Coiler + front fork

leonr

I'm not 100% where this post should be placed, it is technically buying advise I guess, however its partially technical aswell!

I built my bike using a 2005 coiler frame using Rock Shox 150mm Sektor R solo Air (think that's it without double checking).

They are great for general riding and forest trail etc, but after taking them to Morzine and hitting those crazy braking bumps I feel that either 1.) I have setup the fork incorrectly or 2.) I need a different fork for my riding.

I would like to search for a coil based fork, I see '66' and '55' come up alot, and fox 36.
The problem is, there seems to be different years of each model and then other sub models, like RV55 etc, it's confusing and I don't want to make the same mistake of just guessing and having to buy a different fork again next year!

So would anybody be able to help and explain which 55 or 66 would be preferred? In fact what is the difference between a 55 and 66? Does the year matter? Or optionally, if any other forks can be recommended that would be great!

My frames default fork range is 150mm, i'm not sure if changing to 160mm would have any bad effects, I read some forks can be adjusted anyway?


Thanks!!

nicklouse

what are you trying to build?

yes the 205 bikes cam with 150mm 66s which world be a little taller than the sector but not much.

and braking bumps disregard them as part of how the bike rides as they are crap on any bike.

leonr

Thanks for the reply!

I've been riding my bike a while, it all seems to work fine (although I have a few little tweaks to work on, one being the front fork).


My problem was that I felt the front fork was transferring alot of the forces into my arms, so logically i changed the pressure in relation to my weight and set the 30% sag etc, then i turned the rebound down so that it felt smoother.

That helped ALOT, but i still felt that something could be improved apon with my front suspension setup and part of me wonders if I need a more tunable fork which is maybe coil based?

I read that some 66s had problems during a certain batch?

To simplify the question, I guess I could say that I use my bike for downhill alp style stuff, more so than I do for basic trails. So I need a more downhill orientated fork (not too worried about a little extra weight).
If you were to choose a 160mm fork for downhill only, which would you choose? (say, limit of £250 second hand).

Also, i'm sure I can see my forks flexing around under serious braking/load! Makes me nervous! (other forks look more chunky)


Thanks!

nicklouse

i would not change a thing.
air is more tunable than coil.

i would not. I would get the fork serviced and maybe Pushed (talk to TF tuned )

leonr

But if it is suitable, why do other bikes not use it?

I know it sounds silly, but if it's cheaper and can do the same thing, why don't all xc/am bikes have them?

Why do Rock shox make the domain and more advanced models?

leonr

Can anybody offer any personal experience of riding air forks vs coil forks? Any obvious differences?

cooldad

Apart from the spring material, and making sweeping generalisations, air tends to be lighter and easier to adjust. Coil may be plusher.

leonr

cooldad wrote:

Apart from the spring material, and making sweeping generalisations, air tends to be lighter and easier to adjust. Coil may be plusher.

Cool, so I was thinking and reading a little about different fork types.

With air compression, the pressure obviously increases as you compress it, this makes sense, but this would mean that the further you compress, the harder it will be to compress it further? Unless of course there is some kind of regulation device which keeps it more linear?

So, if you hit a hole/bump that takes 50% of the travel, and then you hit yet another , does this mean that more force will be transmitted than the first hole? If that makes sense.. I may be talking rubbish as i'm sure the air forks must have some way to manage this? Maybe i'm thinking about it too much.

Just a thought!?