SunTour Forks & £400 Bikes

Darkstalker420

Hi been looking for a new ride and have settled (i think!) on the VooDoo Bantu (although i'm still looking at others as i will mention shortly). The Bantu has SunTour Raidon fork which i hear is one of the "better" models. Most other bikes in the price range (upto £400) have SunTour XCM's which i hear are not so good. The thing is it seems like SunTour have a monopoly on "budget" shocks and they are on most "cheaper" rides now!

I have some old RST Gila T6's on my current steed and although (after removing one of the spring stacks) they are softer they are just a stiction fest and sink halfway down there travel and unless you hit something like a curb just don't budge! (well maintained and greased). I have tried a number of "cheep" RST's and found them frankly rubbish. So the meat of the problem is would i find the XCM V3 a "step up" from the RST's OR am i just swapping one rubbish for another?? Not sure of the "quality" of SunTours "wares" to be honest. I'm not expecting Fox like plushness i just don't want to end up with a pogo stick or soft saggy (?!) front end .

Now there is one other option. I have found a Kona Blast (2011) online at CRC for £400 and this has a RockShox Tora TK Coil 100mm. Looking at the rest of the spec it seems to match/exceed the Bantu SO having NO experience with suss forks since Judy's and Bombers were all the rage. Which is better.

RockShox Tora TK Coil 100mm
SunTour Raidon 120mm
SunTour XCM V3 120mm.

And would a "modern" fork n00b (me) be able to get his "moneys worth" out of them. Also what do you think of the Kona? Better than the Bantu?? I would say YES BUT i have fallen in love with the VooDoo. Also still looking for a bargain ride with the following if anyone can recommend something else:

£400 TOTAL MAX COST (maybe a few quid for delivery IF I MUST).
Hydro disk brakes.
"reasonable" groupset/finishing kit (will sacrifice this for wheels or better fork etc as this can be upgraded as it wears etc).
GOOD serviceable fork with at least 100mm travel.
24 or 27 gears not fussed to be honest BUT prefer more Shimano than SRAM if possible (never used SRAM stuff to be honest...... Bar GripShift years ago!).

Hope someone can clue me in especially the Raidon vs XCM V3 as this seems like the most common fair on the bikes i have been interested in.

Thanks.

386ka

Fork wise, I think that Raidon is the best bet. Otherwise, I don't know the spec of the bikes.

Darkstalker420

Whoops was going to include them (FAIL!).

The VooDoo: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165499

The Kona: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=74272

Both for 400 bones. It's a straight one or the other i visually prefer the VooDoo BUT the spec on the Kona i THINK maybe better in some areas (mechs etc).

Thanks.

tarbot18

I have the raidon forks on my gt sensor and have to say im pleasantly surprised i was initially going to upgrade soon after getting the bike but after using them for a while im going to use them until i break them or wear them out. Dont listen to the brand snobs they are plush easily adjustable and have a decent amount of travel. The only downside is they are a bit chunky but then i like bbw :-)

cooldad

Voodoo has slightly better fork and more travel, Kona probably has slightly better spec, fork is ok.
Either would make a good ride.
What sort of riding are you looking at doing?

supersonic

In Suntour heirarchy:

XCT
XCM (very few are damped ie HLO)
XCR most are damped
Raidon (many have adjustable rebound damping, and and air option as well as a lighter, stiffer chassis)