Advice on forks

globyxl

I am after changing the suntour forks on my Cape Wrath D27, i only have up to £150 to spend on new/secondhand ones, the problem is i weight in the region of 22 stone,i mainly ride XC, my question is do i need air or coil forks?
Obviously the weight of the forks isnt a major issue to me, in fact thats the least of my problems......
Any advice except "eat more salads and lose weight fatty" will be appreciated....

poah

both air and coil forks can be adjusted for your weight - air can be adjusted easy with a pump, coil you'd need an extra firm coil probably. you might want to save up a bit more though as that gives you many more options for a fork that is significantly better than your current one

The Rookie

You should be able to pick up some used Rockshox Recon air for that much will do just what you are after.

rockmonkeysc

Be careful buying air forks. You may find you need more pressure than the maximum recommend.
Have a look at Rockshox Recons and check the manual on the Rockshox website.
If you go for coil make sure you can get an extra firm spring, you may even find that a little soft. I was using an x-firm coil in my forks when I was 17 stone and they were about right.

Tom Barton

I have heard that heavier guys who need much higher pressures in their forks/shocks than the usual range of pressures most use find that the forks as a result ramp up quite early in their travel and don't perform as well as the riders would like. Its just something I've read of other peoples experiences and is not based on any sound evidence other than that. In those instances I read about, the feeling seemed to be that a coil (with the right coil) gave better suspension performance.

Coil in cheaper forks tend to be more reliable too than the equivalent air chambers...

The Rookie

Tom Barton wrote:

I have heard that heavier guys who need much higher pressures in their forks/shocks than the usual range of pressures most use find that the forks as a result ramp up quite early in their travel

Not at all logical, although the rider weight may make it feel that way (force on the hands), the way round it would be to run a little more sag.

globyxl

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Be careful buying air forks. You may find you need more pressure than the maximum recommend.
Have a look at Rockshox Recons and check the manual on the Rockshox website.
If you go for coil make sure you can get an extra firm spring, you may even find that a little soft. I was using an x-firm coil in my forks when I was 17 stone and they were about right.

This is my worry about getting the air forks, i thought the pressure i would need to run them at would be very close to the max pressure of the forks.
This is the reason for my original question regarding which would be best for me air or coil.
Thanks for the replies up to press.

rockmonkeysc

Check the manuals on the Fox or Rockshox websites. You might find a air dirt jump fork will work. They aren't very sensitive but can run fairly high air pressure and take very big hits. Look at Rockshox Argyle or Marzocchi DJ's