Front Suspension

"davebee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have decided to rip off my rigid forks and replace them with a

cheap(sih) front suspension fork for around £100 - £120, plus of course the new headset and stem
that i will need as my bike is not currently Ahead. I was thinking of a pair of Marzocchi exr air
forks. can anybody tell me the advantages and disadvantages of air forks and coil forks. also if you
can recommend good quality and value forks, stems and headsets i would be most grateful. Am thinking
about a hope headset but maybe out of my range :-(

A few generalisations:

Air forks are theoretically lighter (but not neccessarily so) as there is no metal spring but are
more prone to "stiction" as the air seals need to be tight. A benefit of them is that by altering
the air pressure (in some cases 2 lots, one for positive spring t'other for the negative spring) you
can adjust the spring weight to suit your body weight and riding style. The aforementioned negative
spring helps to overcome stiction. On the downside you will need to buy a shock pump to adjust them,
in some cases 2 different shock pumps as the negative air chamber may be high pressure whilst the
positive air chamber is low pressure. Also air forks tend to ramp up as they near the end of travel,
ie the spring rate increases.

Spring forks are theoretically heavier (but not neccessarily so) but more plush in use and the
spring rate will be linear. If the standard spring doesn't suit your body weight and riding style
you'll need to buy a new set. Spring forks may not need a pump, some do so be careful, and if not
they also won't suffer air loss through leaking seals and subsequent replacement of them. If the
spring forks have any kind of elastomer in them these will suffer with temperature changes and also
gradually lose their properties.

Beware of cheap sus forks, they may perform badly and not last. IMO don't bother! Beware of getting
long travel forks as these will alter the geometry of your bike affecting its handling, this may not
neccessarily be a detriment and you may prefer it but you won't know until you've done the deed ;-)

I don't know the Marzocchi exr forks but the MX Comps are highly rated and available for £160, the
only downside is that although they're air forks they are heavy and you'll need a low pressure shock
pump sooner or later. They're available in both 85mm and 105mm travel.

Easton stems are good VFM, avoid Kore, apparently the threads strip easily
:-(

Spend extra and get a good quality sealed headset that will last years rather than a piece of short
lived [censored] if you do any amount of wet off-roading, the lower race get pelted with dirty water from
the front tyre. I've got a FSA Orbit Extreme that seems up to the job and has a 5 year guarantee.

Useful sites are: bikemagic.co.ukspOpen ↗

mtbr.com2003 front shocksOpen ↗

Having just bought a new fork I can say there is a lot of misinformation out there, especially
regarding weights! I got mine from Dave Hinde who were the cheapest and they arrived the day after
placing a telephone order, they have a website but it's out of date, check 'em out in MBR magazine.

Another respected source is:
chainreactioncycles.comviewproduct.aspOpen ↗

--
Pete /Playtime.html"]http:[email hidden]/Playtime.html

Quoted message said:

I have decided to rip off my rigid forks and replace them with a

cheap(sih) front suspension fork for around £100 - £120, . I was thinking of a pair of Marzocchi exr
air forks.

Hi I just received my EXR forks today, I am very impressed so far, they replaced a pair of RST
cheapies. The weight is about the same, loads of adjustment, preload, damping and rebound and all
for £80 from www.chainreactioncycles.com For that money, you cant go far wrong.

BoB

"davebee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have decided to rip off my rigid forks and replace them with a

cheap(sih) front suspension fork for around £100 - £120, plus of course the new headset and stem
that i will need as my bike is not currently Ahead. I was thinking of a pair of Marzocchi exr air
forks. can anybody tell me the advantages and disadvantages of air forks and coil forks. also if you
can recommend good quality and value forks, stems and headsets i would be most grateful. Am thinking
about a hope headset but maybe out of my range :-(

Quoted message said:

Do nothing technical. Buy some Marzocchi low pressure air forks and a very ordinary headset
(around£12). My 2001 air/oil forks are brilliant, they need pumping up to 40 psi about every 10
rides and soak up the bumps. Unless you are a downhill demon these forks are all you need. (I
confess I don't know what's in them as I have never had to take them to pieces - unlike my RSTs that
needed constant attention to keep them reasonably smooth.)

John

On 23/1/04 11:03 pm, in article [email hidden],

Eatmorepies said:

Do nothing technical. Buy some Marzocchi low pressure air forks and a very ordinary headset
(around£12). My 2001 air/oil forks are brilliant, they need pumping up to 40 psi about every 10
rides and soak up the bumps. Unless you are a downhill demon these forks are all you need. (I
confess I don't know what's in them as I have never had to take them to pieces - unlike my RSTs
that needed constant attention to keep them reasonably smooth.)

I might get round to sorting out my cheapy spring loaded RST forks. They had a couple of inches
travel max but through lots of neglect (just over seven years) are now rusted solid.

They are normal threaded steerer ones. Any suggestions for cheap replacements?

..d

Quoted post said:

[/b]

Do nothing technical. Buy some Marzocchi low pressure air forks and a very ordinary headset
(around£12). My 2001 air/oil forks are brilliant, they need pumping up to 40 psi about every 10
rides and soak up the bumps. Unless you are a downhill demon these forks are all you need. (I
confess I don't know what's in them as I have never had to take them to pieces - unlike my RSTs that
needed constant attention to keep them reasonably smooth.)

