Upgrade fork - from suntour xcm v3 - budget concious

shigllgetcha

Hey there,

What fork would you guys suggest I should upgrade to from the above named. Budget wise, hopeflly under £200, could go over it if I had to but id much preffer to be under it.

Priorities: better ride, lighter. In that order. Just XC riding really, nothing too rough

2012 carrera vulcan, I think they headset is 1 1/8". the current travel is 120mm ,is it important to keep to the same travel?

Will probably buy it in the next few months

Thanks

Chunkers1980

Reba if you can squeeze it otherwise something from the better end of the Tora range

shigllgetcha

I think I may have been too conservative with my budget, Im happy enough to go closer to £250 if I have to

The Rookie

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Reba if you can squeeze it otherwise something from the better end of the Tora range

Thus missing out the Recons that fall between the two.....

shigllgetcha

something like this maybe?
Rock Shox Recon Silver TK Solo Air Forks 2013
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=85078

This would be a good weight saving over the suntour wouldnt it?
It would still be a coil spring but he damping would be air?

Is there anything Id be better looking at around this price?

This doesnt seem to be in 120mm format, is it important to stick to this?

Chunkers1980

Yes, Recon was what I meant, thanks Si.

That is the one I was thinking of too.

Chunkers1980

Sorry yes, would be best to stick to a 120mm fork.

bartimaeus

Recon Solo Air is an air spring. The damping will be hydraulic - TK is the Turnkey damper.

The Rookie

A recon silver air will come in at about 1.9Kg, so about 350g lighter than the XCM, the golds (alloy stanchions) will knock another 200g ish off.

shigllgetcha

Right so with these forks it should be able to remove a spacer and make them 120mm?

What kind of lockout is on that fork I linked to? Is it just a lever on the top of the fork, which id be happy enough with

Would the gold be a big price jump? Its hard to compare like with like when you're not too sure what you are looking at. It be okay with a bit of a price jump but too much and I wouldnt bother

These questions are probably covered a million times but it gets hard to follow with all the options available and id like to understand what im buying. Thanks for the patience

supersonic

Best fork for this money, if you can't get a Rockshox with Motion Control damping, is the Marzocchi Marathon R:

http://activesport.co.uk/shop/article_Y ... ml?pse=coa

At 4lbs is a great weight, plus is stiff, damped well and performs brilliantly.

shigllgetcha

supersonic wrote:

Best fork for this money, if you can't get a Rockshox with Motion Control damping, is the Marzocchi Marathon R:

http://activesport.co.uk/shop/article_Y ... ml?pse=coa

At 4lbs is a great weight, plus is stiff, damped well and performs brilliantly.

That looks good, I really like the weight and the price! Might be a better option, and alittle different from the norm maybe too

itd also mean I could get it earlier and maybe upgrade to M596s with the money saved

rockmonkeysc

shigllgetcha wrote:

itd also mean I could get it earlier and maybe upgrade to M596s with the money saved

An excellent value upgrade. Better than most brakes costing twice as much.

tarbot18

Have you looked at the suntour raidons , they are air forks prob get a pair for £170 great forks. I have them on my bike so im not biased or anything..........
or for another £30 ish the Epicons, they get great reviews on this site and pretty light at 1700g, far better than equivalent tora etc and a lot lighter than recon silver.

snoopsmydogg

tarbot18 wrote:

Have you looked at the suntour raidons , they are air forks prob get a pair for £170 great forks. I have them on my bike so im not biased or anything..........
or for another £30 ish the Epicons, they get great reviews on this site and pretty light at 1700g, far better than equivalent tora etc and a lot lighter than recon silver.

but these http://activesport.co.uk/shop/article_Y ... ml?pse=coa are cheaper and most likely better too

cooldad

Be wary of Activesport/Mark Anthony bikes.
Do a forum search, or read

nicklouse wrote:

have fun.

the search function can be very useful

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ctivesport

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ctivesport

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ctivesport

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ctivesport

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ctivesport

And
viewtopic.php?f=10002&t=12735376&hilit=activesports

LJ.

hey got plenty of Reba's for around your budget at merlin inc 120mm. Over £200 for Recon Silver is way too expensive

supersonic

The Marzochhi Marathon R is better than the Raidons - I tested these for WMB last year, the Marathon won.

Ouija

+1 on Epicons. Very light and quite adjustable. Probably the only decent fork Suntour make (had an Axon and a Raidon, but they both had problems).

shigllgetcha

Im leaning towards the Marzochhi Marathon R but itll be a little while before I take the plunge so ill look into the epicon when the time comes.

Thanks guys

Ouija

shigllgetcha wrote:

Im leaning towards the Marzochhi Marathon R but itll be a little while before I take the plunge so ill look into the epicon when the time comes.

Thanks guys

Seems a bit on the heavy side. If your leaning towards it because it can be adjusted to 120mm then so can the Epicons (i believe they can go 140mm, but wouldn't swear on it).

supersonic

4lbs is not heavy for a 120mm fork of this price!

shigllgetcha

Ouija wrote:

shigllgetcha wrote:

Im leaning towards the Marzochhi Marathon R but itll be a little while before I take the plunge so ill look into the epicon when the time comes.

Thanks guys

Seems a bit on the heavy side. If your leaning towards it because it can be adjusted to 120mm then so can the Epicons (i believe they can go 140mm, but wouldn't swear on it).

But the recon is heavier and £60 more

Ouija

The Epicons weigh 1650/1700g and can be picked up for £130 if you buy from Fibica, Bi_King and places like that (always found Fibica very professional). The new 2013 models come in at 1600g but i have no experience of them.

shigllgetcha

Ouija wrote:

The Epicons weigh 1650/1700g and can be picked up for £130 if you buy from Fibica and places like that.

sorry sorry I read the name wrong

I think the epicons have lock out aswell which would be handy