Ok here are the choices, oh yah if you know of a better fork that you like or something... lemme know! But this is kinda what i've narrowed my choices down to. I'd rather spend less than more, but you know how it goes... Place your votes, not on price please, if you could help me out with price/perf

Marzocchi MX Comp ETA $269

MARZOCCHI MX PRO ETA $349

Manitou Black Comp $349

RockShox Psylo XC Fork 2003 $319

[edit] btw, my riding style is mostly intense XC. I like going big hills/trails but i also enjoy going up, as well as just riding around on somewhat flat ground with some log jumps, etc... I hear from the reviews that the MX Comp ETA is a kick ass fork for the price, so that's the one i'm going for now, but the MX Pro ETA has me kinda in a trance now... THough i'm not quite sure the big difference between the two forks...

I've had the MX comp for about a month and i like it so far. I had a Duke SL which was plusher and quiet as a mouse, which the Marzocchi is not, but in the long run i htink the marz is a better fork and much more durable. I don't think you would be dissapointed with it or the Pro for that matter if you wanna pony up the extra cash.

none of the above, go for a Z1.

You wanna pay for part of the $520 price tag?

ive seen z1 freerides with ecc on mtbr for 350 or so. get a used one, its worth the extra money in the long run.

I find the ecc on my z1 useless...I can never find a spot to use it. The trails are just to rough to have a rigid short fork

SO. I guess i just bought this, am i stupid? I just emailed the guy to tell him to send me some better pics of it if it really is new and i will send him money, thoughts?

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3617628022

Let me know if i'm getting ripped off or if this is a deal...

If the steerer tube is long enough, I'd say you got a pretty good deal. The seller has good feedback too.

It says it's been uncut so i'm assuming it's long enough

Whoops sorry I missed that the first time around.
I say you done good.

OK COOL, *whew* I'm upgrading from an old 60mm manitou i believe, maybe it's 80mm, i haven't cared for such a long time. I was pretty nervous bidding on something that much for my bike (i'm a poor college student) So I'm glad it's gunna be worth it on the trails (and i hope it will be)

Just FYI, but Manitou Black Comps are $249 or so in many places right now. Use the 20% Performance Mail Order coupon (listed on this website in the deals forum) and you can take it even lower.

I just upgraded to a heavy old Black Comp from an actually OLD Mach-Ti Manitou that finally wore out. (No more bushings available). Let me just say that the Black steers, absorbs and adjusts great, and that I like knowing there's a spring in there (air forks don't like heavy riders, usually).

Too late now, got the Z1 Freeride

thanks for the heads up though

Now you do understand that going from a short travel fork to a long travel fork is going to affect your bike's handling. It will also change the way it climbs on steep grades.

Yah I know, and i'm assuming it's going to be pretty drastic as well with this new fork, hopefully with that ETA deal i can flip that on when i'm climbing up a steep/long hill and i won't have any problems.

Now that is a beautiful fork ..congrats..

Good price for the Z1, disregard my ? in the other thread.

I was going to recommend a Marzocchi to your original question, but that's a moot point now.

When you buy your Avid's, you can even put on a big honkin 8" rotor on that. (might be a bit of overkill for your bike). Avid's are the BEST mechanical disc, almost as good as "some" hydraulics.

An XT disc hub will work sweet, I'd recommend either a Mavic F219 if you want a burly front wheel, or their X317 for a more XC oriented wheel. A lot of people use double butted spokes, but with a disc, I just prefer a straigh guage spoke. Either way, I only recommend DT or Wheelsmith products. Also, a lot of people like brass nipples, I actually prefer aluminum ones. I'd rather thrash a couple 25 cent nipples than have a brass one pull through my $65 rim.

L8R

Id go with the MX PRO