Mountain Biking - Help to choose XC race fork

I need a fork for new frame that has fox RP3 100mm shock.

I have up to $550 to spend and as I said it is for XC racing and maybe some longer races.

What I have looked at is the Rock Shox Reba Race - seems pretty light & has a good pop loc - but unsure about the quality...

Also considering the Marzhocchi MX Pro SL or Marathon SL 06' - good quality and durable, but I hear on the heavy side - I think for 06 they may hv lightened a little ?

In that price not sure what I can get from Fox and not sure what I should look at in Fox.

Would really appreciate some advice from those that know what I should be looking at for XC racing in that price range.

Thanks..

I use a 2005 RS Reba team U-Turn and it works great so far (nearly 900 miles) . If you can find a 2005 model it might be cheap, mine cost $299 .

Personally I would stay away from the Marzocchi Marathon SL. I'm not sure if they have fixed the problems or not but the 05's had a lot of problems. Mine was bad out of the box and then they said it would take three or four weeks to fix it. In my opinion that is not acceptable for a fork that costs that much.

Thanks..

I am feeling Rock Shox - the Reba TEAM got an awsome right up in this months magazine I just went thru in the shop...said Sram has really improved quality

Now I need to decide over the REBA team or SID team, they are similar prices..

The Reba is 100m travel and the SID 80mm & the SID is lighter those seem to be the main difference.

Shud I look to get 100mm travel in front to match the rear 100m, or does that not matter ?.. what travel is required for most XC courses ?

I have a SID team on one of my bikes and I am very happy with it. It is a great race fork. However if you do a lot of technical riding or marathon riding it may not be the fork for you. Also if you weigh over 185 pounds you may notice some flexing.

i think you can get a fox frlt for under 550

the fx forks run 700 i think

I need a fork for new frame that has fox RP3 100mm shock.


Thanks..What frame did you get ? The RS Reba can be set for 85-100-115mm of travel, if you have one with U-Turn it's as simple as turning a knob on the left side of the crown .

I would suggest checking out the Fox line of TT Terralogic forks with the inertia valve that can be adjusted for bump/pedal response. It should work great with the RP3 shock to give that 'platform' pedaling response to reduce or eliminate bobbing when you stand or crank hard on the pedals.

ya, im no pro, im barely an newbie, but i think if you ahve a fox shock already, get another one, i havent been biking long but as far as other sports go, haveing the same companies parts in unison for anything usually works better. i mean for lacrosse, which even though may seem a little non-comparable, i used to have a shaft on my stick that wasnt the same make as ythe head, and it didnt feel good, but once i got the newer shaft, made by the same company(brine f15 for those who play) it was sweet.. besides the two forks would probably have the same little kinks that you have to adjust to your own fit...

thats jsut my opinion, those terralogic forks look damn nice too. like the fox fx fork looks pretty nice, and they dont weigh alot.

I went for an 06 Reba TEAM in the end, got a better write up than equivilant FOX in this months Magazine - said with Sram in charge the quaility is greatly improved - light(3.4 lbs) stiff & reliable !

I will see how it goes, I have a hardtail that has a terrible fork on it that I will upgrade - if the Reba doesn't work out I can put it on that... if you don't try you don't know right - at the end of day I am going from sh*t fork to pretty good and just starting out with XC/endurance racing, so I can improve on my components choice and set up as I improve and gain experience and what works for me.

Reba was also cheaper & got a great deal - which helped me decide also.

Thanks for the helpfull feedback.

The Reba is supposed to be a great fork. I'm sure you will be happy with your choice.

Marzocchi Marathon race:)

those new rebas look awesome, not only astheticly but the whole u turn thing and all that, i was readin about it on the website....hope your fork works out for you, and good luck racing, sounds like fun.

Reba is more a ALL MOUNTAIN INStead of a XC fork...u will find them on mostly all mountain bikes stock instead of XC.

a good XC fork...ummm price?

Fox Float RLC is the best interms of air as I have it on my FS XC bike altho there is that air bumpy feeling...

slightly cheaper is the SID but less resale value, I don't like it as much - last quite long...i haf a 1999 SID SL running well with valve change to prevent leaking air

Duke - errr....mid grade - 2 years and dead!...i have had one too

sry...i dunno much bout manitou but the BLACK ELITE should be a good one as well...Marzhocchi is for jumping and most of the fork are heavy

cheap:
judy ROckshox? but i hate them...its cheap...approx $150 CDN at my bike shop for the cheapest version


*those are my personal idea of a XC fork for weight and performance (all air mostly)

Coil works just as well but its heavy like fox vanillian or Marzhocchi,, but reba uturn...err...the u turn will die in a couple years and it needs to be fix