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Forks for newbs?

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 11:59 am
by Crawf
I'm building up my first mtb (29er) and it'll be the first time I have ridden one since I was a young teen. I know my way around road bike builds but mtb is like starting from scratch in certain areas.
To be honest I'm not even sure what sort of terrain I'll be tackling, i'm just keen to get out there and have a crack.
I am looking to spend $400-500 on a 100mm fork, but am struggling to find any reviews on current model forks of any help. What features I can expect in that price range, what features I should look for?
Can anyone recommend some sites to peruse or even a specific fork that's a good all-rounder & not to flexy to get me started?
Cheers

Re: Forks for newbs?

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:26 pm
by antipodean
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FORSREBRL29 ... th_poplock

I have one of these on my KHS 29er (without the remote lockout) and has been excellent so far.
Not sure what steerer you need (tapered or regular) or what front axle option (qr, 15mm) but you will find the Reba is one of the most popular 29er forks.

Re: Forks for newbs?

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:30 pm
by WarrenH
Have you seen MTBR's review section? Its a bit light on for 29r fork reviews but there might be something helpful ... http://www.mtbr.com/cat/suspension/29er ... 63crx.aspx

Warren.

Re: Forks for newbs?

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:37 pm
by antipodean
Decent option from TBSM free postage too.

http://tbsm.com.au/bike-parts/suspensio ... fork-11402

Re: Forks for newbs?

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:41 pm
by Mugglechops
What head tube and what wheels are you running. These all need to be considered before you can go fork shopping.

A lot of the new forks are only coming out with tapered steerers now and you have the choice of 9mm, 15mm or 20mm for the front axle.

Re: Forks for newbs?

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:53 pm
by Crawf
Almost forgot about the head tube, it's a 1 1/8"-1 1/2".
Already had a 100mm 29er wheelset that I built up for the commuter but will now be used on this.

Will the tapered steerer limit fork options?

Re: Forks for newbs?

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:57 pm
by Mugglechops
Not now days, it will probably expand your options.

Re: Forks for newbs?

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 4:55 pm
by Jean
I'm looking at 29er forks too, and in your declared price range (or less) the options as far as I can tell so far are pretty much the assorted permutations of RS Reba, Recon or XC, the Manitou Tower Pro, Marzocchi Corsa or 44, or Suntour Epicon 29. There might be others though.

I've opted to ignore the RS forks for the moment as there are no through axles at this price point and I'm pretty sure I want that for a 29er. I haven't looked into the Marzocchi forks yet, but the Manitou Tower Pros seem to be pretty good as long as you don't mind that slightly odd (for an XC/trail fork) 20mm through-axle. Though lots of people slag Suntour forks thanks to experiences with their cheap mass market ones, I can't find much of anything bad on the Epicons (which is the top Suntour XC/trail fork) and lots of people like them a lot and they use a 15mm through-axle.

I'm not sure how these factor into your tapered head tube as this is is not a consideration for me.

Re: Forks for newbs?

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 5:59 pm
by Crawf
I'm thinking a headset reducer may be in order.

Re: Forks for newbs?

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:18 pm
by Mugglechops
My new 29er as a straight fork but a tapered head tube.

Not sure why they did that to it.

Re: Forks for newbs?

Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 7:45 pm
by trailgumby
Tapered head-tube and matching fork stiffens up the frame between head- and downtubes. Makes quite a difference to steering accuracy and the confidence with which you bomb through techy trerrain and rock gardens. Same for 15mm or 20mm thru-axles. You don't realise how much difference that makes until you back-to-back between one with and one without.

Re: Forks for newbs?

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 8:52 am
by silentbutdeadly
Mugglechops wrote:My new 29er as a straight fork but a tapered head tube.

Not sure why they did that to it.
The manufacturer had a budget and relative price point to hit.

I've seen a couple of brands that have a model range on a frame up to five versions deep. All the frames have tapered head tube but only the top one or two variants have a headset & fork that took full advantage of the head tube...

Re: Forks for newbs?

Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:07 am
by Crawf
Thanks for the suggestions. Ended up ordering the Reba RL with remote poploc.