Fork Upgrade?

MountainBiking

Hi,
I need some help with a fork upgrade, and advice would be useful..

I have a Jamis XR 2008 Womens model, and I would like to fit a suspension fork on it.
Could someone please give me advice on what sort of fork to buy.. of if there is any details that I need to take into mind?

I'd be happy to go and get measurements of the current rigid fork for you. Or if there are any details hidden on the fork. :?:

If someone could send me a link for a suspension fork that is around £100, it would be really appreciated. UK sites only please.

Cheers! Ella

Chunkers1980

Is the frame suspension specific? Suspension can be longer in crown axel height than ridgids.

MountainBiking

I don't mind how much suspension is on it.. should I measure the crown axel height?

Chunkers1980

Yep - you would need a suspension fork that has about the same in sag position. Otherwise it'll mess with your geo.

MountainBiking

Ok,
Would it matter when the suspension is fully.. down?

Sorry if that's not the correct term

Chunkers1980

Not sure what you mean - suspension fully down would only happen while riding and soaking up a drop off or a big hit - you'd then go back to your sagged position - that's the measurement you want as ridgids are never sagged

on-oneplus26

You don't state what sort of riding you do but to be honnest I would consider just fitting some better, fatter tyres and maybe a good quality set of grips. Cheaper, lighter etc and arguabley as good at absorbing trial chatter as a short travel 'cheap' fork. Just check your frame clearences.

These are cracking value and will do you for all general riding. http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYSCRRONEVO ... lding-tyre

If you are certain you want a sus fork the look for short travel (80mm) as it will effect your bike angles less and also pay attention to the brake mounts. I assume you have v brake and not disks - lots of forks only have disk mounts now.

MountainBiking

Would this fork be ok? :
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/rockshox/dart-1-2011-fork-ec024482

The brakes on the Jamis are V-Brakes, the fork is roughly 560mm from top to bottom (top = 150mm, crown to bottom = 410mm), the wheel size is 26 x 1.95".

on-oneplus26, sorry, the riding I am going for is off road forest, and trail MTB with some jumps.

I have some very good new grips, would new tyres be better as well?

Thanks, Ella.

cooldad

Terrible fork, heavy and undamped, you would be better off staying rigid.
You might have a problem finding a decent cheap fork with V brake mounts.

About the lowest spec you would want to go, but no V brakes unfortunately.

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FORSRETK/ro ... th-lockout

cooldad

Decent, cheap, damped, but again no V mounts.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/sr- ... gn=froogle

You might be better off looking for a decent second hand RS Judy or similar.

on-oneplus26

Fair enough..

How about Ebay? Will certainly be no worse than a Dart and you should get something for a bit less.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rockshox-Duke ... 20bc0a7c4f
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Marzocchi-Bom ... 336abc83f7

New tyres are always good!

cooldad

ps I think your bike has a threaded headset - hopefully 1 1/8 inch? Standard threadless forks would not fit unless you change the headset as well. Finding new threaded forks will be harder if you want decent ones.

MountainBiking

Hey,

Thanks for all the options!

My bike has a 1 1/8" threaded VP sealed headset. I think that is ok..

I might just go for ebay!

Thanks! Ella

supersonic

We need pictures of your bike/forks/headset to make sure.

MountainBiking

supersonic wrote:

We need pictures of your bike/forks/headset to make sure.

Ok, here is a link to the pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/longboarduk/

Thanks

supersonic

Definitely a threaded headset with threaded forks. Problem is 99.99% of forks aftermarket are for threadLESS headsets.

The specs suggest the size is 1 1/8th inch which is good, as you can change the headset for a threadless one (again the majority of threadless headsets are 1 1/8th inch).

This would be a job for a shop though, unless you are confident in knocking out the headset cups and installing the new ones.

Threadless headsets start from about 10 quid.

MountainBiking

Hey again, sorry this is still going on, but I still haven't found a fork!

Would this fork with this headset be ok?

Fork:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RockShox-Dart ... 383wt_1141

Headset:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FSA-Pig-DH-Pr ... 500wt_1156


Thankyou!

supersonic

Headset:

http://www.winstanleysbmx.com/product/1 ... D_Aheadset

That fork is really bad lol. This is a better fork, and cheaper:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RST-Gila-Pro- ... 45fc587486

Or PM me, I have a great V brake fork I could sell.