Originally Posted by
dynaryder
That bike was never intended to have front suspension,so adding a sprung fork will mess with your geometry. You may not like the way it handles after the mod.
Not a fan of suspension personally. Lots of weight,sucks up power when climbing,and you get fork dive when braking. We've been building some fat bikes at the shop lately;I'd go with a bike with fat tires over suspension. Built a Med Surly Krampus Ops that weighed 30lbs 1oz with pedals,that's the same as my Safari. Pretty good for a monster like that.
Cheap forks suck power but then so do super wide tires. And wide tires have a lot in common with cheap forks...they are basically pogo sticks with no control of the suspension.
A good fork that can be locked out doesn't suck power on climbs and is useful is some situations. But a "good" fork is going to cost a fair chunk of change.
Originally Posted by
RubeRad
I know, right? I think my Reba shock travels 30mm even when 'locked out'!
In my experience with a Reba fork, the "lock out" is more a suggestion than a reality. Mine traveled a whole lot more than 30mm when "locked out". More like 90mm for a 100 mm fork. I've found that Fox and Manitou forks have a much more positive lockout than any of the Rock Shox forks I have experience with. The Manitou's lockout has less travel than the Fox but the Fox is a much better fork.