SID Race vs Fox Float
 

I am just curious, for purely XC riding, which fork do you prefer and WHY???

I weigh about 190lbs, and I dont do anything extreme like dropoffs....

Thanks

Ming

SID race is definately not for you if you are 190 and do purely XC... its very flexy compared to a Fox which is pretty rock solid. I have an F80x and the difference in dampening and stiffness is night and day between that and any RS products Ive used.

I would say......

The Fox blows the SID out of the water anyday of the week/month/year/decade/century/millenium.

Fox is the new king of forks...

after putting several thousand miles and afew good races on a superlightweight sid i got purely to save weight on my 21 pound hardtail, i am really starting to lust over the plushness and solidity of the fox. i only weigh 140 pounds and the sid severly flexes under my weight. i think you'll be plenty happy with the fox.

In my experience, both the Rockshox SID & the Fox Float are good forks - quality construction, reliable, very tune-able, and decent warranties & customer service. It seems there's an upper rider weight limit for the SID (Probably around 160 lbs). If you "race", desire light bikes, and are a finesse rider with expert or better skills, the SID is fine. For "XC" riding, the Float is the better choice. Having said that and having ridden/raced 63mm & 80mm SID's and 80mm, 100mm, 80mm-125mm Float TALAS, & 130mm RLC Floats on hardtail & full suspension bikes, I must say the Fox Float is the superior fork in most riding/racing conditions. However I've had the opportunity to briefly ride the new Reba & Pike, and both performed very well. But, given your weight & XC riding preference, you should give serious consideration to the Fox Vanilla RLC. No fork has a better feel and it might be the very best combination of weight, performance, & cost.

Thank you very much. It's always nice to hear from actual users of both products....

Ming

Ahhh. Thank you for the detailed reply. I am new to suspension and have just acquired a Rocky Mountain Instinct (2003) which came with the Rockshox SID race. I was seriously looking for a bike that came with a Fox Float, but none of the bikes I looked at was at good overall as the Rocky Mountain. So I am starting off with the SID, and I was shocked by its over zealous maintainance requirements.

I am just asking this questions to get some feedback from users that have used both products. When and if the SID fails, I will look into replacing it when something that I want (FOX FLOAT) :eek: However, I fail to see how the SID race is flexy though. When I took it through the trails quickly yesterday, the fork felt fine. I can see how it is not nearly as plush as the fox fork, but since I've never had one, I wouldn't really know what I'm missing anyways.

Thank you again for the useful reply

Ming

I have a bike with a SID, and a bike with a Fox F100X. The difference in terms of flex, and steering precision is HUGE. The confidence, and ride quality are well worth a few more ounces.

Actually, I may be able to bring the bike back to the shop and pay some difference to have the fork upgraded. Before I do this, one last question, would the SID climb any better because of the climbit control?? I there there is some other technology that I currently cannot remember.

Also, to keep my bike's current geometry, I should get the Fox float F80X over the float F100X. Correct???

Thanks

Ming

stick with the 80

The F80x will climb about 1,000x better because of the Terralogic system. Its basically locked out to any input from the top (think bob from the rider) but still will progressively absorb hits from the bottom, like roots and rocks. Its like butter on the hills.

It turns out the shop wants $1000 to upgrade to the Fox F80X. I don't think I will be upgrading until I get a local sponsor, or until the SID gives out on me :'(

Ming

thats the price you pay for fox, quality

The shop either doesn't want to do the swap, or they are screwing you HARD. The Fox F80X (I would go for the 100X if I were you, but that's a whole other discussion) retails (you can do better) for about $750. So they want your SID Race, and $1,000 to do the swap????

If what I just stated is correct, you want to run, not walk, away from this shop.

Well, it just doesn't make sense when the entire bike only cost $2000 :)

Well, we're talking about $1000 Cdn, which still comes to about $770 US. Yeah, they want my fork and charge me that much for a swap. That shop is all the way in Toronto, and I dont think I'll ever go there for anything again.

If I do decide to upgrade my fork, looks like I'll be either purchasing off ebay, or I'll look for one at the next bike show. The SID should do just fine until it blows up on me, hopefully :D

Ming

PS, shouldn't I keep the default travel for my frame? I thought longer travel fork would mess up the geometry of my frame and stress it more??

Going with a longer-travel fork will slacken your head-angle; however, that may be a good thing depending on how you like your bike set-up. I, generally speaking, like a slacker head-tube angle than most bikes stock geometry. You'll have to check with your frame manufacturer to see if a longer travel fork will void the warrantee (assuming that there is a frame warrantee).

Absalon's Bianchi has a Sid fork but he's a tad below 160 lbs.