John [/B]

argh I am confused now! Is it best to spend the money on buying good forks and cheap headset? or spend slightly less on the forks and buy a cheapo headset? (i am on a limited budget of around £150)

davebee said:

I have decided to rip off my rigid forks and replace them with a cheap(sih) front suspension fork
for around £100 - £120, plus of course the new headset and stem that i will need as my bike is not
currently Ahead. I was thinking of a pair of Marzocchi exr air forks. can anybody tell me the
advantages and disadvantages of air forks and coil forks. also if you can recommend good quality
and value forks, stems and headsets i would be most grateful. Am thinking about a hope headset but
maybe out of my range :-(

Good suspension forks don't generally come cheap, and cheap ones may not be good.

Air suspension is in my mind preferable because
* It's much easier to adjust
* It's much more adjustable
* It's a lot lighter

However, people who prefer springs do so because they're
* easier to maintain
* cheaper

Issues with suspension forks are stiffness under load, maintenance, and general durability. Forks
which aren't stiff will result in vagueness of steering, especially under hard braking, and will
also tend to be sticky and notchy. More complex forks will require regular maintenance which is
either tedious or expensive or (in the case of my Lefty, which really ought to be taken 200 miles
round trip to the nearest Cannondale dealer every 40 hours of use) both. Forks which break in use
cause nasty accidents in which people get hurt.

It's worth looking up the model you're interested in on <URL: mtbreview.commtbreview.comOpen ↗ > before
parting with your hard earned.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗

to err is human, to lisp divine ;; attributed to Kim Philby, oddly enough.

Peter B said:

"davebee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have decided to rip off my rigid forks and replace them with a

cheap(sih) front suspension fork for around £100 - £120, plus of course the new headset and stem
that i will need as my bike is not currently Ahead. I was thinking of a pair of Marzocchi exr air
forks. can anybody tell me the advantages and disadvantages of air forks and coil forks. also if
you can recommend good quality and value forks, stems and headsets i would be most grateful. Am
thinking about a hope headset but maybe out of my range :-(

A few generalisations:

Also air forks tend to ramp up as they near the end of travel, ie the spring rate increases.

You write that as if it were a bad thing. It's not; it's unambiguously a good thing. The less travel
you have left the stiffer you want the spring rate to be so that you don't bottom out.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗

to err is human, to lisp divine ;; attributed to Kim Philby, oddly enough.

davebee said:

Quoted message said:

Do nothing technical. Buy some Marzocchi low pressure air forks and a very ordinary headset
(around£12). My 2001 air/oil forks are brilliant, they need pumping up to 40 psi about every
10 rides and soak up the bumps. Unless you are a downhill demon these forks are all you need.
(I confess I don't know what's in them as I have never had to take them to pieces - unlike my
RSTs that needed constant attention to keep them reasonably smooth.) John

argh I am confused now! Is it best to spend the money on buying good forks and cheap headset?
or spend slightly less on the forks and buy a cheapo headset? (i am on a limited budget of
around £150)

Buy a second-hand bike with reasonable forks, cannibalise all the best parts from both bikes onto
one, and sell all the remaining parts built up on the other frame on the second hand market
hopefully for as much as you spent?

£150 is not a lot for good quality new parts - double that would be more like, but second hand you
can get really quite good bikes quite cheap.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗

to err is human, to lisp divine ;; attributed to Kim Philby, oddly enough.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Simon Brooke

Bdavebee said:

Quoted message said:

Do nothing technical. Buy some Marzocchi low pressure air forks and a very ordinary headset
(around£12). My 2001 air/oil forks are brilliant, they need pumping up to 40 psi about every
10 rides and soak up the bumps. Unless you are a downhill demon these forks are all you need.
(I confess I don't know what's in them as I have never had to take them to pieces - unlike my
RSTs that needed constant attention to keep them reasonably smooth.) John

argh I am confused now! Is it best to spend the money on buying good forks and cheap headset?
or spend slightly less on the forks and buy a cheapo headset? (i am on a limited budget of
around £150)

Buy a second-hand bike with reasonable forks, cannibalise all the best parts from both bikes onto
one, and sell all the remaining parts built up on the other frame on the second hand market
hopefully for as much as you spent?

£150 is not a lot for good quality new parts - double that would be more like, but second hand you
can get really quite good bikes quite cheap.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗

to err is human, to lisp divine ;; attributed to Kim Philby, oddly enough. [/B]

The bike already has a pretty good gruppo, as I have built it up with scavenged Lx and Xt components. It really does need suspension forks for off roading though, as my elbows and joints are really feeling it after only 100 miles or so. The EXR's (air version) have gotten really good reviews so I will probably go for them.

"Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Air suspension is in my mind preferable because

Quoted message said:

* It's a lot lighter

See my earlier post where I put in the rider "but not neccessarily so". The air-sprung 85mm travel
Marz MX Comps, eg, weigh 2085 grams (courtesy of weight weenies). My recently replaced 80mm travel
Manitou SX-R steel and elastomer sprung forks weighed 1600 grams, (courtesy of the missus' kitchen
scales). I appreciate this is only one example but I'm sure there are others. BTW I took my old
forks to the LBS and compared 'em to a new pair of MX Comps and the weight difference was very
noticeable.

I was going to get some Marzocchi Marathon S forks but had reservations about the effect of the
increased travel so opted for a pair of Rockshox Duke SL U-Turns despite reservations about
reliability as I thought this provided a cheap insight into the effects of different travel lengths.

Pete