Forks/brake for '95 Zaskar LE

petitpal

Used to race XC quite a lot back in the mid 90's and ride it everyday; had a break of about 10 years (marriage, children, etc) and now want to start upgrading my Zaskar LE so I can get out and about without everyone passing commenting on the Mag 21's and Onza HOs....

So - what forks are considered good for XC these days? Preference would be for Rockshox (brand wise) but open to any advice at all. Similarly - brakes: thinking about maybe disk on the front and V on the back, or V's all round. Any advice how useful disks are to XC and if I should just stick to Vs?

Sorry if these are dim questions - I've been out of it for a long while! Also, I'm working to a relatively tight budget - hoping to source something of good quality for a big less from eBay (so older models of forks aren't a problem).

Thanks

supersonic

I'd stick to V brakes where possible - though finding forks with the mounts are harder and harder these days.

I would stick to 80mm of travel. What budget are we looking at?

homerjay

like you, i have a old race bike (orange e2) and tinkered with the idea of upgrading to modern kit. but was (rightly) talked out of it by guys on retrobike.

such bikes need to be kept original. or if you must change parts, get on ebay for NOS (new old stock) parts.

live the retro dream.

or flog it all, and buy new. you may be suprised at its value if sold seperately. the mags alone are worth anything between £50 and £100, depending on condition. and the frame is at least £100.

kaytronika

For the amount you'd spend on upgrading it you might be able to pick up a more modern Zaskar or Avalanche on Fleabay?

This'll leave you more options for longer travel forks and disc brakes.

Keep the old LE... or give it to me I don't mind

cooldad

Comments are good, at least it gets noticed not like some bland new bike.
Probably a good idea to have a look at www.retrobike.co.uk.
They'd love it, and you could pick up some period forks etc in the classifieds.

And you might even find some Onza Porcs. Stuck some on my modern over winter and they were great in the mud.

petitpal

Decisions, decisions! The whole thing is period as is and I have a stack of 'retro' stuff to hand (original DCDs, crud claws, onza rip and rail, velociraptors, panaracer smoke and dart and so on) but I just feel that frame is just so good that it's worthy of looking like supersonic's Zaskar (which is beautiful, btw).

Fork budget might be couple of hundred? I'm leaning towards V-brakes at the moment (if only because it avoids new forks and wheels right at the mo). Might just get a nice set of parallel pulls one to start with (if I can find em) and then work around the bike taking off the purple anodised bits as I can afford to.

supersonic

Just sent you a PM ;-)