Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Am I too much for my fork?

I will soon be getting my first mountain bike. It is a 11' Giant Revel 0. I have read some reviews on it and one issue some people have is with the fork, especially if your bigger. It comes stock with a Rockshox dart 2, 100mm. I am around 275. Will this be an issue, ie, maybe looking into getting a better fork to stand up to my weight?

Keep in mind, I dont expect to stay at this weight for long. Cycling in the past helped me drop considerable amounts of weight and I plan on doing the same thing again. So maybe its one of those mountains out of mole hills things.

Any thoughts?

The Dart is an entry-level fork. If you ride any sort of technical terrain, you'll want something (much) better in fairly short order. All of the Dart's I've seen use coil springs. If that's the case, it's unlikely that the stock spring will be appropriate for your weight. Your RockShox dealer, or RockShox themselves, should be able to tell you if there's a coil spring appropriate for your weight. You'll also want to ask about the expense of swapping springs, if you're not comfortable doing it yourself.

So I could just swap the spring to a beefier one. Ok that's sounds better than swapping the whole fork. Of course, I probably will eventually. Maybe it will be a happy christmas indeed this coming December?

I appreciate the advice.

So I could just swap the spring to a beefier one. Ok that's sounds better than swapping the whole fork. Of course, I probably will eventually. Maybe it will be a happy christmas indeed this coming December?


Yes, you can swap the springs. Before buying the bike, you should make sure that there's an available spring that will handle your weight. Some manufacturers offer only two or three spring choices, with the stiffest one being designed for people in the 180-225lb range. I don't know about the Dart, but I'd want to check before buying.

You should also check to see that the bike you're buying actually has a coil-spring version of the Dart. I'm not aware that any are air-sprung, but I'm not terribly familiar with RockShox low-end products...

I will definitely check on that. I have, however, already put money down on the bike at the bike shop. It is pretty much going to be the bike I start out with regardless due to cost. I would love to get something a little better, but with new baby coming in exactly one week (yay!), this seems like the best fit bang for the buck wise. I will go in today and ask about the springs. If the suspension has springs, i will look into getting the stiffest one.

All in all, It is just a little motivation to drop the extra lb's.

Cheers

Sorry to interrupt however I had to chuckle at the thread title with it being in the "Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg)" section.

Seems we've all had problems with our forks, spoons and anything else we can use to put food in our gullets. Ironic isn't it?

I will soon be getting my first mountain bike. It is a 11' Giant Revel 0. I have read some reviews on it and one issue some people have is with the fork, especially if your bigger. It comes stock with a Rockshox dart 2, 100mm. I am around 275. Will this be an issue, ie, maybe looking into getting a better fork to stand up to my weight?

Keep in mind, I dont expect to stay at this weight for long. Cycling in the past helped me drop considerable amounts of weight and I plan on doing the same thing again. So maybe its one of those mountains out of mole hills things.

Any thoughts?

IMO unless you actually need a shock fork (and few really do) avoid them like the plague. A good rigid fork will always be safer.

Any thoughts?

I am too sexy for my fork. More sexy than Bjork.

I am too sexy for my fork. More sexy than Bjork.

Hahaha arent we all? BTW, I plan on moving up to your area in a few years. Obviously, there is a lot of good riding trails up ther, but any that I should keep in mind once I move?

I should have said my previous post needs to be appreciated to the tune of "too sexy for my shirt."

I haven't done too much mountain biking up here, but there are more trails than grains of sand on the beach. Mostly I do road riding, and I can recommend lots of places up in the mountains for that. As far as trails go, you need to check out the Iron Horse through the Snoqualmie Tunnel, the Kendall Peak Lakes trail, and pretty much everything east of the Cascade Crest (think Teanaway). The two nice things about going just east of the divide are that there are a lot more trails you can take a bike on, and there aren't so many trees - more meadows, and more sun.

275? Yeah, sounds like you need stiffer support. I agree with others that a beefier spring is one idea. But a higher end fork with durable lock-out is something to consider. May require some research.

