Grab this Tora or not?
 

I called my LBS looking to upgrade my RST fork that came on my Trek to something like a Dart 3. I was told that the 3 that they had in were defective and sent back. They were replaced with 3 Toras from the factory as they had no Dart 3's available. The guy I talked to said he was not sure which specific model the Tora was as the guy that inventories them just put "Tora RS" on the tag when they went out on display but said that it had a lockout on it so I am thinking either 302 or 318. That being said they offered it to me for $140.

Here are the questions? Is it a good deal for any Tora? Are there certain models of the Tora I should avoid? I am doing mostly XC, no drops or real hard core trails but definitely more than my 63mm RST can handle. I wanted to get the input from the hive on this one as I don't have a lot of forking knowledge on this particular subject. :D

It's a good deal.

Buy it.

yes it is a good deal.

Tora is a Rockshox product; one of the product lines. the forks are meant for XC use. which tora is better than the other? generally speaking, the bigger the number, the better (318 > 302).

i ride with a Tora 318. i've not had much experience with "good" forks, and have only ridden on cheepee forks, such as RST. the Tora, in my opinion, is much better.

Just called the shop back and got confirmation that it is a 302 se. I can't find any info on the se model specifically so I am not sure of the exact specs. Of course being firewalled at work and having to post this from my Blackberry isn't making things any easier. =)

I will try to find out what I can about it and maybe pick it up on my next day off. Thanks all for the input.

Just make sure it's not a 130mm Tora. That's too big'a jump.

The 100mm or less will be just fine.

Step 1: Grab that Tora.

Step 2: Tell us where the shop is, so that we can grab the other two. :D

Seriously, $140 is a good price. Speedgoat sells that same fork for either $232 or $266, depending upon whether you want the Poplock feature. $140 is less than the list price of a Dart 3.

I will let you know where it is as soon as I convince my wife I need a new fork and pick mine up. I am going to say by Wednesday. :D

Well I grabbed the Tora and dropped the bike off for installation. No time to do it myself with work and I would rather spend my time this weekend riding rather than wrenching. Besides, the $20 to install it is well worth it for the time it would save me. I pick it up tomorrow (it was done today but I was stuck at work as usual) and can't wait to put it through it's paces.

Again Al and the crew at Al's Quick Release as lived up to his usual standards of perfection for customer service and being an all around great guy to deal with. If you are in Michigan and need anything, I cannot recommend this place highly enough.

Oh yea, and I think he still has 2 more in stock so if you are looking for one......

1-810-658-9215

Al's Quick Release Bike Sales & Service
322 West Flint St.
Davison Michigan
48423

I was going to add that and forgot to lol. I came back to edit it and you beat me to the punch.

No way..........:innocent:

Well it is on and I took it for a ride last night. I can't believe the difference that this thing made. It is like riding a new bike. I got it all dialed in and the difference cannot be described. It feels lighter, more balanced and definitely more confidence inspiring. I find myself spending a lot more time in the air and not worrying about the landing anymore. The only downside is that now I get frequent comments from the wife that I am getting a little too aggressive for her comfort. :innocent: I can't wait until my vacation next month to really put it to the test.

Know your limits, wild man.:lol:

Gotta have something exciting to push the limits on. Being mid thirties with a couple of car payments, a mortgage, working 11 hour days and planning on kids in a few months doesn't leave you with much time for excitement in your life. Pushing my limits on a trail is all I have left after giving up partying, street racing, being a musician and assorted other things that I did in my younger days that I am not going to mention on a public forum. :innocent::lol:

You can't truly know what your limits are until you exceed them anyway right? :thumb: