Cipollini

currently, i owned a RockShox Psylo Race 2003 suspension fork and today, someone offered me a second hand SID Team 2004 fork. The SID looks kinda new and the owner has never ever bring it to offroad. As far as i know, it has only been used 4-5 times. (He is a rich fella anyway) The price? He offered me RM800(about $210 US Dollars) while the new SID Team sold at local bike shop priced at USD $421. But i need to sell off my Psylo fork first before getting SID Team fork.

On techical side, my current fork has always been the bottleneck to my mountainbike's weight(excluding frameset ;p) as you can see clearly on my current spec :-

Frame : Specialized Rockhopper 2002
Fork : Psylo Race 2004
Drivetrain : Deore XT shifter, Deore LX Front Derail, XTR rapidrise Rear Derail, XT cassette, Dura-ace chain, Truvativ Stylo Team 2004 crankset.
Brake system : Avid Speed Dial 7 lever and Single Digit brake.
Wheelset : Mavic Crossmax SL
Tires : Scott Manx 2.0(front) and Panaracer Trailblaster(rear)

Im a XC-er, so my parts are mostly for XC riding as you can see. But the Psylo weighs about 600g~ more than SID Team 2004. Based on weightweenies, my Psylo weighs about 2060g!! while SID Team about 1404g. However, i noticed that this second hand SID Team fork does has some problems. I noticed some small cracks around the wiper seal. It could be because the owner seldom use the bike. And other problem is oil leakage(not on the rebound knob side). The fork is using air not oil. Im wondering how it would leak oil?

So, im confused whether it is wise to accept this great offer(by ignoring the wiper's crack and oil leakage) or just stay with my heavier psylo fork? Personally, i prefer heavier fork so that it could stand a more aggresive XC riding style. I came across a few broken SID forks before while visiting local bike shop. Maybe their riding is wrong or etc but i dont think SID is that bad enough. I hope to hear some advices from more experienced riders out there as extra 600grams is too much for me!!!

ghettocruiser

I'd say a SID is a race-only sort of deal. I've used mine quite a bit for other types of riding, and is wasn't great for any of them. It will also have more general mechanical issues that heavier forks. Oil leakage is never a good thing.

LowCel 

ghettocruiser hit the nail on the head. The SID is a great fork for it's intended usage. If you are more of an all mountain, aggressive xc kind of guy the SID may not be the best fork for you. Plus how much travel are you getting with your Psylo? 80, 100, or 120 mm? If you are used to the bike with 100 mm or 120 then I wouldn't go down to 80 mm unless it is going to be race specific.

I have the SID Team on my hardtail and I really like it. However it is primarily a race bike (that does get some aggressive riding from time to time). For a non-race bike I would prefer to have something a little more burly. Just my opinion.