MTB Forum

[Bittersweet]

Does anyone participate in a mountain bike forum, ideally one a with the same quality of folks as the Serotta forum (impossible I realize)? I know it is blaspemy to not move right from road to the rollers, or road to cyclocross, but I have recently dusted off my mtb after a long road season and I'm having a blast. A great past couple of weeks roaring through the mud and puddles here in the Pioneer Valley of MA and Southwestern NH.

I need to rebuild/replace a number of the parts, especially the front suspension fork (currently a '93 Rock Shox Mag21) and frankly the suspension world has exploded like computers and I can't possibly follow all the endless options.

At the risk of polluting this road forum a bit does anyone have recommendations for a moderately priced front fork for a cross country only Trek 9.9 carbon hardtail?

Thanks and feel free to banish me to the heretical world of fat tires until I get it out of my system (read full winter and xc ski season).

[coylifut]

what size is the steerer tube? If it's one inch you will not have any modern choices. There is a suspension forum at www.mtbr.com

[Bittersweet]

luckily it is 1 1/8th

[Ginger]

Go here:

http://www.angryasian.com/

James is tops with mtb suspension.

Oops...I see his forum is up, but he's currently MIA. The forums may be helpful though.

[pdonk]

I ride a marzochi mx pro (100 mm(?), rebound lock, adjustable compression) bought it new fo $500CDN, good fork. I set it up with lots of sag as my bike was built for an 80mm fork.

The forums at mtbr are hit or miss, the vintage forum is great, I see crazy arguments on other forums though.

[Lifelover]

Does anyone participate in a mountain bike forum, ideally one a with the same quality of folks as the Serotta forum (impossible I realize)? I know it is blaspemy to not move right from road to the rollers, or road to cyclocross, but I have recently dusted off my mtb after a long road season and I'm having a blast. A great past couple of weeks roaring through the mud and puddles here in the Pioneer Valley of MA and Southwestern NH.

I need to rebuild/replace a number of the parts, especially the front suspension fork (currently a '93 Rock Shox Mag21) and frankly the suspension world has exploded like computers and I can't possibly follow all the endless options.

At the risk of polluting this road forum a bit does anyone have recommendations for a moderately priced front fork for a cross country only Trek 9.9 carbon hardtail?

Thanks and feel free to banish me to the heretical world of fat tires until I get it out of my system (read full winter and xc ski season).

Shocks have come such a long way that if you got a Rock Shox Judy in the $150 to $200 range it would out perfrom your older mag.

I friend just made the same change and is thrilled with the Judy.

[Argos]

Not to sell stuff to you, but I am supposed to list a REBA and a Boxxer for a guy at work. Obviously the Boxxer is no good, but if you have any interest in a lightly used Reba (really nice shape) let me know and let me know how much steerer you need.

[jdoiv]

at the mtbr vintage forums. A little saner than the other forums at that site. I too just dusted off the mtn bike and upgraded the fork (forced to as the old one went kaput). I put on a Marz. MX Comp (only reasonable fork with at 1 inch steerer). Much better handling than the old one. You may want to read reviews posted on that site as well. The suspension forum had some useful info as well... hope this helps

[bironi]

This one gets raves from my lbs.

http://www.ridemonkey.com/

[Ginger]

A thing to be careful of:
What was the travel of the original fork?

I built up a '93/94 Yo Eddy last year and put an older SID Air on it, 80mm or more of travel. Well, that was too much. The front end was up too high and the bike climbed badly. After doing some research I figured out that perhaps the bike was built for a fork with 65mm of travel.

So I had James (Angry Asian) rebuild the SID with only 65mm of travel. The bike lives up to the Fat Chance legend. It handles and climbs like a dream. Fun bike. (No...I haven't improved enough to say that I climb better...yet.)

I wouldn't have thought that 20mm of height on the front end could make such a marked difference, but the bike is a totally different bike with the more correct travel on the fork.

Good luck!

[j.p.rich]

Your Trek is designed around an 80 mm fork and that is what I would suggest for an XC race hardtail anyway. Since you added "moderately priced", my first suggestion of a Fox F80x or F80 rlt would probably be a stretch. They are, however, very stiff (good steering) and have a nice suspension action. If you can find a deal on one (ebay?) this would be my first choice.

On the other end of the spectrum are the SID's. They are light and my experience is that the supension action is pretty good and the lockout works well. But they are flexy. And mine developed play in the bushings that felt like I had a loose headset. If you value straight line tracking in the twisties and/or are a heavier rider, I'd steer clear.

