Cool Breeze]

Hmmm...not really. The part that's confusing me is how the clamps interface with the bottle cage...but thanks!

If you google P clamp you will see a picture of one.
There are two tabs a bolt goes thru.
Put the P clamp on your fork.
Insert the bolt thru the two tabs
put the cage tab on the bolt
put the nut on the bolt and tighten.

Repeat for the second P clamp

[jbphilly]

Wait, so the bottle cage would then be at a right angle to the tabs of the p-clamp? Or am I picturing it all wrong?

[trebor]

the clamp, in my particular set up, goes OVER the tab of that style bottle cage - both top and bottom tabs  on the cage and when you tighten the clamp's band, holds the cage against the seat post (or fork leg). There are not nuts/bolts/screws holding the cage - its the clamps creating the clamp-force and the inner tube providing a bit of extra friction and paint protection.

[Tommi]

I got my first set of suspension forks in 99 and don't ride without them now; disc brakes are also a 'how did I get by without them' thing too.
Heres a cage hoseclamped to my Norco Bushpilot fork.

[texasjake]

I got my first set of suspension forks in 99 and don't ride without them now; disc brakes are also a 'how did I get by without them' thing too.
Heres a cage hoseclamped to my Norco Bushpilot fork.

Tommi - lol, i totally stole this idea man! it's awesome - i used it on those canteens i told you about - the existing ALICE pack gear allowed the clamps to run right through - even used the pipe protector pictured here! your work lives on in tejas man...

[Tommi]

Awesome, bud!! Ride on!
Glad to have the knowledge passed on!

[balexander87]

Not sure if you got it figured out or not, but I found this pic online and thought it would be relevant to this thread. Seems to be a pretty good shot of that PB cage mounted in the manner described.

Note the innertube material wrapped around the fork, beneath the cage mounts, then the hose clamps going around the fork and cage mount tabs.

Don't forget to use something to hold the bottle in the cage. Being mounted on the lower, it's going to get bounced out at the first bump.