"Jon Fulbright" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:I've been away from good MTB country for a few years, but
I now live at
Quoted message said:the foot of the San Gabriels near LA. My trusty Univega
Alpina 5.3 is
Quoted message said:still going strong, but after a few rides (and descents!),
I've decided
Quoted message said:that a front suspension is a needed upgrade (couldn't
afford it when I
Quoted message said:lived in Santa Cruz). I was current on bike tech 5-7
years ago, but
Quoted message said:lost track during my exile.
It has a 1" threadless steerer tube, so my choices seem to
be either
Quoted message said:a Judy TT or a Marzocchi MX Comp.
I like the MX, but the guy at the shop is telling me that
I'd need to
Quoted message said:upgrade to V-brakes, but the online tech manual says that
it can take
Quoted message said:cantilevers. If I upgrade to V-brakes, I'll have to get
new levers and
Quoted message said:shifters, which will push the price above what I want to
spend. The front
Quoted message said:shifter died 6 months ago, so I have a new pair of 7-speed
STX combo
Quoted message said:lever/shifters that would probably become useless.
So I have a few questions:
1) Is the shop guy misinformed, or am I mis-reading the
tech manual?
Quoted message said:
2) Any opinions on the Judy TT? MX?
3) Any other options for 1" shocks worth considering?
Ebay is full of them. They're definately harder to find than 1.125" forks, and in high demand, but
there are still plenty around.
Look for an older Judy, Manitou, or Marzocchi with a 1" steerer that takes regular cantilever
brakes. Marzocchis are the best of these forks, and you can get a 1" steerer pressed in if it's not
on there already. You can tell by the picture whether the fork takes old cantilevers -- it's the one
with the bolted-on, machined brake arch. The Z2 and Atom series are probably the best ones to look
for. Superfly/X-Fly are good too but not as common.
Judy and SID parts are fully interchangeable, so you can use a steerer/crown assembly from a Judy TT
or XC with whatever Judy/SID lowers and innards you want.
I don't know as much about Manitou forks, but they're a good alternative too. Anything with the
"TPC" innards generally performs very well. There were tons of SX model forks on new bikes, and even
brand new, "take-off" OEM forks were selling for less than $100 a few years ago. So they're
plentiful and cheap, as well as decent.
The bottom line is that you should be able to find a good fork for under $100.
Matt O.
