Upgrading Forks...for newbs.
 

I have heard back things about SR Suntour Forks that come with stock Specialized bikes. I wanted to get some opinions on what are some good options to upgrade to. I dont want to go crazy on price for forks, but will definitely spend the money if it is worth it. Again...thank for you the help!

Best,

Sean

What kind of riding do you do?

People here will say wait until something breaks. Besides, if you wait until the end of summer, prices should be lower.

Moderate...nothing too extreme. But I also want to be prepared for the worst and do want mechanical failure to get in the way.
I agree with this; But i also want to be prepared in the event something does happen.

RockShox makes some decent forks at a decent price. Basically, you are going to have to pay a lot to get a really nice fork. I'd wait until yours breaks.

I am not an expert, not by a long-shot. But from what I have seen on the web most decent suspension forks will run you $500 and up. Not cheap by any measure. From what I have read also what you buy should also depend on how much you weigh. Me, I fluctuate between 200 to 220, and I hear that for my weigh it is best to stick with coil sprung forks, as opposed to air. So there are a lot of different factors you need to put in to play when making this kind of decision.

$500 is completely off. You can get something like a Recon from last year for around 220-300$ (I've seen some as low as 200-5). You can get Toras for around 150-200, and they really are quite good, IMO. And if you are willing to buy used. . .

I have a Recon 351, and that retails at like $450 doesn't it? And I would think that isn't exactly entry level, but it's not a fork everyone is running to the lbs to pick up.

The recons are quite good. From what I understand, they feel just as good as the Rebas only heavier.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...?ModelID=25827
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...?ModelID=29069
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...?ModelID=38821

All within the price range I said, some lower
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...?ModelID=29942
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...?ModelID=29878


And FYI, I've only looked at chainreaction, which has some good prices. You might be able to find some more cheaper.

I usually ride with it locked out, and set to like 115mm. It rides nice, but I was looking at the Fox float possibly. Coil sprung of course, but I do not know. Have to see what happens once my frame comes in.

Fox Float is air FYI. But someone posted a link to one that was around 400$.

To the original poster, check out the April '09 issue if Mountain Bike Action. They have a "Fork Buyer's Guide" in the issue, a long with a reference guide on forks, and tips and tricks. Good issue, you should probably check it out, and give it a quick run through.

Sorry, meant the vanilla. My FS bike has a Fox Float rear shock. Confuses me sometimes.

Thank you for this. How about narrowing this down as well:

I am a big guy. 6'2" 230lbs. Should I stick with spring or air? If being heavier is going to wear on either or faster, I guess staying away from that seems like a good option.

From what I read it wasn't about wear created by heavier riders on air springs. It was more like an air spring set to our weight will ride a lot stiffer than a coil sprung fork with a coil in it for a heavier rider.

Some air forks can be tuned to be pretty plush for heavier riders (ex: Rock Shox Revelation, some of the Marzocchi forks with air rebound), but keep in mind that if you go coil you will need to buy springs for your weight (not too expensive, maybe an extra $20-$30).

Don't pay retail.



As far as coil vs. air...coil is smoother and it's a set & forget luxury that I really love. Depending on the fork you decide to get though...coil can be a headache to get set up. Rockshox forks are "change spring" preload, so you only have like 5 choices whereas the Fox Vanilla design is superior in that it actually has adjustable preload. You get in the "ballpark" by selecting the proper spring, then fine-tune your sag with the preload knob. With SRAM...you can just get in the ballpark and you'd better be content with it. I was pretty bummed at the cost of a new spring for my Domain U-Turn. It was like $40 b/c you can't just buy a spring. You need the whole mechanism.


That said...I'm in the 200lb range and I've switched back to air b/c the price was right and it brought the weight down a bit. Technology has improved since the last time I owned an air sprung fork. I'm happy with it so far.

So maybe someone can answer me this. I'm interested in building up a full suspension bike at some point. Currently the bike I own has about 100 mm of travel. Is the anything problem with getting an adjustable travel fork, such as one with Rockshox uturn feature and just setting the travel to 100? Other than the trail forks will be heavier than the XC ones.... I'd like to be able to move it over to a new frame sometime.

OP, learning a lot from this thread. Thanks.