Upgrading forks!

FilthyFlipFlop

Hello, I've recently been re-furbing my old Mongoose Rockadile AL 2006, giving it a matte black paint job with red bits here and there, (Cables, seat clamp etc), the only forks I have which I've added to the re-furb are some standard coil forks that came off an Apollo MTB, which are so old they have the rubber cover! Now my question is, I am on the tightest budget imaginable, so I have gone and purchased some Rock Shox Dart 2 for £30 + £10 postage, now is this an upgrade from my stock apollos? I only really needed them for the V brake compatibility, but I wan't to know I've made the right choice! Secondly, I will have around £120 in a few weeks, so who can set me on the right track to my next upgrade? Running 3 x 7 speed, shimano altus octalink chainset, tourney TX dérailleurs. This bike is for woodland riding and road commuting!

The Rookie

From the forks I've seen on my Apollo's (steel lowers, elastomer and no damper, and most are rusted solid in no time the dart is a decent upgrade, although I wouldn't have paid that much for them to be honest as they are pretty basic.

Is it really worth upgrading, given the amount you'll soon spend you'd be much better off saving up and getting a decent used Carrera Kraken or similar. Are you sure you have Octalink and not square taper, Octalink wouldn't have been original on that bike.