Mountain Biking - Front Suspension-To have or have not ????

I've never had the opportunity to ride a MTB fitted with front suspension.

I have a fairly basic GIANT Rincon and am considering fitting front suspension to it. I'd be looking for low to middle of the range equipment.

My riding is fairly sedate with an equal mix of off road and road work.

Before I lay out the cash I would like to know the pros and cons of front suspension.
Is it heavy?
Can it be damaged easily?
Does it make riding more "pleasurable"
Does it improve bike handling
Does it "consume" extra effort due to the compression of the forks.
How much maintenance is required?
Is there any chance of the forks coming adrift of the the struts during big shocks and bumps.

I look foward to your replies!

I have a front suspension on my MTB snf not on my old raod bike, but they are almost too different to compare. I got the front suspension because it was there on a real good deal. I suspect on rough trails it smooths things out a little. Is there no place for you try a bike with a front shock?

Why do you want to make a change i.e. what is broke. You know "If it ain't broke - don't fix it".

Joe

Originally posted by bigbang
I've never had the opportunity to ride a MTB fitted with front suspension.

I have a fairly basic GIANT Rincon and am considering fitting front suspension to it. I'd be looking for low to middle of the range equipment.

My riding is fairly sedate with an equal mix of off road and road work.

Before I lay out the cash I would like to know the pros and cons of front suspension.
Is it heavy?

Heavier than rigid, with air forks generally being lighter than coil forks, but they're not obscenely heavy.



Can it be damaged easily?
I wouldn't say easily - they're designed for pretty tough abuse.


Does it make riding more "pleasurable"

It depends on what you find pleasurable... Personally I like the way my wrists aren't jarred so much.


Does it improve bike handling

It makes the bike slightly more tolerant of bad line choice


Does it "consume" extra effort due to the compression of the forks.
A small amount - you tend to get a bit of unwanted compression on heavy climbing, but a lockout will solve/reduce that problem


How much maintenance is required?
Not a great deal - it depends on the make of forks and the conditions you put them through


Is there any chance of the forks coming adrift of the the struts during big shocks and bumps.
? I've not known it happen to anyone - they're generally very well designed

I look foward to your replies!

Does your bike have a 1 & 1/8 unthreaded stearer?

Do you know whether your bike is suspension corrected in it's geometry - you might only be able to use very short travel forks.

Richard

Just curious- what model year is your bike, only because I have a 2002 Rincon and it has front suspension.

once u go front shocks u never go back. so chose wisely

i say pick up a cheap used fork that fits your bike and go from there. suspension forks can't compare to the efficiency of a rigid IMO, but they do take the bite out of drops and curbs. i personally prefer air forks because they are lighter and i'm not abusive, and i would generally stay away from elastomer ones.