Rock Shox Fork

Darryl_1983

I've been looking into replacing the SR Suntour fork that came with my 05 Commencal Combi disc with a Rock Shox fork.

Problem is i still don't know what i want.....

Ideally i don't want to spend alot of money so been looking at either:

RockShox Tora SL Coil 100mm with TK for £95 (need a pop loc to operate the lock out)

RockShox Recon Silver TK Coil 100mm for £100.

I currently weigh 15 stone, and i’m unlikely to drop much below that. So was thinking i could just replace the coil with a x-firm spring which looks like they cost about £22 (listed as 06-09 model??)

But people keep recommending air sprung forks because of my weight, Is it really worth paying twice the money for air sprung? Seems the tora and Recon silver solo airs are around the £200+ mark even in sales.

I’m even tempted to go all out and get a Reba Dual air for £250, doesn’t seem worth paying £50 less to get the solo air if i’m going to pay around £200 on a air sprung fork anyway.

Currently riding Sherwood Pines and Cannock Chase a lot. But also cycle to work 2-3 days a week for fitness (but obviously the fork need to be for my offroad riding). Looking to get more adventurous in the summer, so want a fork than can take a little bit of hammer.

welshkev

on one are selling the tora 302 air's for £79 at the moment. they're out of stock now but they say they're getting some more in. i bought some for my brother who weighs arond 16 stone and he loves them

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FORSTORA302 ... x-tora-302

just check with them before you buy that they're definately air

The Northern Monkey

Jeezus, thats a great price for some Tora's.

Chunkers1980

Note they are not Airs - seems they made a mistake if you read the comments.


Boo - was going to suggest these to someone.

Darryl_1983

I think that is a coil sprung fork from looking at the comments and desciption.

Been out of stock for a while now too.

To be honest I'm leaning more towards the Recon at the minute with the x-firm spring. At least i'll be able to sell it in the future for not alot less than what i'll be paying for it (looking at current ebay sells for tora's), should i want to upgrade further.

diy

Don't assume that dual air is better than solo air. Its more adjustable and gives a progressive feel, but they can be a pain to maintain.

Is air fork worth the extra - in my view yes, because then you can firm it up or soften as you like.

welshkev

that's why i said to call them.

they had a load of different ones in and i specifically asked for air forks, which i got

jayson

I wouldnt completely discount the coil Toras, i put a set on my old carrera to replace the cheap suntours it had and they were great forks. I had to replace the spring with an extra firm jobbie but that was a 5 min job to replace but they performed great, stiff and direct and looked the doggs on my red bike bike.

Obviously the rebas will be much better forks but then they are more than twice the price, if u really dont want to spend too much money then in my experience the toras are great adn for that kind of money its a total win win situation.

welshkev

i have the recon silver tk's on my hardtail. they're decent enough forks if you don't go for the toras

rockmonkeysc

I have got the Tora SL on my hardrock. I'm 15 stone and it's too soft. I took mine to a local shop to get the spring changed & was told that although you can buy a spring it's impossible to fit it without replacing the complete cartridge for about £75. The same mechanic changed the spring in my Rockshox Domains with no problems in about 15 mins.
Go for an air fork, much more adjustment.

Darryl_1983

If that's true then which is the better buy between the Recon Silver Solo and the Tora SL solo?

Both cost just over £200

jayson

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I have got the Tora SL on my hardrock. I'm 15 stone and it's too soft. I took mine to a local shop to get the spring changed & was told that although you can buy a spring it's impossible to fit it without replacing the complete cartridge for about £75. The same mechanic changed the spring in my Rockshox Domains with no problems in about 15 mins.
Go for an air fork, much more adjustment.

Thats a load of rubbish, he's yanking ur chain. The spring u need is the U Turn recon spring from TFTuned for about £40, u undo the top cap of the left leg then undo the bolt at the bottom about half way then tap it with a hammer and the spring just lifts out.

You then simply install the new spring into the leg and push it down enough to get the bottom bolt to start screwing in the refit the top cap and voila!! ur done, it takes about 5 mins to do.

Darryl_1983

I spoke to TFtuning this morning to find out what spring i'd need for the recon, but they didn't know as it wasn't listed in any of there catalogues, he did say however that if the fixed coil spring didn't fit then the U turn spring probably would, but if using the u turn spring it might not have all the travel.

Also got warned off Merlin (he also thought that on one were part of the same company) as apparently they remove the serial numbers because of where they purchase them from, which then causes problems with warrenties.

