Ladies Carerra Vulcan

andyturner28

Just picked one up for my sister's X-Mass pressie and while getting it out the van i noticed the fork's are making a lound "twangy noise" when i drop the front on the ground. Nothing appears to be loose, so i assume it is the forks themselves. I know they are VERRY cheap forks, but is this normal for this model, or could something be loose internally?

supersonic

is it all set up right? Forks do make noises when compressed, especially if dropped with no rider weight!

andyturner28

Well there's nothing to set up really, they are just basic Suntour XCM's i think, with no rebound or compression damping. I did the same to my bosses Vulcan and his was silent, well apart from all the other censored he has bolted to his I'll have another play around tomorrow to see if i can work out where the noise is coming from. And my bike, with Pikes, is dead silent when being dropped from about 3 feet, just the thud of the tire hitting the ground.

supersonic

I mean, is headset adjusted correctly?

Could be the spring rattling in the fork leg I suppose.

andyturner28

Yeah could be, being a ladies bike it has a lighter spring. I'll try increasing the pre load tomorrow.
What do you think of RS Dart's as an alternative, as CR are currently doing the 08's for £59? I know to us MTB nutters they are censored , but she is just starting out biking again and is currently only riding 5 miles of fireroad into work and 5 miles on road going home. One of the Kent-Trails guys was running Dart 1's for ages so they can't be that bad.

supersonic

Some of the Vulcans had adjustable damping on the XCMs - I take it yours it not that one. Pity, as I think they are better than Dart 2s.

Dart 2 would be better than the standard XCM - even better would be a Tora but you are paying a bit more. How about a nice light carbon fork for the winter? Add a bit of comfort, would weigh about 1500g less than the XCM - be perfect for road and fireroad!

Is the Vulcan the V or disc version?

andyturner28

It's an 08 Ladies Disc, with just the standard XCM's.

Carbon fork, you having a laugh :shock: Na i think i'll keep it as is for now and see what she thinks. If she don't like the standard ones then i'll get the Dart 2's or help her get something better, if i can convince her to do more off road, otherwise i think it would be a waste of money.

Thanks for your help.

supersonic

You can get carbon forks from Superstar for 80 quid.

I have a Manitou Black for sale ;-)

andyturner28

Na I'm not a big fan of rigid forks, and i definitely can't see my sister being too pleased with a rigid front end! Good luck selling them anyway.