Mountain Biking - Well bent my fork..

Ok the stock POS fork bent so now im upgrading. Im looking somewhere in the $150-&250 range max. Something with a STRONG stem. I was at my LBS getting a tire and was looking through the catalogs and Rockshox and Marzocchi brands look good. I dont know **** about forks but catch on quick. Can anybody give me advice. o and the bike is ridden on slope, incline, some drops, loose over hardpack. Thanks

Let me add that my steerer is the part that bent, its made of crap grade steel and bent from a combo of cheapness,me,stem on bike is long,spacers where all under headset and gave leverage.

So with that, is a aluminum steerer stronger than steel, and are the steel steerers that rockshox are using a good grade strong steel?

um...steel is stronger than aluminum...but not as stiff.

well the stock steerer is bent at the top, is cromolly stonger than the "steel" and is alum better anyway than the crap used in my stock fork?

What brand/model was your stock fork?

here are some ive found, what are your opinions..

http://www.beyondbikes.com/BB/ItemDesc.asp?IC=QFK6006

http://www.beyondbikes.com/BB/ItemDesc.asp?IC=FK%2DMAR%2D606


The stock fork is a SR XCT 75mm Travel Fork w/Preload Adjust.

chromoly is a type of steel alloy. The addition of a small amount of chrome molybdenum makes the steel "tougher". To put in in perspective, molybdenum steel is used on most higher-end shotguns for the frame, receiver, and barrels. You arent gonna find too many shotguns with aluminum barrels.

aluminum's advantage is that it is lighter...but steel is far stronger, and far heavier.

well crap, cause I cant find anybody that offers chomolly or a reinforced tube for my price range. Do yo guys use aluminum?

found the recon 351, it has a chromo steerer.....

Sounds like a winner. RS forks are pretty solid. Don't think that all aluminum steerer equipped forks suck, though. Lots of us run them with no problems. I think you'll be much happier with the performance of that fork than your old one anyway.

There are plenty of good forks that use aluminum steering tubes. The thing about Al though is that it has to be properly tempered in order for it to maintain tensile strength.

The fork on my Kona is a Marzocchi GranFondo1 RC. It has a chromoly steering tube. It's a 130mm travel AM fork that costs about $300. Silk smooth. Being as honest as I can be, this is one of the best forks I've ever had on a bike...and I've had quite a few forks.

The fact that it came as standard OEM equipment on my bike is amazing. I've almost ALWAYS swapped out forks on my bikes, but on this one, I'm extremely satisfied with it as it is.

Here are a few pics of the fork:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/CrashVector/Fork.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/CrashVector/bike2.jpg

Well boys I just dropped some cash on a lot of ****. $458 to be exact, lol ouch

Rockshox Recon 351 U-Turn 85-130mm Black, CANE CREEK S-3 HEADSET, RACE FACE DIABOLUS STEM, SUN/RINGLE ZU-ZU PEDALS(sealed bearings), MAXXIS RANCHERO TIRE for the front. Will post pics sometime next week. Thanks for the help.

That's a pretty good fork. I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

Crash, what's up with the semi-slicks and bar ends on a FS trail bike? :) Sorry, couldn't resist.

Crash, what's up with the semi-slicks and bar ends on a FS trail bike? :) Sorry, couldn't resist.


The semi-slicks come off when I take it out for a serious ride. The bar ends are for climbing.

I managed to buy a second set of rims and rotors for my bike, so I keep the Nokian NBT's mounted on one set, and the Serfas Vermin Kevlars on another.

that particular day, I didn't have the time to take the bike out to my usual trail, and I was riding hardpack/grass trails so I used the semi-slicks....but there are a few decent climbs so I left the bar ends on.


Here's a pic I just took of the bike with the Nokians on it:
(yeah I know my spare room is jacked up, but hey...it IS a 'spare' room...LMAO...oh, and a pic of the wife's old beater-trek that hasn't moved in about 8 months since she got her new bike... and if you look really close, you can tell hunting season is about to start....)

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a267/CrashVector/DSC00095.jpg

big question....Im goin riding tomorrow and I still have the slighty bent stock fork with a little bit of wiggle to it on the bike. Will it hurt it to ride like that tomorrow?

I dont care about the fork, just the frame. All the componets in my sig line will be installed next week, so I dont care about the stock headset either. Will it hurt the inside of the frame at all?

it might. I wouldn't trust it. It might oval out your tube.

ahhhhhhhhhhh. Im so set to go tomorrow, and so is everyone else. I dont want to oval out the tube......it only has maybe a couple mm's of play, just enough to feel it not sit tight and slightly wiggle.

well, I didnt risk it. Ill have to wait and go next weekend.....