Drunken Chicken

Hi!

I was looking for a fairly cheap (200 euro) but good fork to replace the RST Gila T5 on my Hardrock and I stumbled upon this. My question is: is that fork the same one as this one on Marzo's site? Because if so 130 pounds seems to be a smoking deal, what do you guys think of the fork? I'd be using it mostly for downhill with some small jumps although later this year I do want to give dirtjumping a go. I'd have the fork set at 130mm and put it on my Hardrock. Would I need softer springs (I weight 50kg/110lbs) or can I just use the air preload to dial it in to my weight? I'm not picky at all with forks and I think this would be a huge step up from the RST.

Thanks a lot
-DC

Jason222

Yeah, that would be a lot better than your current fork. I've tried a few of the 2006 drop off's, wasn't too impressed when compared to mine. They had quite a bit more rebound than my fork, and they seemed a lot stiffer(could get 4+ inches by just pushing down on mine(very plush) but could get less than 3 inches with the drop offs). It's still a MUCH better fork than the one you have.

Drunken Chicken

Sounds good, thanks for the reply Jason. As for the rebound, I think the Dropoff 2 has compression, rebound and preload adjustment so there shouldn't be too much of a problem dialing it in and after all I'm not too fussed on the settings coming from an RST.

Jason222

Yeah, I tried the Drop off 4 which only has internal rebound adjustment, and it was bad. I bet the drop off 2 wouldn't have that problem. Have fun with it if you choose to get it!

mx_599

DC,

if you get that fork, the best way for you to determine optional light spring or not is to use a zip tie or install o-ring on stanchion and see if you are using all the travel or not as you ride. give the fork a chance to break in. generally, you want to have fork adjustments in their middle range. if you are over compensating adjustments to their extreme because of a overly stiff/soft spring rate...this is not good. you are not truly dialing anything in by this means. fork springs are cheap...if you think you need a lighter spring rate, get them so you can run your adjusters towards the middle range. 2 main reasons for this:

1) you want a mid range to allow for adjustments in either direction as conditions dictate.

2) internals are not really designed to be used at extremes...i am refering to oil flow orifices, etc... once you adjust past a certain point. these orifices could be fully open, closed, spring tensions maxed, spring tensions laxed, etc etc... you don't know at what point these things happen inside. if you are running your adjusters in the mid range because you didn't cut corners on proper set-up, than you know that a click CCW or CW or 1/4 turn this way or 1/4 turn that way is actually doing something inside. you cannot be sure of this if you are already at the extremes.

one more thing...is 130 mm okay for your bike? or will this alter trail geometry too much??

hope that makes sense and helps you in the future.

Drunken Chicken

Jason: Thanks.
mx: That is a pretty damn good idea, the only problem I can think of is that I'd have to have the fork taken to a shop to have the springs changed in case of the springs being too hard for me and to be honest with the crappy LBS's around it'd be a pain in the butt although I do have a friend who's a really good mechanic and I'm fairly confident he could change the springs. I'll ask the guys at ChainReactionCyles to see what they think about my weight and the springs, they're very knowledgeable.
I never really thought about what you described and now that you said it I realize that it's pretty damn important to not just try and compensate for a wrong spring but to swap it out for the correct one.
I'm fairly sure that 130mm is OK with my bike as I've seen many Hardrocks with Z1 Freerides, All Mountains, Fox Vanilla 130s and the like, it'll raise the front by 3 and a bit centimetres (compared axle-to-crown of the Dropoff to the RST) but once I set about 25% sag then it'll ride at about 100mm once I'm on it so it should be alright (the RST literally has about 5mm of sag).

Thanks a lot for the help, I really appreciate it.

mx_599

....and you mention sag. that is another thing to consider with the proper spring rate. you will never get sag correct with over compensating as well. spring rate/sag is probably the single most important set-up for motorcycles. admitedly less important with bicycles...but still, there are crossovers in principles.

i think you and your friend will be fine with a spring swap. some forks will be as simple as taking the top caps off...others a little more involved i am sure.

Jason222

Drunken_Chicken, how much do you weigh?

Drunken Chicken

Alright, thanks a bunch!
I've got the money ready, all I have to do is try and convince one of my parents to lend me their credit card to do the order. xD
I'll keep you guys posted.

mx_599

110lbs

Drunken Chicken

Correct. I haven't ridden for 4 months now and I lost 3kg, I was slightly depressed during a week or two a month ago and felt like crap, I've also kind of lost my appetite now that I can't do any sports there's no useful output for the food I eat so that didn't help my health either. Oh well, I'll gain back my weight once I start riding again.
I'll shoot the guys at ChainReactionCycles an email asking about what they think the optimal spring would be for me, let's see what they say.

PS: Starting to sound emo here.
PPS: I'm so excited, I've wanted a new fork for so long now... I'm gonna feel like a kid in the candy store when I get the fork and I can actually adjust rebound, compression, preload and the like.
PPPS: I'm off to bed, I'm really tired.

seely

Just don't take it too far and start blogging dark poetry and wearing your sisters jeans.

mx_599

We're going down, down in an earlier round
And Sugar, we're going down swinging
I'll be your number one with a bullet
A loaded Gun complex, cock it and pull it

Jason222

I EAT CATS

Sometimes I wish my lawn were Emo, so it would cut itself.

I doubt you'd have to get a different spring put in that fork, they come pretty buttery, and you'd use the air preload to set it properly, but you probably don't need any air.

Instead of getting a different spring, if you have to, try eating 10 full sized cakes in a week.

Drunken Chicken

seely: I'll be sure to take that advice.
mx: xDDD
Jason: Haha that's a classic with the lawn. I'll contact CRC about it, see what they say but I might just order the fork, get it, ride it and then decide.
It'd have to be more like 20 full sized cakes. I think I have a fast metabolic rate, I can literally stuff my face with chocolate and other goodies daily while others follow a strict diet and still be in a better weight than them.

Jason222

I hope your front hub is pretty beefy. I just remembered that standard Qr front hubs suck for freeride bikes.

Drunken Chicken

Shimano Deore Disk. Not beefy but it'll do, I'm not too picky with these things and I don't weight that much.

PS: I installed my discbrakes last week, took the bike for a spin yesterday and holy fork torsion batman. xD The disc twisted the fork pretty hard, kinda sucked. Ah well, hopefully new fork soon.