New fork, is it worth the upgrade?

jamski

Hi all.

Really wanting to get out on the bike more this year, determined to do it. I have a Calibre two two, and although I know it's a 'cheap' bike, it's all I'm going to have for the foreseeable future. I know the spec is decent, with with a few bike park trips planned and BPW is on the bucket list this year too.

The bike performs well for what I do on it, but can't help but feel the fork is letting it down a bit. Bike is 18 months old, and feel like the fork is stiffening up a little, so a service may well be in order before long, but wondering it it's worth it, or just get a better fork? That would also mean I could stick a 180mm rotor on the front as the mac for the xc28 is 160mm.

It only cost me £280 and for £145 I could get these, would be lighter, better, and mean I could get the bigger rotor.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/rock ... prod136309

If this year goes to plan, I'd look at a new bike next year possibly.

Any help/advise welcome.

Thanks.

poah

thats not actually a bad upgrade. almost 300g lighter, air spring, larger diameter stantions although the same damping.

jamski

POAH wrote:

thats not actually a bad upgrade. almost 300g lighter, air spring, larger diameter stantions although the same damping.

Yeah, lighter, stronger probably worth it. Won't be for a couple of months so we'll see how we go until then.

If I was to put a 180mm rotor on the front rather than the 160mm, what would i need? Just the rotor and the extension posts for the calliper? I know the forks have a maximum rotor size due to the extra braking force, but there shouldn't be any issues with the frame or anything else, right?

cooldad

Just the rotor and the right adapter.

jamski

cooldad wrote:

Just the rotor and the right adapter.

Thanks, I've asked on crc what rotor the forks are designed to take as standard. It says max 200mm but doesn't say anything other than that.

Steve-XcT

jamski wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Just the rotor and the right adapter.

Thanks, I've asked on crc what rotor the forks are designed to take as standard. It says max 200mm but doesn't say anything other than that.

Whilst on they had some great deals on rotor mounts... (prices in pence) and it doesn't matter much which brand (+/- a few grams) a 180 postmount is pretty much a 180 post mount....

If you did want to save a few grams they also had avid titanium mount kits really cheap!

jamski

Steve-XcT wrote:

jamski wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Just the rotor and the right adapter.

Thanks, I've asked on crc what rotor the forks are designed to take as standard. It says max 200mm but doesn't say anything other than that.

Whilst on they had some great deals on rotor mounts... (prices in pence) and it doesn't matter much which brand (+/- a few grams) a 180 postmount is pretty much a 180 post mount....

If you did want to save a few grams they also had avid titanium mount kits really cheap!

But the forks will already have a mount on them right, to take a certain size rotor? So I might not need anything but the rotor if the forks are designed to work with a 180mm.

supersonic

There is a PM 180mm standard - but the budget RS forks are the 160mm standard so you will need a 160-180PM adapter. The Recon is not a bad buy, shares the same lowers as Reba had a few years back (good quality bushes and seals) and usually possible to slot a motion control damper in there should you want a more controlled ride.

The Rookie

From the SRAM parts manual, you can use a MoCo damper from Recon Silver or Tora XC/SL Race (also 32mm steel), you cant use a Gold/Reba SID damper due to the different ID of the steel stanchions.

I'd seriously look at this, lighter alloy stanchions and better damper.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/rock ... prod146825

jamski

Thanks both. As the steerer has already been cut on the Reba, I'd need to check what length I need. Do the dorks need removing for this or can I just measure from the crown to the top of the stem while fitted? (assuming those are the correct places to measure from/to??!!)

EDIT:
It's out of stock anyway, thanks for the info and thoughts though, appreciate it.

larkim

I got the Recon TK Gold Solo Air for my £350 decathlon 29er earlier in the year for just under £170 which I justified as a decent price for a good upgrade from the Suntour XCT(?) I had on. Sounds similar logic for your Calibre two two.

They are like night and day in terms of how they perform when the bike is stationary, but actually riding them I reckon I'm insufficiently good to fully appreciate the benefit they are bringing me. Combined with the fact that I don't ride that often, it just reinforces to me that while upgrades are good, the most important thing about getting value out of upgrades is being confident that you can be sensitive to the impact that the changes will have, and a big factor is likely to be how much you ride and how good you are.

jamski

larkim wrote:

I got the Recon TK Gold Solo Air for my £350 decathlon 29er earlier in the year for just under £170 which I justified as a decent price for a good upgrade from the Suntour XCT(?) I had on. Sounds similar logic for your Calibre two two.

