Words of wisdom required (New Forks)

JoeDiesel

Hi All,

As a roadie, I have just purchased a 2nd hand XC frame for pure racing. having spent many hours scanning the web for a XC race fork, I have came up with the following.
If anyone could advise pros and cons of any, it would be appreciated.

Magura Durin 1500g £399
Magura Laurin 1685g £299
R Shox Reba Race 1610g £271
R Shox Sid Team 07 1475 £249

I will only be using the bike 4-5 times a year, and weigh 73kgs (11st).

Thanks!

ride_whenever

Either get reba SL from merlin for a smidge over £200 or the 08 sid, which are stiff and light, although not as light as the magura offerings they will be pretty stunning.

BlackSpur

Don't you mean the 09 SID? The 08 isn't a very stiff fork IIRC. The 09 SID would be one of my considerations, along with the Maguras. The Double Arch Design is very stiff but the forks are stilll light. I believe that there are a fair few improvements coming for 09.

Bike Bloke

I'd get a new SID i'm even tempted to get one myself!

toasty

The new SID is very similar to the Durin in weight and performance, both are fairly stiff. I'd personally love either on my hardtail. Older SIDs will be very flexy under any stress.

Manitou R7s are scary light now as well:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=21343

I think their performance is quite lacking compared to the Durins or Sids though. The stiffness in the new Sids, Rebas and Durins comes through the stanchions thickness, 32mm is the magic number.

BlackSpur

Not necessarily true, a lot of stiffness in the Maguras comes from the dual arch design (DAD). I think the Power Bulges on the new SIDs also add to stiffness? But you are right - 32mm is the way to go! With regard to the Magura 2009 models, I understand that they will be lighter than the current models, but have feweer adjustment features. I have a magazine somewhere around me with the specifics but can't find it right now!

toasty

BlackSpur wrote:

Not necessarily true, a lot of stiffness in the Maguras comes from the dual arch design (DAD). I think the Power Bulges on the new SIDs also add to stiffness?

Bleh, marketing crap in my opinion. Nigh on all modern 32mm forks are stiff, all sub 32mm forks are flexy. I don't put this down to power bulges and dual arch designs. The current Rebas etc are plenty stiff without bulges as are all the 32mm Fox I've used.

BlackSpur

Toasty wrote:

Bleh, marketing crap in my opinion. Nigh on all modern 32mm forks are stiff, all sub 32mm forks are flexy. I don't put this down to power bulges and dual arch designs. The current Rebas etc are plenty stiff without bulges as are all the 32mm Fox I've used.

Lol, however effective it is, I've got to hand it to Magura, the DAD does look pretty cool!

JoeDiesel

Thanks for the advice guys.

ride_whenever

I thought the buldges were to stop the bushing cracking the lowers, which means the rest of the lowers can be thinner but the fork still has enough room 32mm with appropriate bushings

Chaka Ping

Don't get swayed by the attractively low weight of the old SID - I had one and it very rarely steered me where I wanted to go. Flexy isn't the word!

toasty

2009 one though? Off the top of my head, they've changed from being 1300g and 28mm stanchions to being 1450g and 32mm stanchions. Annoying some people but appealing more to the majority.

Anonymous

i would recommend the pike in whatever format you choose but the air fork is especially good.

beware when buying second hand though as the forks might need some servicing. i have bought 3 second hand forks and all of them were not in the tip top condition claimed.

Chaka Ping

Toasty wrote:

2009 one though? Off the top of my head, they've changed from being 1300g and 28mm stanchions to being 1450g and 32mm stanchions. Annoying some people but appealing more to the majority.

The new one is a completely different proposition, I'm sure.

supersonic

Stiffness is down to a combination of design features. Look at the 30mm Pace forks - incredibly stiff! You have lower design, axle, stanchion length and thickness, bushing overlap, the crown and steerer - forks flex in more than one direction.

Plus an all out racer may not need the stiffest fork. In which case on 08 SID Race at 1304g is about as light as they come.

ride_whenever

you can get lighter if you swap out the internals for custom made lightweight ones,

or lighter still with rigids...

toasty

supersonic wrote:

Plus an all out racer may not need the stiffest fork. In which case on 08 SID Race at 1304g is about as light as they come.

Indeed, assuming you ignored the previously linked R7 :P

passout

I've ridden RS, Fox and Magura. Personally I rate the Rock Shox above the others. Pikes, Rebas, Revelations are all excellent. Revelations are probably one of the best value forks out there and I loved my Pikes. I must say that I hated my Magura Ronins (110mm) - they were a nightmare to set up and were far from plush. The Magura brakes are great though, so clearly they do make some quality kit.

I would go for RS for definate.