I finally blew up the venerable coil fork on my venerable Fuji Outland 29er. NBD is a loooooooooong ways off and I'm broke as, so I'm stuck looking for the most budget friendly upgrade I can find. Here's what I'm looking at (if you know of a better price for either of these or a better fork in the same price range I'd be much obliged):
Recon Silver
XCR 32
I'm assuming that the Rockshox is better out of the gate than the SR, but price counts, so how much better? I'm a moderate rider at best and was mostly happy with the performance of the old Suntour coil fork I was on, so I'm thinking more in terms of durability (I'm a clyde) and serviceability (I do all my own work, can't afford the LBS mechanic). The one thing I definitely didn't like about my old fork was the terrible slop in the stanchions, I don't know if that's because it was worn out or because it sucked or both - is either of these forks I'm looking at particularly better than the other in terms of stiffness? Is there any difference in ease of service, any "factory" tools required that I won't have? And durability, whatever I get will need to last me a couple years, I'm assuming the Rockshox will be better here too, but ~$80 better? I'm flat bust so every penny counts. Performance is my last criteria, but I've never owned an air fork and may not know what I'm talking about - if the Rockshock is going to absolutely blow my mind vs. the Suntour then I'll wait a paycheck or two, where if it's only an incremental upgrade I'll likely save my bucks.
Recon Silver
XCR 32
I'm assuming that the Rockshox is better out of the gate than the SR, but price counts, so how much better? I'm a moderate rider at best and was mostly happy with the performance of the old Suntour coil fork I was on, so I'm thinking more in terms of durability (I'm a clyde) and serviceability (I do all my own work, can't afford the LBS mechanic). The one thing I definitely didn't like about my old fork was the terrible slop in the stanchions, I don't know if that's because it was worn out or because it sucked or both - is either of these forks I'm looking at particularly better than the other in terms of stiffness? Is there any difference in ease of service, any "factory" tools required that I won't have? And durability, whatever I get will need to last me a couple years, I'm assuming the Rockshox will be better here too, but ~$80 better? I'm flat bust so every penny counts. Performance is my last criteria, but I've never owned an air fork and may not know what I'm talking about - if the Rockshock is going to absolutely blow my mind vs. the Suntour then I'll wait a paycheck or two, where if it's only an incremental upgrade I'll likely save my bucks.
