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Submitted by
vmed_cha_grDate Reviewed: March 29, 2013
Strengths: Durability, response.Weaknesses: NoneBottom Line: This replaced my 2005 Reba (kept aside for service). After playing with settings to fit my ryde, it stayed on my bike permanently. Another good thing is that if you have the version with the remote lockout lever & it brakes you can put a cheap suntour lever on it. It is 100% compatible.
3 year warranty adds a star as it is much better that the rb tora, epicons & stuff. Can withstand more abuse than any other XC fork in the market.
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Submitted by
DudeNudem
a Weekend WarriorDate Reviewed: June 27, 2012
Strengths: Value, performance, robust featuresWeaknesses: None yetBottom Line: After years of suffering with a garbage fork, I wanted to replace my RST Gila with something that actually worked. I was on a budget since the fork would be going onto a Trek 4300 that, despite the fact I love it, is not a ride I want to dump a lot of money into. I wanted an air fork but, not having a lot of budget to work with, I needed to find a lot of value for my dollar. Let me tell you, I found it! This fork is amazing! If you are tooling around on some POS RST or Suntour fork or something even worse, then do yourself a favor and upgrade! This fork has transformed my bike into a trail beast! I no longer bounce around the trail, I float, and I have gained a new level of confidence in my bike and myself. The stock RST fork that this replaced claimed 80 mm of travel (yeah, right.) I have the Marathon set at 100 mm with no issues. Included spacers allow you customize the fork for 80 mm or 120 mm.
I spend as much time as possible on the trail but even more time on asphalt so I was concerned that a fork that actually worked would sap my ability on hard surfaces - not so. This fork has features usually reserved for forks of a much higher price range: rebound, air preload and lock-out which allow you to really customize the ride. With flick of a switch I can be riding a rigid fork. Another flick I can be enjoying a plush Marzocchi ride. I am clearing small obstacles so much more cleanly and my back and wrists feel so much better now.
As happy as I am, this is still an entry level fork - I have seen them from close to $300 down to $230. I got mine for $250 shipped, brand new, on ebay. The only place that it is evident that this is a budget shock is in the dials - they are plastic painted to look like metal. The ride certainly isn't budget. I have rented quality bikes with quality forks and I don't think many would be able to tell the difference between the Marathon and more expensive forks. I only have one complaint: the decals are garish and I would prefer the glossy black paint to be a matte...
I don't usually go out of my way to write reviews but in this case I had to. Not only because I am so pleased with this fork, but because when I was researching it I could only find two reviews - one on a very amateur bike blog, the other from a British bike mag that I don't even know is legit. I hope someone else in a similar situation benefits from this review. I took a real leap of faith in this purchase - this time I got lucky. Very lucky.
I ride easy to intermediate trails: good size climbs, small obstacles, very small jumps - I'm on a hardtail and this is a XC fork after all. In town I climb and jump what I can find - I ride a lot of stairs. This fork has really expanded my abilities and made stairs much more enjoyable.
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