What's a good fork weight?
 

I know it depends on the application, but in general. I'm looking at Finally getting a decent fork and the fork I'm looking at ordering, 2010 Marzocchi DJ2, is almost 6lbs. That seems like kind of a beast, but I'm not at all up on my fork knowledge. Poking around online seems to offer little guidance into what a decent average weight would be.

Dirt jump forks are heavy. I'm pretty sure even the air Argyle is over 5lbs. I think the 831 is pretty light though.

While you have a small fork thread going, I was just wondering if any one has had any experience with cannondales lefty forks. I'm just really curious how they are strong enough to withstand the stress people put on their forks. I've seen single side swing arms on motorcycles, but never seen a single side front fork before until now. Do they require a special front wheel? I will say though, they sure look awesome.

http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/head...eed-carbon-xlr

Just for reference a light xc fork can be 3 lbs.

I think my Marz 44 is a little under 5lbs, which is about average for the XC forks I was looking at (Though everywhere I've seen it advertises it as an all mountain fork, so I guess it's pretty light for that application).

And I guess I should add that I was looking around the $300 price range.

I was chatting with a guy while waiting for my bike at the local Trek shop, & he said that the lefty was the best performing fork he ever had, but that it only lasted him just under one year before needing a rebuild so he sold it. I don't know how he rides, how often he rides, or anyone else with a lefty fork to attest to their reliability, but that's the only story I've heard about them so I thought I'd share.

I'm looking at $150 for the 2010 model of the Dirt Jumper 2, so I know I'm not going to have a super light fork. I just wanted to make sure this thing wasn't a lead weight compared to other forks. Thanks for the info.

Just a thought on fork weight ? I tend to think lightest may not always be the best solution ? Frame geometry might be such that a lighter fork may not necessarily have a better feel or ride ? A heavier duty fork might be preferred in some types of situations ? Depends upon steering and handling characteristics the rider desires and prefers ? Weight distribution may not be optimal ? Then there's cyclist posture ?

Weight distribution is actually one thing I was thinking about. Seems like a lot of weight to have hanging out there right at the front of your bike. At least most of it is pretty low.

Put that with my 1 1/2lb each tires, not particularly nice/light wheels... This is gonna be a heavy bike with a heavy front end. Maybe I'll need to throw on some more heavy parts in the rear just to balance things out...

This is why I ride rigid most of the time. 'til I hit the lottery and get a Sid XX

Or maybe I'll go nuts and get one of these puppies. A couple grams less than Sid. Got that Amp Research style goin' on.

*** totally forgot the weight. 2 lbs. 6 oz.

http://www.german-a.de/en/bilder/kilo_490px.jpg

Wicked looking design. Definitely pretty cool.

What frame is this going on? I had a DJ1 on a Norco One25 for a while and it didn't feel front heavy. Of course, the whole bike was kind of a pig...

It's actually gonna be going on a Novara Amiga that I found leaning against a dumpster this spring. It's got some low end POS Rock Shox fork on it now. I planned to swap all of my decent upgrade stuff from my older bike with an 80mm fork over to the Novara and put a decent 100mm fork on it.

In any case, I'm sure the weight won't really be a problem. It's not like I'm racing or something anyway. I'm just a newbie who likes to go out and try to hack my way around the trails and have a good time. I don't worry too much about weight as long as it's not totally out of proportion with what it should be. Like I said, I just wanted to make sure 6lbs wasn't the equivalent to a lead weight for a fork.