Recommend me a fork

[_rubinho_]

I need to replace the Rock Shox Dart 2 on my Kona MTB as it weighs a ton! The fork itself comes in at around 2.5kg. I'd like to lose 1 kilo if possible. The specs are, 26" wheel, 1.125" (1 1/8") steerer tube and 120mm travel, used for XC/trail riding etc. Needs to have disc mounts. If there was a well matched rear shock (7.5" mounting, 2" travel) it would be ideal.

I'd like to not spend a fortune as forks seem to be ridiculously expensive these days!

So far I've found the Rock Shox Recon Gold RL (~£350 at CRC). Spec and price about right, comes in around 300g too heavy at 1.8kg.
I've also seen Manitou Minute Pro (~350 at CRC) which weigh in at 1.6kg. This looks better but I've had no experience of Manitou products.
What are Suntour forks like?

Any other suggestions? This is not a desperate beg for offers but if anybody is looking to sell something decent in this spec, I may be interested.

I do wish the big bike sites (CRC, Wiggle) had proper searches where you could really zero in on specs rather than just free text, brands and riding styles...

[722Adam]

Thought I might have been able to help as I saw a set of Recon Gold RLs on www.merlincycles.co.uk for £320, but alas they're the 100mm coil version. Shame as they also have 100mm Rebas and 140mm Revelations, both of which I imagine will be better forks, at £320 and £330 respectively.

Depending on how long you're looking, possibly worth a look back here in a while to see if there's anything suitable as I find their prices very good, bought some Recon 351s a few years ago from them for ~£150 less than RRP.

Edited by 722Adam on Monday 9th May 23:24

[Jimbo.]

Suntour's own stuff (IIRC they make stuff for others such as Marzocchi) is st.
Maintou aka Manipoo are just that. And try getting spares for anything more than a couple of years old!

Can the above mentioned Recons from Merlin have their travel increased from 100mm to 120mm by means of removing an internal spacer? Can't remember what can and what can't with RS stuff these days...

[a11y_m]

I'd have the 200g heavier Recons over Manitou any day of the week. IMO even the Recons aren't that heavy. The Revelations would be a great fork if you could live with 140mm travel. I'm running 140mm Revs and they're all the fork I need on my hardtail.

[village idiot]

you should be able to pick up a 2nd hand pair of sids from singletrackworld forum for way less than £300. send them off for a service (and maybe get them 'pushed') and bobs your uncle... you'll save about a kilo.

if you really want to save the pennies, i would suggest hunting down a 2nd hand set of marzocchi mx comps (weight about 1750g) which will be about £100 and then spend £250 on a set of XT/Mavic XC717 wheels with some light tyres.

The saving in rotating mass will make a noticeable differance

[shalmaneser]

I'm running Revs at the moment and they're great. Suntour are crap, Manitou are pretty bad too.

Fox, Rockshox and Marzocchi are the big three nowadays, if I were you I'd get the Recons and screw the weight.

[Roman]

I'd look for some Rockshox Rebas or good second hand Fox RLCs

[curlie467]

I am splitting my bike up, it has some 2008 Rockshox revelation dualair u-turn 100-130mm forks. 1700g

They have just been serviced and work perfectly, no marks on the stanchions but a couple of minor scratches on the lowers.

£150 posted.

[_rubinho_]

OK, steer clear of Manitou and Suntour...check!

I'll keep an eye out on singletrack world for something decent for sale.

Good shout on the wheels, this is one of the other things I was looking at to save weight. A set of tubeless Racing Ralphs would be perfect on those I think.

[_rubinho_]

These specs stack up nicely: Marzocchi Corsa SL LR

Good brand, extremely light (1.4kg), not too expensive. Don't seem to be many reviews around as they're so new. Adjustable to 120mm. Out of stock everywhere it seems. Opinions?

[theboymoon]

curlie467 said:

I am splitting my bike up, it has some 2008 Rockshox revelation dualair u-turn 100-130mm forks. 1700g

They have just been serviced and work perfectly, no marks on the stanchions but a couple of minor scratches on the lowers.

£150 posted.

OP - this sounds ideal!

[_rubinho_]

theboymoon said:

OP - this sounds ideal!

I have contacted the seller

Would like an opinion on the Marzocchi ones I linked above too.

Cheers!

[a11y_m]

_rubinho_ said:

I have contacted the seller

Would like an opinion on the Marzocchi ones I linked above too.

Cheers!

Marzocchi link doesn't work for me.

I'm unsure on reliability on newer marzocchi's, some scare stories online on post-2007 forks: they moved production to far-east for 2008 models and there were some teething issues. I had a set of 2008 55ATA2's from new that were hopelessly unreliable but were fixed under warranty. They were awesome forks when they worked, so if reliabilty is sorted then newer ones should be great. I ended up punting mine and going back to a set of uber-reliable '06 66SL's though.

IIRC they're offering 3 year warranties with a 2-year-no-servicing-is-OK-with-us tagline on their new ones...