Not sure how much of this is true, if any of it?

Was just hoping to be told which spring would fit so i could order one today...

jayson

if its the Tora SL u have then u need the recon u turn spring, i know i fitted one in my fork. U can try playin around with the u turn travel adjust but unless the fork was originally designed to use more than 100mm of travel i wouldnt suggest u go too far or risk damaging the fork.

welshkev

Darryl_1983 wrote:

Also got warned off Merlin (he also thought that on one were part of the same company) as apparently they remove the serial numbers because of where they purchase them from, which then causes problems with warrenties.
...

what i believe it is with merlin is that they buy the OE (original equipment) parts from suppliers that have them surplus, not direct from rock shox. this is where the warranty issue comes into play because rock shox think they've sold forks with xyz serial number to abc supplier not joe blogs down the street.

that's what i was told anyway :?

diy

worth reading this thread when considering coil sprung RS forks. It seems spring changes are not as simple as they used to be. £60 to upgrade the spring on top of the forx gets you in to air fork money.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... 7#16174937

jayson

diy wrote:

worth reading this thread when considering coil sprung RS forks. It seems spring changes are not as simple as they used to be. £60 to upgrade the spring on top of the forx gets you in to air fork money.

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... 7#16174937

I paid £40 for the spring i changed in my tora not £60 which i think is reasonable money.

The Northern Monkey

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I have got the Tora SL on my hardrock. I'm 15 stone and it's too soft. I took mine to a local shop to get the spring changed & was told that although you can buy a spring it's impossible to fit it without replacing the complete cartridge for about £75. The same mechanic changed the spring in my Rockshox Domains with no problems in about 15 mins.
Go for an air fork, much more adjustment.

Thats a load o crud!

Spring change is the same on Tora as it is Domain.

supersonic

No, the spring change on the xc series of tora is not just a drop in, and requires a unit with push rod. The U turn assembly can work, but must be wound down low. The Tora SL and Recon TK are practically the same fork, the latter having slightly different bushes.

jayson

supersonic wrote:

No, the spring change on the xc series of tora is not just a drop in, and requires a unit with push rod. The U turn assembly can work, but must be wound down low. The Tora SL and Recon TK are practically the same fork, the latter having slightly different bushes.

As standard it comes wound down to 100mm and its up to the user to decide whether u want to increase the travel or not by windin it out.

I tried things but i bottled out and left it at 110mm rather than risk damaging my fork bearing in mind it was only originally a 100mm uit.

supersonic

You can't wind it out with some 100mm forks though as the stanchions are not long enough - you could pull the stanchions past the lower bushing which is dangerous.

This route is not something I recommend.

jayson

supersonic wrote:

You can't wind it out with some 100mm forks though as the stanchions are not long enough - you could pull the stanchions past the lower bushing which is dangerous.

This route is not something I recommend.

Thats why i bottled it at 110!!! it was actually about 108mm in the real world cos i was winding it out with a spanner very slowly just to see if it did actually work. For those that are thinking, yes it does work but as Sonic says it could be very bad for ur forks.

Darryl_1983

I've managed to get Evans Cycles to price match the Recon Silver Coil from around £200 to £99.99, so that sorts out the OE issue.

Can get an air recon silver for £195 (but it disc and v-brake) or a poploc version for £220.

I'm still leaning more towards the coil sprung, but the fact that i have to use a spring designed for another type of fork is putting me off slightly to be honest.

supersonic

You don't have to use a different model spring, you can buy an original still.

I'd buy this:

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... OCKFORM430

Nothing better for this money.

Darryl_1983

I've seen that one but i didn't think it was disc compatible, it only says 120mm canti. I assumed it meant it was v brakes only???

supersonic

No, it has IS disc mount too.

Darryl_1983

I've just phoned to confirm. Was told they are only v brake compatible.

supersonic

I m sure they are wrong, as RS do not, and have not produced V brake only castings for years, unless is some strange OE model. But if that is what they say ;-)

Darryl_1983

It is a little strange, the guy on the phone was also surprised to be fair.

Darryl_1983

I've decided to go for the Recon Silver Coil fork from Evans for £100.

Just need a decent new Headset now, no more than about £20

FSA Pig Ball Bearing?
FSA Pig Pro?
On-One Smoothie?

Also looking at a headlock instead of a star nut. anyone used one of these:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=17766

Thanks for all the advise guys.

I'll update once i've had a new spring installed.

supersonic

What type of headset does your frame need?

Star nuts are the best solution in all but carbon steerers.