They are like night and day in terms of how they perform when the bike is stationary, but actually riding them I reckon I'm insufficiently good to fully appreciate the benefit they are bringing me. Combined with the fact that I don't ride that often, it just reinforces to me that while upgrades are good, the most important thing about getting value out of upgrades is being confident that you can be sensitive to the impact that the changes will have, and a big factor is likely to be how much you ride and how good you are.

Totally agree. I'm determined to get out every week, and get a trip in to Wales this year. I'm researching now and will see how I go until April which is my birthday.

I'm finding the xc28 quite stiff now, and the 28mm stations aren't all that confidence inspiring. Plus the air fork would give a decent weight loss too. As for how good I am, no idea, nothing special, but if it adds confidence it'll probably help things.

mark_fogel

If your bike is 650b with a tapered steerer, I got a Sektor Silver TK 130mm going cheap. PM me if interested.
https://www.sram.com/rockshox/products/sektor-silver

jamski

mark_fogel wrote:

If your bike is 650b with a tapered steerer, I got a Sektor Silver TK 130mm going cheap. PM me if interested.
https://www.sram.com/rockshox/products/sektor-silver

26er with a straight steerer, thanks though!

supersonic

You can fit a 27.5 fork on the bike - the difference is slight (usually half an inch longer than an equivalent 26 model - and depending on brand, one model of a 26er fork may be this much longer anyway compared to another brand's) and a slightly higher offset (4mm). The higher offset decreases the fork trail slightly, making the steering a touch faster, usually done to try and offset the effects of lengthening the fork as above (which increases trail a little).

Of course you still need to get the right axle and steerer, but I wouldn't rule out a 27.5 fork, the differences are pretty slim.

The Rookie

Consider
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-2014-SR-S ... hdvKUQMXRg
or
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-SUNTOUR-E ... Sw60lXMO74
if you want UK based and the ability to swap it onto your next (650B inevitably) bike.
The Epicon is a match for the lower level Rebas.

larkim

Did Epicon get renamed as Epixon?

I looked at similar options to that when I got mine but concluded I wasn't going to trust a Hong Kong based option as the risks were too high for something of that price. Was I being too cautious? (Noting the second option was a UK option, just querying the first one)

mattyfez

larkim wrote:

Did Epicon get renamed as Epixon?

I looked at similar options to that when I got mine but concluded I wasn't going to trust a Hong Kong based option as the risks were too high for something of that price. Was I being too cautious? (Noting the second option was a UK option, just querying the first one)

Yes, I upgraded to epixon, very pleased with them

jamski

Thanks for all the posts, lots of food for thought. I'm reluctant to risk changing the geometry at all as I find the bike pretty comfy, would just like something more adjustable and a bit more confidence inspiring in the fork. So another option would be the Rockshox 30 Gold?! Difference between these and the Recon Silver?

https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/roc ... AvdX8P8HAQ

supersonic

You always risk changing the geometry with a different fork, even for the same wheel size and travel, as crown to axle lengths can vary so much. I've seen 100m forks have 470mm a2c, others as much as 490mm. A 100m RS SID 650b is 487mm for example. So if you want to preserve the geometry you need to look closely at the figures.

The 30 Gold RL has 30mm aluminium stanchions whilst the Recon Silver has 32mm steel stanchions. The latter is heavier, but stiffer. The dampers can vary on the Recons too, some (2017) and RL versions have the motion control damper system that the 30 Gold sports, which adds a degree of fine tuning to compression damping adjustment that the more basic versions lack.

jamski

supersonic wrote:

You always risk changing the geometry with a different fork, even for the same wheel size and travel, as crown to axle lengths can vary so much. I've seen 100m forks have 470mm a2c, others as much as 490mm. A 100m RS SID 650b is 487mm for example. So if you want to preserve the geometry you need to look closely at the figures.

The 30 Gold RL has 30mm aluminium stanchions whilst the Recon Silver has 32mm steel stanchions. The latter is heavier, but stiffer. The dampers can vary on the Recons too, some (2017) and RL versions have the motion control damper system that the 30 Gold sports, which adds a degree of fine tuning to compression damping adjustment that the more basic versions lack.

Thanks for the info. I checked the figures and the 30 Glod is 4mm longer axle to crown than my current fork, so don't think that will make much if any difference. The Recons I can afford don't have the motion control damping. That combined with the extra weight, makes the 30 Gold the better choice I think. Would like the 32mm stanchions, but if I can't have it all then the better damping and lighter fork wins.

Feel free to disagree though?!

jamski

Thoughts on the Manitou M30 compared to the RS 30rl gold?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobi ... prod149015

supersonic

The Manitou is lighter, but the compression damping is basically 'on' or 'off' (locked out). The 30 Gold offers more external adjustment. However the Manitou has more internal adjustment as you can reorder the shimstack but is a more advanced level of tuning.