What 120mm fork?

twonks

Am looking to have a play with a 120mm travel fork on my SC Superlight (2007 frame).

Main reason is that I am having a little bit of a swap around with my bikes.

The HT is now a head down and crack on bike and I want to make the FS a little more relaxed and - dare I say it - trail centre friendly.

It currently has Magura Durin MD100R forks on, and whilst they perform superbly I feel slightly over the front when tackling rocky downhills and places like CYB etc.

I've had a quick play with old reba teams set to 115mm on the front and they felt good but are on another bike so I fancy splashing some cash on new forks.

Riding is mainly XC based with local woods / Cannock / Wales / Peak natural trails etc. Very much wheels on the ground, although I am heavy @ 200lb at the moment. Aiming for around 160lb as a goal.

The obvious choices are Reba, SID and Fox F120, but I wondered if there are any thoughts as to which might be a better buy over another ?

I have roughly £350 to spend. Don't need lock out, would like a solid axle (but not a must) and ideally something not too heavy as have been rather spoiled by the light weight of the Maguras.

Any thoughts on what to look at?

paulneenan76

Rebas should be a good safe bet. And you'll easily find them inside your budget. Check out On One's sale and then the usual suspects.

supersonic

Should be able to get the SID RL for that.

twonks

Cheers Paul,

How about something like the below.

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/f ... -2012.html

Or would the 2013 SID be better if I can find a 120mm version?
http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/f ... -2013.html

TBH I am slightly perplexed by RS and their codings of late.

It used to be the black box damper as far as I remember, but now everything seems to be motion control only.

benpinnick

Winstanleys have 120 SLD XX for 270, QR only though.

twonks

benpinnick wrote:

Winstanleys have 120 SLD XX for 270, QR only though.

Thanks Ben.

This begs the question, is the lack of 15 or 20 mm through axle worth the low cost of the better forks. (than most at that price) ?

I don't wish nor want to create an argument over 12 pages, but for every post I see for the through axle - there is another against it.

As the travel is quite long for a heavy rider on a light fork, I'd be tempted to suggest the TA is of more benifit then say a bit of weight saving.

Again I'd welcome thoughts and real life experiences with both systems in the same scenario.

benpinnick

TA is overall better, but not so as to refuse a QR bargain. I run TA on my 150 Revs, and QR on my 100 SIDs. Cant say I think too much about the difference. Both great forks.

supersonic

What wheels do you have?

twonks

Hope pro 2 with stans 355, so can adopt any forks really.

Hence the main reason I want to get the right forks first time.

I'd rather spend a little more to get the best for my money than get something that maybe a bargain but isn't as good as it could be for the pennies available.

supersonic

Difference in RL and RLT (for SIDs) is simply that the floodgate adjuster is an external screw, rather than having to use an allen key. And that is it! 2013 is solo air now - I prefer dual air.

scarbs85

What about the damping between RLT and XX SIDs. Isn't the RLT blackbox and the XX something different? I don't know if one is better than the other though.

supersonic

XX uses a hydraulic lockout lever - you actually lose some adjustment ie the low speed compression!

twonks

So assuming I wanted to try something different and believe some of the hype about through axles, the below could well be more suited to me than the XX SIDs above.

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/f ... -2012.html

rockmonkeysc

Reba's are very nice. Not sure which version I rode but they worked nicely.
I had a set of Fox F120's, they were rubbish and overpriced. I would avoid them.

Shaggy_Dog

Reba

jairaj

What's the difference between Reba and SID. Is it just the weight with the SID being lighter? or is the damping better in the SID RL compared to a Reba RL?

supersonic

In the 2012 forks yes, the RL SID gets adjustable threshold (Floodgate control). This appears to be removed for 2013. In both cases of SID is the DNA damper tube which is supposed to be more refined.

The Reba is a budget SID now.

scarbs85

Looking at some of the SID XX 120mm forks linked further up this thread for £280 at Winstanleys as an upgrade for the Toras on my Trance.

Just want to check a few things before I do the dirty deed. I think I'd rather have the RCT3 version, but I dont believe the difference between the XX and RCT3 to be huge, and at top side of £400 for RCT3's is it worth it?

Secondly, I mostly ride around the Peaks area as some of the rougher stuff I do. No big jumps and drops, just a couple of foot when I'm feeling brave. The 120mm SIDs are a fairly strong fork from what I've read, being beefed up from the original XC market. I don't want to buy myself something thats too light and not fit for what I do, or that my be limiting in the long run. That said, I've not felt short of travel at 120mm, and I like the bike being pretty capable uphill and downhill, but I've only been riding a couple of years and am starting getting quicker over the tougher and rougher stuff.

Advice appreciated before parting with my hard earned! Ta

supersonic

The difference is pretty big. The RCT3 damper with the low speed compression adjustment is quite a bit better.

Shylock

So an extra £30 or so the SID seems a bargain when you consider it is 300grams lighter! Or am I missing something....this would be to go on a Genesis Core so I know I would have to change the headset, but which one....
http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/f ... -2012.html

twonks

Thanks for all the replies.

The time is now very close for me ordering the forks.

The 2012 SID RL with 15mm maxle from Merlin is looking the farvourite so far, but what are thoughts about this versus say a SID RCT3 damper - even if it is a 2013 Solo air.

I don't really want to be messing with settings every other ride, and some say to go with 2013 models for this as the dual air need constant fiddling.

If I'm honest, I'd rather have 95% of the performance and less fiddling - so could a 2013 fork by more suitable.

Price is not the main concern, but I'd like it to be lower than £400 if possible.

jairaj

I have a 2 RS dual air forks (Rev and SID) neither need constant fiddling. Once you have found the setup that works for you there is no need to change anything. Just check the air pressures are correct from time to time but this is the same for any air fork.

I'm not sure on the difference between the RL(T) damper and the RCT3 damper I can't seem to decipher the facts from the marketing talk from RS's website. Supersonic will hopefully be along in a minute to explain all.

twonks

Well, decision made.

2012 120mm Sid RL with 15mm maxle have been ordered from Merlin

Also got some M785 brakes coming, so will feel like a new bike

supersonic

For 2013 the RL damper on the SID loses allen keyed Floodgate adjustment. It had it for 2012 though - and being Dual Air i think it is the better fork.

RCT3 differs as you can lock the fork out without moving the compression dial ie is a seperate dial, and you have three levels of platform.

twonks

Cheers Paul, looks like I made a good decision then

If it is as good (function wise) as my existing magura md100r, I'll be happy.

supersonic

It will be better ;-)

twonks

There here next to my desk at work.
Feel very light and look good.
Will be on the bike over the weekend hopefully