Mountain Biking - New fork for me

Hey guys. For the past year I've been riding rigid on my 05 Hardrock. I'm 6'6" and 250lbs, so shopping for parts isn't necessarily easy.

I've decided to go back to a suspension fork, but hopefully with one a bit better than the stock Marizocchi MX Comp that the bike came with.

I'm looking to spend 250 bucks or so on this fork. There are so many in this price range from Dirt jumpers to Toras to used Vanillas.

I mainly do single track XC (small drops < 3 feet sometimes). I don't care about weight very much at all. I just want something that will hold up for a couple years.

I'm willing to upgrade my front hub to a 20mm if needed.


What fork would you guys recommend for me?



Thanks so much!

Hey, I am going to move this to the MTB, should get better response.

The vanillas always get rave reviews or you could go with the Manitou nixon platinum (i have this fork and could not be happier with it despite that i payed 400 for what is now under 250 on ebay) (dont be afraid to get the nixon used they are basically indestructible, a rare thing in air forks). I have the QR axle and i have never had any problem with it.

Also extremely highly recomended if your looking for something a bit more simple is the Rock Shox Duke, these havnt been in the rock shox line since 03 but they are the BEST fork Rock Shox EVER made. My bro has a pair and they are amazing.

Hey thanks dude!

I'm going to look into these forks mentioned.


What are your guys' thoughts about me on a Tora 318 air or maybe a Dirt Jumper 3?

Also extremely highly recomended if your looking for something a bit more simple is the Rock Shox Duke, these havnt been in the rock shox line since 03 but they are the BEST fork Rock Shox EVER made. My bro has a pair and they are amazing.

Still riding three Dukes with V-brakes myself. Beat the living tar out of the first before sending it to Hippie Tech for a rebuild. It was on an old semi-aggro GT Backwoods that I had bombed a lot of Moab trails and taken more than a couple of 2-3 foot drops on. When I built up a more nimble Zaskar frame with another Duke, I noticed the first had lost some damping and sent it in. In spite of bottoming it out a dozen times or more, I was still very proud to hear that me and my puny 150 lb. frame had finally managed to blow the homer valve. Now that I've got it back, it works even better than the new one.

The R-Seven is a great fork.... I'm about your size and this fork has been great for me. No longer being made after '07, you'll be able to find these new and on sale if you look around..... originally somewhere around $300-$350 I got one for about half off.