Giant Trance x4 2011 - 140mm fork upgrade thoughts...

Alex-x4
Alex-x4 Posts: 15
edited March 2012 in MTB beginners
Hello to all,

I recently became the proud owner of a 2011 Giant Trance x4 and am considering getting a set of 140mm forks.

I would ask if there are any recommendations people would suggest for around £400-600.

I ride a bit of everything so I'm not looking for the lightest forks or the most hardcore DH forks either, just good all rounders.

Many thanks in advance, your thoughts are very welcome.

Cheers

Alex

Comments

  • benpinnick
    benpinnick Posts: 4,148
    RS Revelations in pretty much any flavour. My favourites are the RCT3. Well within your budget. I got my 2012 ones for under £400.
    A Flock of Birds
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  • Alex-x4
    Alex-x4 Posts: 15
    Yeah, I have been considering Revelations. They stock 150mm everywhere but no matter how hard I look, I don't seem to be able to find 140mm variants.

    Where did you get your from? Amazing price!
  • benpinnick
    benpinnick Posts: 4,148
    Almost all of the variants are changeable 130/140/150 via the all travel spacers (bit of a faff but you'll only need to do it once). I got mine on the Bikebiz deal of the day 25% offer via Royce. But if you keep your eye open....Right now Basic RL version is £315 on Merlin. £310 if you want remote lockout. RLT is £340 up.
    A Flock of Birds
    + some other bikes.
  • sanchez89
    sanchez89 Posts: 567
    i take it your looking to slacken of the angles a bit then, instead of the standard 125mm fork yeah??

    i can recommend the Revelation, great adjustablitly with the dual air system, and i find its quite a strong fork, but i havent really ridden any top end Fox etc. style, just the more basic and cheaper forks.
    2011 KHS Full Susser Carbon 29er Race Build
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  • toasty
    toasty Posts: 2,598
    If you're not after any spangley compression damping, some cheap token Floats?

    http://www.bikescene.co.uk/Fox-32-Float-140-RL-Taper-QR15-3091-0-0.html

    Or if you'd consider staying at 120, there's some high end ones:

    http://www.bikescene.co.uk/Fox-32-Float-120-RL-FIT-QR15-4410-0-0.html

    Worth noting on the:
    My favourites are the RCT3

    Note, RL + RLT + RCT3, all have the exact same damping this year, the only difference being:

    The cheap one requires an allen key to tweak the floodgate on the motion control.
    The mid one has a an external dial.
    The top one has a lockout, giving the option of open, locked or moco.

    So to be honest after 5 minutes of setting up, all 3 will ride the same. Seems a bit rubbish. Shame the Blackbox internals went.

    Going by Merlin prices, that's £30 for an external floodgate dial, or £210 extra for a lockout that I doubt most people will use, once the floodgate is set up.
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    The RS site is a bit naff, but the Revelation RCT3 (and World Cup) does have the BlackBox MoCo damper (DNAified). All get dual flow rebound and DNA damper tubes.
  • toasty
    toasty Posts: 2,598
    In which case it's almost like they're making a huge effort to make it look bad value, I can't see any reference anywhere about it being anything but normal DNA, yet they go to great lengths to show off that it has an irrelevant lockout. It's still a plastic unit, like the cheaper ones, rather than Ti like the old Blackbox.
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    RS's naming and website is pretty shocking, not doing themselves any favours. The 'RL' on the SID, Reba, and Rev are three different damper units!

    The RCT3 damper replaces the Ti damper, and is lighter and better performing according to RS. I have yet to try one.
  • benpinnick
    benpinnick Posts: 4,148
    I have the RCT3. Its ace. The lockout is pretty pointless IMHO on a revelation, but on a SID or similar I can see the point. The damping is quite frankly amazing compared to any other fork I have owned.
    A Flock of Birds
    + some other bikes.
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    The old Black Box Ti on the Reba was the best fork I have ever used, the high speed damping and dual flow rebound was absolutely superb.

    The RCT3 gets the high speed damping - but I'd still prefer a fully adjustable floodgate rather than a three position lock. Though at least you can lock or platform lock eithout altering your LSC setting.
  • benpinnick
    benpinnick Posts: 4,148
    Its also nice to have the open option, which turns off (as far as I can tell) the LS compression damping pretty much entirely, leaving only the rebound and HS compression. This makes them very DH friendly, as while the moco damper blowoff works well, it does stifle the forks through the mid stroke.

    I do however wish the RS would produce proper bloody instructions for their forks. The information you get supplied with is a joke.
    A Flock of Birds
    + some other bikes.
  • Alex-x4
    Alex-x4 Posts: 15
    Many thanks to all replies, I've found them all very useful!!

    Very tempted with some Revelations, I can see a purchase happening in the near future.

    Choosing which ones will be my next task.

    The Trance has a tapered steerer, silly question perhaps, but is there only one standard for tapered steerers? Will any forks described as 'tapered' fit my bike?

    The reality is that my riding has been very much XC lately, with plenty of climbs about. I know I'll ride plenty of trails like those at Ashton Court and Swinley Forest with the occasional trip to Cwncarn and Afan. Cwncarn uplift booked for May.

    From what I gather, the Trance is quite capable of running 140mm forks with some suggesting that it does not 'significantly' detriment the bike's capacity for climbing but really improving its downhill abilities. This is why I'm considering moving to 140mm. Sensible move or naive nonsense?

    Once again many thanks for the advice and guidance - it really is much appreciated.

    Alex
  • benpinnick
    benpinnick Posts: 4,148
    You need to check that you dont have Giant's Overdrive taper - its bigger than normal 'tapered'! Not all forks are made equally you see. If you have overdrive, you might be able to skinny all the way down to a 1 1/8 fork - but I am not sure.
    A Flock of Birds
    + some other bikes.