New fork to fit my 1997 bike?
Richard G
Posts: 15
I have a 12 year old Giant MCM Carbon cross country bike. It's long, low, stretched out riding position is of a different age, but I love it! But I'd love it even more if I could add some half decent up to date suspension forks to it. The Manitou SX Ti forks currently gracing the front end have done good service but really do need replacing now. But what replacement forks can I get now that will give me as many as possible of the advantages of today's forks, but which aren't going to be so much taller than my current forks so as to avoid completely screwing up the geometry of my 1997 designed frame that I like so much?! Call me outdated if you like. But if anyone can help...?
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Comments
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First off what size steerer do you have? Most XC forks on the market today are threadless and 1+18th inch diameter. And unfortunately mostly disc specific.
But the performance has come on a long way - forks are stiffer than ever, more reliable with much better damping systems.0 -
It's got a 1 1/8th inch threadless steerer so no problem there. My current fork, after 12 years use now steers like jelly and I can't get the replacement bushings anymore. And having ridden friends' current forks I know what I'm missing out on in terms of performance. But they're all much longer than my current forks. So what can I get that'll work almost as well but won't crank the front end of my ancient bike up so high as to make it steer like a barge rather than the lean mean cross country racing machine that it is meant to be?! Although I should be honest that most of its miles are now spent on day trips round the Chilterns, occasional visits to Coed y Brenin and the like and some commuting in between.0
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My Zaskar is 1996 vintage and I have fitted a Manitou Skarab Comp 80mm which is hardly any longer than the 60mm forks of that year.
The newer version is the R7, like this:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=21341
80mm, low crown to axle height, and light weight.
You can get V brake equipped Toras for cheaper, and they are great forks, but over 5lbs in weight.
Possibly get a Rockshox reba for a decent price in 85mm.0 -
Hey thank you for the advice. The R7 sounds promising...0