In the middle are the Manitou offerings. The new R7 looks very promising, but I suspect that the cost on this model right now may be a factor with this choice. Probably the best compromise might be a Skareb. It's reasonably stiff (better than the SID, not as good as the Fox) and the suspension action is OK. Most models have either a lockout or the SPV system. And I'm sure you can find a deal on one somewhere.

Hope this helps,

Richard

[terry]

j.p. has it about right so i'll just toss this out-check out the manitou skareb. i got an 'elite' level one last yr. my riding is limited to nov to mar here in se mass/cape/ri. i don't need lockout, like air adjustability & didn't want to spend too much ($250). it works great in the cold, pretty stiff (compared to my previous RS) is smooth & holds air well. just started to get my mtb ready for the upcoming season and after not touching it since march i cycled it a couple of times and its back to as smooth as the day i last rode it-held the air pretty well too. anyway-it suits my type of riding-a mix of buff & some technical (not where you need a fs to get by) s/t & comfy for 2-3 hr rides.

[cdmc]

It depends on your definition of moderate:

1) If you are under 180 pounds as another mentioned the Manitou Skareb is a great fork. Very plush, light, and stiff for its weight. You can get one with the TPC dampening and lockout for about $300. (Not to spam, but I will have an 80mm one for sale shortly). Weight is about 1450 grams.

2) The new R7 Manitou is much more expensive than the Skareb and picked up nearly 200 grams. As such it doesn't appear to be a very good value.

3) If you are over 180 pounds, take a look at the Rock Shock Reba forks. You can get a Reba Race for $350 right now. The Reba can be set at 85mm travel, has a lot of adjustment, and many swear it is as good or even better than the Fox. The trick with the Reba is you have to spend some time to get it set up properly. Weight is about 1650 grams.

4) Arguably the best fork is the Fox Float RLT. It is very stiff laterally, rides plushly, is easy to set up, and weighs about 1600 grams. Cost is a bit steep at $525 from the cheapest source. The Fox is made in the US and uses top quality metal parts. This is what I am replacing my Skareb with (I already have a float on another bike). For the $200 premium over the Reba, there is not a huge upgrade in performance if any, but the same can be said of a TI Serotta over a Steel one.

For the best prices on these forks new I would highly recommend you check out Red Barn Bikes in Montana, the owners name is Chad. He is well regarded on MTBR. I can provide his contact info if you PM me (I don't want to spam the board more than I have).

[davids]

This one gets raves from my lbs.

http://www.ridemonkey.com/
I checked it out, and ended up subscribing. You're not going to get threads like this (http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133806) at the Serotta board! :rolleyes:

Thanks!

[The Spider]

I checked it out, and ended up subscribing. You're not going to get threads like this (http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133806) at the Serotta board! :rolleyes:

Thanks!

"Speaking for all womanhood...NO KITTY FOR YOU!"

now that IS funny!

[davids]

"Speaking for all womanhood...NO KITTY FOR YOU!"

now that IS funny!
I loved it! I'd add it to my sig line, but I think people might take it the wrong way!

[ashwinearl]

Agree with what was said about changing your travel too much. If the frame was designed around a 70mm fork you will probably be ok going to 80 but it will slow it down a tad, and if you go to 100 it will really slow down the steering.

You can offset some of this by running more sag.

hippie tech is a company that is doing a lot of rebuild work on older forks too.

I am a fan of manitou mainly because their customer service is awesome and the forks are easy to work on and tune.

Skareb super is a great choice, Stay away from anything with the Infinite travel adjustment like the Skareb Platinum.

The remote lockout is sort of finicky and I'd stick more with the TPC-lockout that goes on the fork leg.

SPV is actually pretty good in the 2005 and newer models. But it requires a lot of tuning to find your sweet spot.

Blacks are great forks as well, and they make and 80mm version. It's axle to crown is slightly taller than an 80mm skareb so it might slow down steering more.

You can find some great deals on closeout Manitous this time of year.

[Bittersweet]

Thanks to everyone so far on this. Although the frame currently has a '93 Rock Shox Mag 21 it came from an older OCLV frame that Trek replaced. Trek sent me in ~1999 a new 9.9 Pro in full VW colors (split down the middle blue/white) for free. Based on an early response in this thread it appears that the 9.9 was built around an 80mm fork. If others know this to be true please confirm.

I knew there was no need to venture onto the mtb forums.

[cdmc]

Based on an early response in this thread it appears that the 9.9 was built around an 80mm fork. If others know this to be true please confirm.

I knew there was no need to venture onto the mtb forums.

Yes, the 9.9 was designed for an 80mm fork. It should be a great ride with a modern fork on it. Concerning the Manitou Skarebs, I would recommend you get the one with the TPC lockout. The fluid flow dampining is okay but not great and the SPV forks have had issues. As the other poster said, stay away from any Mantiou with infinite travel.