Voodoo Bantu Upgrade

Kecb88

Hey all,

I'm thinking about upgrading the suspension on my bike but i'm not sure what to. I have a voodoo bantu http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... ntain-bike and it's a gorgeous looking bike in my opinion. What i want to do is start using as an entry level bike and finding some decent trails etc, with that in mind i don't think my current suspension will last.

I am looking for a fork upgrade but don't know what to go for, i'm looking to pay up to £200. I don't really want to pay more that that because £200 is half of what i paid for the whole bike in the first place.

Any suggestions? My wheel size is 27.5" so will need something suitable. I actually quite like the look of http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Rock-Shox ... SwZ8ZW8Rxo but is it a better upgrade to my current SR Suntour XCM 27.5 suspension:http://www.srsuntour-cycling.com/bike/forks/XCM-27-5-4947.html

jimothy78

The halfords website is playing up, so not easy to see the original spec. However, I'd not have thought that the Rockshox 30s would be a huge improvement, as they're basically RS's entry level fork, and quite flexy.

Also, the RS forks you link to are tapered steerer, whereas all the images I can find of the bantu appear to have a standard narrow headtube, so you'll probably need to replace the forks with a 1 1/8" straight-steerer version.

The Rookie

You can get an Epicon for that money, better fork in almost every way, stiffer, lighter and better damping.

Kecb88

jimothy78 wrote:

The <a href="http://halfords.com&quot; class="skimwords-link" target="_blank" data-skimwords-id="1680127" data-skimlinks-editor="0" data-skimwords-word="halfords%20website" data-group-id="0" data-skim-creative="300001" data-skim-product="1680127" title="" occurrence="1" data-skim-node-id="215:Thehalfordswebsiteis_2">halfords website</a><span style="position: absolute;"></span><span style="position: absolute;"></span> is playing up, so not easy to see the original spec. However, I'd not have thought that the Rockshox 30s would be a huge improvement, as they're basically RS's entry level fork, and quite flexy.

Also, the RS forks you link to are tapered steerer, whereas all the images I can find of the bantu appear to have a standard narrow headtube, so you'll probably need to replace the forks with a 1 1/8" straight-steerer version.

It's back up now.

The Rookie wrote:

You can get an Epicon for that money, better fork in almost every way, stiffer, lighter and better damping.

I want to try and stay clear of suntour just through bad experience, my seals or springs broke inside my suspension after only 6 months(bear in mind that i only really use my bike for work). I Understand the bantu isn't like some of the beauty's on these forums but i think it's a good starting platform to get back into MTB's more specifically, trails and some downhill; i guess i could read up on the epicon fork's but i will have to look with a degree of skepticism.

supersonic

Suntour, like Rockshox, make a large range of forks, from budget to high end. The Epicon is much better made than their basic stuff - and I'd take one every time over any of RS price equivalent models. Also the distributor here (Greyville) are really good to deal with should you ever need spares or advice.

If you can stretch another £15 over your budget you can get the Recon Gold RL:

https://www.merlincycles.com/rockshox-r ... 59434.html

This is lighter and stiffer than a 30 gold, and better damped - the Motion Control can be set anywhere from open to lock and actually works as a damper.