Fork upgrade: Recon or Reba?

Underscore

OK, I'm finally going to bite the bullet and replace the ageing Dart fork on my XTC. I've narrowed it down to 2 different 100mm Solo Air forks: 2012 Recon Gold TK for £180 from Merlin or 2013 Reba RL for £230 from Planet-X.

So I get that the extra £50 loses 275g but my question is whether there will be any noticeable difference to ride between the two and whether the Reba is likely to be less robust due to its lighter weight?

Many thanks in advance,

_

The Northern Monkey

What steerer? I have a 2013 solo air Reba RL for sale.... had it less than 5 months with little use but the steerer was too short for my new frame. Pm if you want more info!

With regards to strength, I'm 16st anf have no issues with the Reba. Love the fork (which is why I bought another!)

supersonic

SID for £250 from Planet X!

Kowalski675

supersonic wrote:

SID for £250 from Planet X!

I noticed those. Seemed too good to be true.

Underscore

supersonic wrote:

SID for £250 from Planet X!

So why is it worth the £20 over the Reba (apart from the 100g saving) and, more significantly, the £70 over the Recon? Will it be as rigid and robust as the other two? As you may have gathered, I'm not up on the differences between these forks other than the weight!

Thanks,

_

supersonic

The Reba and SID have the same external chassis - so same stiffness. but the internals are what sets them apart ie butted damper and air shafts. And also the damper - the RLT gets adjustable threshold and dual flow rebound which makes it easier to dial in the fork sensitivity, and is also better quality.

The Reba RL is great for the money. The SID RLT is truly astounding. The Recon TK is a lot more basic, and heavier.

rockmonkeysc

I have the 2012 Reba RL with 15mm axle. It's reasonably stiff though I wouldn't want it with QR. Nice fork though.

jt_intheuk

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I have the 2012 Reba RL with 15mm axle. It's reasonably stiff though I wouldn't want it with QR. Nice fork though.

Just out of interest, why would you not want it with QR?

supersonic

The hollowed out lowers are quite flexy, 15mm adds some stiffness back.

jt_intheuk

supersonic wrote:

The hollowed out lowers are quite flexy, 15mm adds some stiffness back.

How much flex can you expect to feel then with 9mm QR? Would it be significant to make buying the 120mm Reba RL a pointless upgrade?

rockmonkeysc

jt_intheuk wrote:

supersonic wrote:

The hollowed out lowers are quite flexy, 15mm adds some stiffness back.

How much flex can you expect to feel then with 9mm QR? Would it be significant to make buying the 120mm Reba RL a pointless upgrade?

That would depend on what your upgrading from, how you ride and what you want to achieve with your upgrade

jt_intheuk

Upgrading from the original forks on my 2010 Core 20 which are Rockshox Tora XC 100mm, dont ride too agressively and just think its time to get a better fork?

The Northern Monkey

I don't find the QR reba's noticeably flexy, infact I think they're quite stiff for the type of fork.... obviously the 15mm will be stiffer though.

I still maintain that a tapered steerer makes a much bigger difference than a the difference between 9mm/15mm forks.

rockmonkeysc

Tapered head tube makes a bigger difference to the frame than the fork. The bigger tube allows more weld in the joint and a stiffer connection.
For most xc riders the QR will be fine, I ride quite aggressively so I find that the QR doesn't hold a line very well, even with a stiffer Tora. My other bike has Boxxers though so I am used to a fairly stiff fork.