No idea which forks to buy for 1st upgrade

kidloco46

Hi All,

Just getting into the scene slowly. Bought a Giant Rincon (23" XL) first of all, didnt want to spend to much until I was sure it was going to be a proper intrest rather than a fad. Its a great little budget bike but the forks are very poor when challanged even remotley. I am going to be buying a new bike next summer (£600-800) but I wanted to pick up a set of secondhand forks which would do me till then. I was looking at some Rockshox Tora, but I have no idea which model or more importnantly spec I should be buying, I take it that it needs to be a specific stem size etc?.

Any help would be greatly appriiciated.

supersonic

Your bike should have a standard steerer diameter (1+1/8th inches). The Toras are all this size. You simply cut the steerer to the same length as the old ones.

Park Tools has a good guide on fork installation.

The Toras are a good buy. Have a look at the Rockshox website for differences between them.

kidloco46

so do they all come with the same length stem then?, just trying to find out what size mine will be, dont want to buy a set second hand to find out they have already been cut to short.

dave_hill

kidloco46 wrote:

so do they all come with the same length stem then?

No, they come with the same sized steerer tube - the stem is the bit that connects the steerer to the handlebars.

kidloco46 wrote:

Dont want to buy a set second hand to find out they have already been cut to short.

More than likely they will have been - and given that you have a pretty big frame, your search for a secondhand pair might be long and fruitless...

kidloco46

Thanks, thats what I was thinking. looks like it will have to be new forks.

It doesnt seem wise spending any more than £100-£150 on a upgrade that will be only needed for 9 months. Will that get me a set of OK new forks?

And how would they compare to the forks on £600-£800 bike, my next purchase?

junglist_matty

A bike costing £600 brand new would be lucky to get Tora's, probably more likely to get some Dart 1's

A bike costing £800 brand new would probably come with Tora's, possibly some Recons if you got a bike on sale.

But for 6-800 I wouldn't go expecting anything great. Forks are expensive things.... Consider that most half decent forks come in around the £300 mark!!!

davewalsh

Another option would be to splash out a bit more on some decent forks (Reba's ?), swap them over onto your new bike when you get it and flog whatever comes off your new bike to recoup the difference !

kidloco46

was thinking the same thing. can you point me to a decent set well priced please,

not sure which model is any good etc, its all a bit confusing

alomac

The Reba Teams you can get here are easily the best deal going.

kidloco46

cheers, quick question. POST or IS mount? I have v brakes on my current bike but I want to take them to my new one next year which will have dics. will that be a problem?

here is a few I am looking , any better than others?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=41565

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=40910

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=29878

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=13113

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=29880

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=29954

diy

I have Tora SLs Solo Airs - they are really good. The only real difference between them and the model up is alu uppers, but the airs are light enough anyway.

I paid £179 - air forx are very flexible

supersonic

If you have V brakes now, you need V brake mounts now.

diy

Tora's have both

rhyko7

Toras suck!
if your a big guy you would have to buy the siffest spring for em which is an extra 20 something quid and they will still suck-been there done that!
not sure what else you can get for that price tho to be honest, sorry i didnt really help did i
phone Mojo and see if they have any old fox forks for sale and scour ebay etc

supersonic

Toras are great forks when bedded in and tuned correctly!

Many toras are disc only.

Also many models of Tora - the Race and 318 are superb.

rhyko7

supersonic wrote:

Toras are great forks when bedded in and tuned correctly!

Many toras are disc only.

Also many models of Tora - the Race and 318 are superb.

maybe that model is ok, but from experience the 289's are useless-stay away from them, they are probably the cheapest model tho