Fork upgrade suggestions for e-MTB

davee128
davee128 Posts: 27
edited August 2019 in MTB buying advice
I have recently bought a Trek Powerfly Sport for commuting (much of my commute is offroad, and uncomfortably rough on a gravel/adventure bike. Spec here: https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/bike ... t/p/24657/) as it ticked all the boxes for commuting off road and I got it for a good price. Generally I'm very impressed with it, but as expected the fork is truly awful. (I have a 2002ish Marzocchi MXComp on another bike which absorbs bumps infinitely better even though it's also 100 mm travel.) How have budget forks gone so far backwards in 16 years?!

So I'm considering a fork upgrade to make my hands and wrists more comfortable.

Budget is ideally under £300 although I could perhaps stretch to £400.

It's a very long time since I bought an aftermarket fork, and it seems that with so many options now (wheel size, steerer type, axle type) it very difficult to find a suitable fork at any price let alone within budget.

I like my suspension very supple and active. It won't be taking any big hits.

So I'm looking for:
  • 29er
  • 15mm through axle, either boost (with hub/disc spacers) or 100mm axle
  • 100 mm travel
  • Supple and active, sensitive to small bumps, not stupid XC style damping - I'd rather have a rigid fork than an expensive one that doesn't do anything
  • 51 mm offset (ideally) to preserve geometry
  • Price under £400 if at all possible, preferably under £300
  • I'm trying to lose weight so air sprung would be good so I can tune as things progress.
  • Rebound adjust preferred
  • Don't care about lockout or not.
  • Stiffness doesn't matter too much- still happy with 16 year old QR forks from this respect.
  • I also need to fit full-length mudguards, although I expect to need to use P-clips and some kind of brace bodge.
  • Available in the UK

I'm having real problems finding anything. Any suggestions? I haven't kept up with the product lines from the major manufacturers for about 12 years so I don't really know what performs well and what's not.

Comments

  • mattyfez
    mattyfez Posts: 638
    Xcm fork on that bike costs about £60-70 new, so it's unsurprisingly not great.

    Does it have to be 100mm? What about
    https://www.srsuntour.com/products/fork/Raidon34-Boost-5859.html
  • steve_sordy
    steve_sordy Posts: 2,443
    You have a tapered headset, so you can take straight or tapered forks.

    I did a quick search on Chain Reaction Cycles for MTB, 29" wheel, 100mm travel and got this:

    https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/for ... t=pricelow

    There's a few on there that meet your spec and your price. But you may be able to better on other websites.
  • davee128
    davee128 Posts: 27
    Mattyfez, thanks for the suggestion. Are they any good? This experience of Suntour hasn't been terribly encouraging! They also seem quite hard to find!

    It seems that many retailers are selling more 26" QR forks than 29" through-axles. Weird!
  • davee128
    davee128 Posts: 27
    steve_sordy wrote:
    You have a tapered headset, so you can take straight or tapered forks.

    I did a quick search on Chain Reaction Cycles for MTB, 29" wheel, 100mm travel and got this:

    https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/for ... t=pricelow

    There's a few on there that meet your spec and your price. But you may be able to better on other websites.
    Thanks, I already tried that. All those forks are out of stock in the appropriate wheel size, axle type etc or some vital info is missing :(

    How do they expect to sell forks when they don't state the axle type?!

    This really shouldn't be so hard!
  • JBA
    JBA Posts: 2,852
    What extra info do you want?
    Look on the manufacturers' websites for all the details.
    “Life has been unfaithful
    And it all promised so so much”

    Giant Trance 2 27.5 2016 ¦ Sonder Broken Road 2021¦ Giant Revolt Advanced 2 2019 ¦ Giant Toughtroad SLR 1 2019 ¦ Giant Anthem 3 2015 ¦ Specialized Myka Comp FSR 2009
  • davee128
    davee128 Posts: 27
    JBA wrote:
    What extra info do you want?
    Look on the manufacturers' websites for all the details.

    Which axle type mostly, in some cases the travel! These are often options so they ought to make clear which option they are selling. People asking same things in Q&A, no-one answering. CRC and Wiggle seem to have gone downhill a bit since merger to me. :(
  • robertpb
    robertpb Posts: 1,866
    The wheels on my 3 current bikes can use multiple axle standards, so where is the problem on axle type.
    Now where's that "Get Out of Crash Free Card"
  • mattyfez
    mattyfez Posts: 638
    DaveE128 wrote:
    Mattyfez, thanks for the suggestion. Are they any good? This experience of Suntour hasn't been terribly encouraging! They also seem quite hard to find!

    It seems that many retailers are selling more 26" QR forks than 29" through-axles. Weird!

    Yeh the xct and Xcm are basically thier bottom of the range, fitted to a lot of new bikes to save on cost. Thier air forks are a lot better.

    Not many retailers seem to stock thier better forks, I ended up ordering through my local bike shop (better contacts with distributors I guess, they didn't have any issue ordering them in) as I'd have got them to fit them anyway.
  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,702
    robertpb wrote:
    The wheels on my 3 current bikes can use multiple axle standards, so where is the problem on axle type.
    The problem comes if you have Shimano hubs or any others which cannot be converted. It's not a universal attribute.
  • JBA
    JBA Posts: 2,852
    15x100 is 15x100. If you have a 15x100 hub it will fit a 15x100 fork. The axle/skewer that is is used to secure the wheel may differ but that will come with a new fork.
    “Life has been unfaithful
    And it all promised so so much”

    Giant Trance 2 27.5 2016 ¦ Sonder Broken Road 2021¦ Giant Revolt Advanced 2 2019 ¦ Giant Toughtroad SLR 1 2019 ¦ Giant Anthem 3 2015 ¦ Specialized Myka Comp FSR 2009
  • robertpb
    robertpb Posts: 1,866
    whyamihere wrote:
    robertpb wrote:
    The wheels on my 3 current bikes can use multiple axle standards, so where is the problem on axle type.
    The problem comes if you have Shimano hubs or any others which cannot be converted. It's not a universal attribute.

    His bike has Bontrager hubs which could be OK.
    Now where's that "Get Out of Crash Free Card"
  • davee128
    davee128 Posts: 27
    JBA wrote:
    15x100 is 15x100. If you have a 15x100 hub it will fit a 15x100 fork. The axle/skewer that is is used to secure the wheel may differ but that will come with a new fork.

    Yes, obviously, but if the fork doesn't say whether it's 15x100, 15x110 or 9mm QR then you don't know if it will fit do you?!
  • davee128
    davee128 Posts: 27
    JBA wrote:
    15x100 is 15x100. If you have a 15x100 hub it will fit a 15x100 fork. The axle/skewer that is is used to secure the wheel may differ but that will come with a new fork.

    Yes, obviously, but if the fork doesn't say whether it's 15x100, 15x110 or 9mm QR then you don't know if it will fit do you?!

    e.g.
    https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mob ... prod189324

    Often the pictures don't match the description regarding axle type so the photos aren't a reliable guide.
  • steve_sordy
    steve_sordy Posts: 2,443
    I have always found CRC very helpful when I ring them up and actually talk to them

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