Tessek461

I am building a bike up from a 1997 Gary Fisher Marlin frame as a learning project.

I bought a RockShox Recon Silver TK-Coil 100mm fork thinking it would work with the frame I have. I'm noticing that it is a lot bigger than the forks on a previous Marlin I owned. The width between the forks is greater as well as the length of the forked part and the single tube part (sorry, I don't know the terminology). Did I buy the wrong size? If not, why is my new fork so much bigger? Is it because it is 100mm travel and the last one I had was 80mm?

jimc101

The width isn't an issue, as all 9mm axle hubs have a 100mm OLD hub width, a modern fork will often have thicker legs than older forks.

Travel, 80mm-100mm difference won't be noticeable, and will probably be taken up by sag when the fork is in use.

You don't say what your old forks are, but modern forks are often thicker / bigger than older forks, as they are stiffer than older forks.

The single part tube (steerer tube) will always be too long when supplied, as it needs to be cut to fit your bike, The stock Marlin was fitted with a Headset, not a Aheadset as is common now, so if you haven't changed this to the current system in the past, this will need to be done for you new fork. How toos for this can be found on the Park Tools website