I did ride some suspension some years ago. For technical downhills and fast rough riding, it was great. But I found I didn't like going too fast on downhills and didn't really like rough terrain much. First they started posting speed limit signs on the hills I rode down, and next they sent in cops with radar guns and ticket books. Plus, the equestrian folks and hikers that shared our trails quickly objected as some of my cohorts decided that mass groups of mountain bikers could own the shared paths.

so then came packed trails and fire roads were much more common. And I found that a rigid fork with fat tires was plenty comfortable and provided great control without the shock second-guessing my intent (like hopping over something instinctively but having the shock thrust forward and impact the obstacle anyway!). For a while I figured I could simply just pay oodles of money and get a shock with more extension and just run over everything. And for some folks, that was a rush. But being mostly a commuter guy on smooth roads, that was a bad habit to start, since most skinner road bikes don't deal with that type of use-case well. So I've stayed with the rigid fork/fat tire combination for most off road riding, with is on wide fire trails anyway. And that's worked fine for now. But that isn't to say, I'm not tempted with a new 29'er. I'm up in Vancouver/Whistler annually in early August, and they have the world Mtb championships there. Some very nice bikes and vendors showing some cool frames and forks there.

Maybe when all my kids are in college and legally adults, I might need to get back into offroad seriously and then not worry about the life-insurance thing. :-).

I am too sexy for my fork. More sexy than Bjork.

I was thinking of that song as soon as I saw the title.:lol:

Picked up the bike yesterday. I talked with the dude at the shop. He says that it came with the stiffest springs. So thats good for now. Im not really wanting to go and blow some more $$$ for a new fork just yet. Most likely will give this one good use for awhile. It has a decent frame, so most likely will upgrade at somepoint in the next year instead of getting a whole new bike.

Anyway, I wont be able to take it out on too many trails for atleast several weeks. New baby coming next tuesday. ONce my wife is a little more healed up, Its on!

For what it's worth I started riding on a RockShox Tora fork when I was about 280. I don't do anything even remotely like hardcore mountain biking so didn't subject it to anything more than rutted earth, rough gravel and a few small steps, but it coped just fine.

Picked up the bike yesterday. I talked with the dude at the shop. He says that it came with the stiffest springs. So thats good for now. Im not really wanting to go and blow some more $$$ for a new fork just yet. Most likely will give this one good use for awhile.

It's good to try different things. I've only had one bike with a shock fork, and on the whole I prefer rigid ones, but I think I'm probably better off as a cyclist for the experience. You will be, too.

Does the fork have an adjustment for how much shock it's going to absorb for you? Can you lock it out when you don't need it, and turn it back on when you do?

Congratulations on the new baby! Are you going to take him/her out on the trail with you? ;)

Picked up the bike yesterday. I talked with the dude at the shop. He says that it came with the stiffest springs. So thats good for now. Im not really wanting to go and blow some more $$$ for a new fork just yet. Most likely will give this one good use for awhile. It has a decent frame, so most likely will upgrade at somepoint in the next year instead of getting a whole new bike.

Did the dude at the shop say whether the springs were appropriate for your weight? Let me tell you from experience: it's no fun to start a downhill run only to have your fork compress completely and pitch you over the handlebars. Don't ask me how I know this...

The Dart line often gets overlooked, but it's probably one of the smoothest forks out there. I've got an 80mm Dart 3 on my 29er and really like it. The stanchions are little too flexy for my liking, but I don't really want to give up that ride quality.

You should be able to ride that for years and enjoy it. When the time comes, upgrading the entire fork is probably your best bet.

Congratulations on the new baby! Are you going to take him/her out on the trail with you? ;)

Thanks man. Wont be taking the new one on a trail anytime soon. Darn Floppy baby necks...

Was looking for something else this morning and found this. For those who say a Dart can't handle technical terrain with a clyde at the helm:

http://www.feep.org/gallery/d/55135-1/fattire.jpg