Choosing between forks / bikes - which fork ?

FBPB

Hi All,

I'm normally a roadie, but I'm now looking to buy a Mountain Bike for winter training and some light-duty cross country / trail riding. I'm looking at two potential bikes at my LBS. I am only a bit confused as to the forks:

Bike 1: KTM Ultra Team with a Fox 32 Float 29 O/C, CTD Remote, 100-T

Bike 2: Stevens Colorado 401 with a Fox 32 Float Evolution CTD, Remote, 100mm, Taper, 15QR

Are there any differences between these forks? To me it seems that only difference is the word "Evolution".

Other than that, these bikes are almost the same. Both running XT, but the Stevens has Mavic Crossroc wheels

Any help / advice is appreciated.

Thnx,
FBPB

rockmonkeysc

The evolution fork is terrible. Not sure what the other one is like but it can't be worse.

Antm81

Both the same fork I believe, o/c is open cartridge which the evolution series uses.

batmo

Looking at the web page pictures (people respond more readily if you post links by the way) the forks seem identical, I suspect "Evolution" was just left out of one description.
The negative comments on here centre around the forks being too flexible and also not responsive enough to small bumps while bottoming out too easily on big hits. I think these stem from riders going much closer to the limits of the fork's capability than

FBPB wrote:

winter training and some light-duty cross country / trail riding

but that is something only you can answer.

njee20

It's not terrible, it's a perfectly reasonable fork, particularly for your intended use. Both seem overpriced for what they are though. I'd consider Canyon - the Grand Canyon CF SL 6.9 is a similar price and spec, but carbon.

FBPB

Thanks all.

So the fork is the same between those two models, but it isn't that great. Taking into account the "bottoming out", I'm not a light rider (far from it), it might not be the best choice.

That Canyon looks nice, but I want to support my LBS, which offers KTM, Scott and Stevens. I'm not a fan of carbon due to my weight. Scott has a comparable model (Scale 740) but only as a double.

So, I guess I'll get the Stevens with the Mavic wheels.

Cheers all,

FBPB

Antm81

With regards to rider weight, that's not such an issue due to setting the he air pressure to suit your weight, the big problem is finding a good setup on the fork, either issue can be improved but improving one can make the other worse. I had the same fork, I've ridden far worse but in the end I changed it to something with better adjustability.

If you're buying from your LBS you could speak to them about supplying the bike with a different fork.

rockmonkeysc

Having seen the build quality of the Stevens frames I wouldn't have one. KTM aren't brilliant but I would have one over a Stevens frame.