Front Suspension Forks Help/Advice Please!

Furball1

Hi all, I was hoping to get some advice on some new forks, or even repairing the current ones.
i have an oldish FS Mountain Bike (6-8 years old) and it has served me well over the years. It has
recently developed an alarming wobble (forward and backwards) on the front fork (Zoom Brand), where the top bit meets the bottom bit. I have done abit of research so far about bushings and stuff but im abit lost to be honest. I think it would be best to just get some new forks (I have seen some Zoom forks on ebay for about £20-25). I havent seen many good thing written about Zoon forks so any help or advice would be great. I have included some pictures of the bike and forks and under the rubber bit. Cheers.

The Rookie

Not worth replacing the bushings (assuming they can be replaced) so yes new forks time.

Zoom are pretty poor forks in terms of quality, no damping means they are harsh and top out badly, that said if you are riding mostly on road or smooth gravel trails they are perfectly OK.

Personally I'd look for Suntour XCM or XCR with hydraulic (not mechanical) lockout as that will give you an improvement by adding a damper.

As your bike is worth less than £50 (probably around £35) anyway, a better newer bike may make more financial sense perhaps? If you are riding somewhere smooth enough that the Zoom forks are OK, you could shed about 5Kg off the bike and get a hardtail.

Furball1

Hi, thanks for the info. Any idea what size I need to get? All i know is my wheel is 26".

I have been looking at the Entry Level BTWIN Rockrider 500s http://www.decathlon.co.uk/rockrider-500s-full-suspension-mountain-bike-id_8322471.html at Decathlon for 240. I can get
60 for my old bike (recently put new crankset and hub and chain on), so new bike will be 180,
is this about right for budget bike?? any thing better for that price. Cheers for all the help.

Note - I dont really do much offroad stuff, just gentle trails and pavement and road. I do occasionaly
like to ride the local bmx track (this may be the reason for the fork damage).

JodyP

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19712454#p19712454]Furball1[/url] wrote:

Note - I dont really do much offroad stuff, just gentle trails and pavement and road. I do occasionaly
like to ride the local bmx track (this may be the reason for the fork damage).

Are you not better getting a higher spec hard tail for the type of riding you do. It will be way lighter and better to ride.

If you want a F/S then fair enough.

Furball1

Hi - Yeah I know what you mean, Im not sure really - I do like comfort and the the bouncyness of the rear shock and it seems to add comfort. Weight isnt too important atm though i do like the idea of an aluminium frame. Cheers.

Furball1

Ive been looking at new forks, does anyone know if these would fit my bike??
http://www.amazon.co.uk/FRONT-SUSPENSION-SHOCK-FORKS-STEERER/dp/B015FVVZR0/ref=sr_1_14?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1443479687&sr=1-14&keywords=zoom+forks
Zoom 20" Bike FRONT SUSPENSION SHOCK FORKS (150mm X 1" STEERER) WHITE New
BRAND: ZOOM
20" FORKS
COLOUR: WHITE
1" STEERER
150MM LONG STEERER
THREADED
45MM OF THREAD
CANTILEVER OR V-BRAKE COMPATIBLE
SUSPENSION

Cheers

cooldad

They say 20 inch, your's looks like 26 inch wheels.

As for steerer length and thread, you need to measure what you have.

The Rookie

Sell the bike and get a hardtail.

Yes a BMX track will kill those forks, they aren't designed for offroad use at all.