Chapter 4: The fork(s) buying guide. Version 5.0

Each company makes something for your need. It's finding the fork that best fits your preferences that is in your comfort zone financially. If you broke the fork on your bike and need a fork and you are low on money, manitou, marzocchi and rockshox make decent entry level forks or you could buy a used fork that is in good shape for cheap. If you want a new fork and you are low on money, save up money for a good fork. If you have a lot of money and need/want a new fork, well, the sky is the limit. Just remember to get a fork that will fit your riding style and the type of riding you do. For example, you don't want a Fox 40 RC2 on a Trek Fuel, just like you don't want a Rock Shox Sid on a Transition Blind Side. Longer travel forks will put a stress on the headtube of a bike that was designed for xc. A RS Sid on a stab supreme just looks stupid, and defeats the purpose of a downhill/freeride bike, plus puts a strain on the frame as well. For those of you in between DH/FR and cross country, about any SC fork will do that has 4-7" of travel, some of these SC will either have a 1_1/8" steerer or a 1.5 steerer or a 1.5 to 1_1/8" steerer tube, sadly for the 1" market the options are pretty much dried up and might be best off looking for a rigid fork. It's just finding a fork that is in your price range.

With today's standards and technologies, Air sprung forks can handle alot more than what they could a few years ago. Though not as plush as a coil sprung fork, the benefits of an air sprung fork are, lighter weight can fine tune sag to where you want it and no need to change springs out for weight of rider.

A bike designed around a 3" travel fork can't accept a 5-7" SC or DC, but can accept a 4" fork. A bike designed for a 7-10" DC can handle a 6-7" SC or DC. Most will be coil sprung, but there are a few out there now that are solely air sprung.

For those who are craving for a light, fork designed for XC. An air fork is right up your alley. Air forks are starting to show up on 4x rigs as well. Since 2002 the seals on air forks have improved by ten fold. They have no real need for a coil, and the adjustability of these forks are done by air pressure.

Since the first version of the fork buying guide, there has been a movement in the suspension fork industry called the Stable Platform Valve. What is a stable platform valve; it's basically an inertia valve designed to make the fork or rear shock to not respond to pedaling forces(AKA, make it ride like a Rigid) but will reaction to bumps, jumps, rocks, roots. This is big with Manitou, while Fox and Rock Shox and Marzocchi have their own variations of it.

Another trend is adjustable travel. All four of the major brands have their own version of travel adjustment, the two that are most known for it however is Rock Shox with their U-turn system and Fox Racing Shox with the Talas system. Manitou and Marzocchi have travel adjustment, it's just that Fox and Rock Shox has it down.

Generally, a short travel fork produces a quicker steering bike, longer forks produce a slower handling bike.

Travel lengths per discipline:
Cross Country: 3-4 inches(80mm-100mm)
All Mountain/Trail Bike: 3-6(80mm-150/160mm)
DJ/4x/DS: 3-5 inches(80mm-130mm)
Downhill/freeride: 6-8 inches(150/160mm-203mm)

To find a general price of this product. Ask your local lbs person or check http://mtbr.com.


Here are links to various companies that make Suspension Forks.

Companies:

Marzocchi

http://www.foxracingshox.com/fox_bicycle/bike_index.htm
http://www.foesracing.com


http://www.maverickamerican.com/


Companies that refurbish forks/modify them.

Mojo
Hippie Tech
Push Industries[/B]

Part 5: Need a Brake?

Current brakes aren't stopping you; building a bike up from scratch? So you need a set of brakes, obviously you have a bunch of choices available to you. It just depends on how much you're willing to spend and what type of riding you will be doing in some cases.

You have 5 types of brakes:

Drum brakes**
Coaster brakes**
Cantilever brakes.*
V-brakes.
Disc brakes.

*You primarily will only find canti's on cross bikes now.
**Are extinct on modern bikes, except on kids bikes.

Today, the most common brake systems are your V-brakes and your Disc brakes. Just like suspension forks, the performance improves as you spend more on the brakes. If you buy a cheap set of v's or discs expect them to perform well, how to say it kindly, like cheap brakes do, not too well. It's similar with really good brakes, they do their job very well. Just like the different types of brakes there are divisions between the v's and disc brakes. They are:

Hydro V-brakes***
Mechanical V-brakes

***Found on Trials Bikes

Hydro Disc Brakes
Mechanical Disc Brakes

What is the difference between Mechanical and Hydro systems?

Mechanical: Cable actuated.
Hydro:Fluid actuated, IE: DOT, Mineral Oil

Mechanicals are really easy to work on, but the problem there is that the good ones are rare and far inbetween you basically only have your Avid BB5's, BB7's Arch Rivals, etc., and your IRD Dual Bangers.

Hydros can be a bit messy to work on and can ruin a ride if a hydro cable gets punctured, but they offer a better modulation, a little more power, but can also suffer from brake fade is the brakes are used too heavily. The selection is also alot better for good hydro's, where you have your Hayes, Hope, Brembo, Formula, Avid, Shimano, Magura.

There are ways to get a mechanical system to have a closer feel of a hydro system, you just need something like Odyssey Slic Cable, Avid Flak Jackets, etc.

Some scenarios:

If you have a bike that predates disc brakes, but can handle a fork that can handle a disc brake a good combo for you would be a mechanical disc brake on the front and V's on the back since the rear brake is to slow you down and not for stopping, when the rear brake is used while at speed, it loses around 80% of it's stopping power.

If your bike even predates a disc compatible fork, you can go with the full v brake route. An adapter can be had, but they take away from the brakes overall performace.

If your bike can't handle V's, well, it's time to start looking for a new rig.

If your bike can handle v's or discs, you can go with either.

Just some more things to know and to be aware about:
-Hope Mono 6's and mono4's are overkill for cross country, but perfect for DH/FR applications.
-Manitous use different post mounts than Rock Shox, Marzocchi, Fox and Others do, so if you own a Manitou, and are going to be getting discs, you are going to need a different adapter.
-Disc brake rotors come in different sizes, so if you are going with an 8" rotor, you are going to need the adapter for that particular brake for the 8" size.
-8" Rotors are not necessary for XC use unless you are sporting a 29er, since 29ers produce more rotational force you're going to need a more powerful setup for the incresed rotational force.
-Avid Mechanicals and Hope Mini's are universal. Very popular cross country brakes, but are also very popular in the freeride scene(DJ and Street)

Links
Avid
Hayes
Hope
Brembo
Formula
Magura
Shimano IRD Dual Banger

Chapter 6: Random Odds and Ends

Just a bunch of random things here, none of them really deserve a section of their own.

1 Chains are not equal. Ok, well, they are but you don't want to be throwing a SS chain onto a 9 speed bike, but you can easily use a 9 speed chain on a ss setup. Personally I prefer the 9 speed chain compared to the ss chain.

2A tooth brush makes a good small detail cleaning device.

3A multi directional tire still works the best if they are set to the front setting

4It is extremely easy to tear up a dual compound tire if you are an aggressive rider.

5A shorter stem opens up the operation area, a long stems closes.

6There is no standard to tire sizing.

7Temps in the 0-9 farenheight range can crack soft durometer tires.

8The Lefty Fork has bearings and was designed after the landing gear on a comercial jet plane.