Which sub-£200 fork to get for my 26er?

devastating-dave

Hi,

I've got a 2008 Trek 6500, which has the dreaded Rockshox Tora 302s on them - the ones that forever leak their contents across the trail no matter how many times you service them. I've had enough and have decided that it's probably better to replace them with something similar rather than keep forking out on services.

I've spent a while looking at similar forks (100mm travel) under £200, and have come up with the following:

- Rockshox XC 32 TK - seem to review reasonably well, but are heavy, well priced
- Rockshox 30 Gold TK - can't find much about them, but seem a fair bit lighter than the XC32s, but presumably at the cost of a bit of stiffness.

Is there anything else I should consider? Any forks I've not thought of?

Cheers
Dave

The Rookie

Suntour Epicon, really good fork, circa £135 on ebay.

Never heard of such an issue with Tora's.

devastating-dave

The Rookie wrote:

Suntour Epicon, really good fork, circa £135 on ebay.

Reviews seem pretty mixed from what I've read...any thoughts on the two Rockshox models I've mentioned?

Antm81

Both are lower end entry forks, the Epicon is a good fork, I'd look used at your budget should be able to pick up a decent Rockshox reba.

The Rookie

Can you show me a poor review of the Epicon, (comparing it to anything like a similar priced offering), certainly much better than either of those two RS models, some even reckon it's better than a Reba (personally I don't...).

warpcow

If tapered is a possibility then On One have Rebas for £150 just now.

devastating-dave

The Rookie wrote:

Can you show me a poor review of the Epicon, (comparing it to anything like a similar priced offering), certainly much better than either of those two RS models, some even reckon it's better than a Reba (personally I don't...).

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/categ ... -14-48086/

Would be interested to know why you think they're better?

Antm81

His problems are with flex etc with the 140mm version, as it also said, not a problem ont the shorter travel models. That's the same on any fork, the ones you were considering may well be worse with that amount of travel (they don't make them with that much though) and th xc30 will almost definitely be worse.

The forks you were considering will be heavier, less well damped, and without the compression adjustment of the Epicon.

The Rookie

Guess you missed
"It’s tighter and more consistently controlled in the shorter-travel options, which makes the 100 and 120mm versions the pick of the range." The review was of the 140mm fork.

mark_fogel

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/fork ... pf=&pt=250

Check this out chain reaction has good deals on forks, Reba for £240 slightly over your budget but I think its well worth it. If its too expensive check out the Recon fork its only £99 quid at the moment.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/rock ... -prod71178

X-Fussion is just under £250
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/x-fu ... prod125854

The Rookie

The recon is steel stanchion and quite a lot heavier, the Epicon is a much better fork.

bartimaeus

I replaced the 100mm Toras on my Avalanche (see my sig) with some 120mm Rebas which I got from the classifieds here for under £150. A great investment - transformed the ride and shed a chunk of weight too.

Sludgerider

I've been using the RS 30 Gold TKs for about 8 months now. Pretty good overall for an air fork under £200, and good for most XC, and nominal trail duties.

They replaced an ancient pair of RS Judy TTs on my GT Avalanche, and certainly made the front end lighter, and more nimble (not surprising as the Judy's were around 3Kg in weight! Rebound adjustment on the 30 Gold's is a little bit limited.

For the extra £40 over £200 I would definitely consider the Rebas.