Originally Posted by
surreal
Hi. I'm a big, dumb guy who rides a full rigid kona from decades ago. I'm thinking of turning that ol' thing back into a tourish thing, and i'm considering building up a more modern hardtail, with all the newfangled bells-n-whistles, like a suspension fork and hydro discs. I believe I'm ready to step into the 90's.
So, I don't wanna spend a lot of cash because I'm really just experimenting and I suspect I'll hate the suspension and i might even hate the hydros b/c I already hate mechanical discs. I wanna build up an on-one 456, and I want to put something big and bouncy up front.
Jenson has marzocchi 55r's for a mere pittance at $229. But there's rockshox domain 318's about for 400 beans. I'm thinking that the domain might be worth the extra $$$ because it'll be adjustable for travel and the reviews on mtbr are pretty positive, whereas ppl have all sorts of horror stories about the entire 55 series, although the ATA seems the biggest turd of the lot. Still, the 55r looks mean as eff, and i appreciate these aesthetic things. Dumb guy, remember?
Anyone have any thoughts on the dilemma? A fool and his money are soon parted, and i like to blow cash on bikes alot. However, this 456 is to be a mere fact-finding exercise. If i enjoy such things as a 5" fork and hydro's, I'll drop a lot of cash on something ******bag but similar. If I hate them, I'll get something like a soulcraft option 3 with the rigid fork and v-brakes. I just wanna give suspension a fair shake, and if the zoke is a turd, it wouldn't be fair. (All the other sprung forks I've tried were pure garbage, so that's probably caused my present attitude towards the things.)
Sorry for the massive post. Any advice is welcome; any heckling is already acknowledged as being well-deserved.
-rob
*edit* it's wierd that i can say "turd" but i can't say the 5-letter d-word that almost rhymes with "swoosh". Either way, I'm sorry if I offended anybody.
If you "
like to blow cash on bikes" and aren't against spending $400 on a Domain...I think you should consider:
1. Spend the $400 on ebay and get a Rockshox PIKE
2. Spend $460 at bobs-bicycles.com and buy a Fox Vanilla R with Chris King headset
3. Buy the Marzocchi 55r
1. The PIKE is an incredible fork for the 456. Get a coil U-Turn. The adjustable travel is wonderful for someone who doesn't know what they want. Dial it down to 90mm and it won't be as squishy and bouncy while you learn to appreciate the benefits of suspension. The lockout with blow-off are cool for a stand-and-honk type of climber. Then when you get bored with the 90mm you can just spin a knob and push it all the way out to 140mm for some serious comfort and control.
2. I rode a Fox Vanilla from 2005-2008. It's an awesome fork. It's not a freeride fork like the Domain, but it's a good trail bike fork like the PIKE. The Vanilla "R" is the base model from Fox so it doesn't have all that lockout/blow off stuff that you can get for another bill or so.
3. If you're just gonna go beat the crap out of it...I'm really loving my Marzocchi 55r. I know it's not a top of the line damper, but it's way smoother than my Vanilla ever thought of being. I haven't done any big drops on it, but 3' to flat and 4-5' to tranny are smooth and the lateral stiffness will kick that Vanilla in the nutz! It's a tall fork...prob. doesn't help that I have a tall headset on it, but I wanted slack when I built the bike. It's a light freeride hardtail / trail bike / urban / whatever. With the 55r set at 140mm, it should be mild mannered enough for some good trail riding. I've considered taking mine apart and changing it to 160mm, but the thing handles so good at 140...I'm just gonna leave it for now.
If I had my way, I'd be on a Fox 36 Van RC2, but I can't afford it and the 55r was well within my price range.
I don't wanna steer you away from the Domain b/c it's a nice fork too. I can't imagine it being $180 better than the 55r. The 55r is so dang cheap now it's hard to pass it up. The biggest benefit of choosing the PIKE and Vanilla R over the Domain or 55r IMO would be weight savings. The PIKE having a 20mm TA would be nice and laterally stiff. My decision was between the 55r and Domain. I'm glad I got what I got.
If you think you're gonna go out and abuse/freeride a bit, I'd lean toward the big 6-pound'ers. If you're just gonna do some aggro trail riding, I think the lighter 32's can handle ya.
Here's pic's of mine:
