Anybody have some experience with these two forks. Any feedback on durability and feel would be great. Im looking for something pretty plush. I ride alot of rocky stuff. I know the Firefly weighs about a pound less but the one person I've talked to said he's had reliability issues with the Sherman line. Anybody else with some knowledge? It would be greatly appreciated.
04 Firefly or 04 Z1 fr qr20? Wisdom needed.
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don't forget another friggin' pain in the arse-difficult issue for choosing...
Firefly is a bit shorter axle-to-crown, and causes a bit steeper effective head angle.
Firefly is a bit shorter axle-to-crown, and causes a bit steeper effective head angle.
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Really? I don't have the numbers (just went looking, can't find 'em), but thought the Shermans were about the tallest SC around.gonzostrike said:
I like the axle clamps and the damper on the Firefly better than the Z.1... I find Marz. forks are a touch too active for me. The TPC+ is very nice, ramps up smoothly. No experience with SPV, so if you're looking at the SPV version, I can't help ya'.
Hopefully Marz has fixed the cracking crowns issue...
If you are a believer in the old slap-it-on-and-ignore-it, I'd go with the Z.1. Personally, I don't mind a little bike maintenance, so the semi-bath in the Sherman series is fine. Open bath designs require much less maintenance though.
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No, the big wide M-shaped crowns (2003 and later) had an issue with a stress riser on the bottom of the crowns that was causing them to crack. I would assume they fixed it for '04 - Marz is pretty good about addressing problems right away.TNC said:
The Firefly and Sherman line in general has had a rather large share of problems which require the fork being sent back to Manitou (I've seen quite a few). That being said when working properly they feel great.artsn said:
Marzocchi's on the other hand require almost zero attention. I've never had an issue with a Marzocchi that I have owned, and I can't think of a time when I've had to send a customers fork back to Marzocchi for warranty service that was Marzocchi's fault.
The Z1 gets my vote. I have an '03 Z1 QR20 on my hardtail and it is awesome. The only thing I don't like is their poor quick release design. It is so smoove!!!!!!!!! But, I haven't personally ridden the firefly so I can't comment on it directly. I have, however, ridden a sherman breakout+ and sherman slider and wasn't all that impressed with the feel of them as far as plushness goes.
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593 Posts
Well I have a 05 Sherman Firefly Plus (150mm) on my Bullit and I love it. It has a new version of the SPV called "evolve" and it is soooo much better than the 04 SPV.artsn said:
I have ridden a Drop Off 130mm 04 Marz fork and I like the Firefly better. It is definetly more stiff and the hex axel is better than the QR20.
I think you should wait and get the Firefly plus or the 130mm version of it.
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Can you describe the difference in feel over the 04 spv?
thanks,
-Sp
thanks,
-Sp
Axis said:
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593 Posts
SPV evolve actually has a fair amount of small bumb compliance and the rest of the stroke has the same feel as a Super T with the spring setup perfectly. You can lower SPV air pressure and still get the non brake dive and bobbing resitance.SinglePivot said:
The 04 SPV feels like a very oversprung fork on the small hits but on the bigger stuff it is very nice.
Also, not only is the quality of the evolve low speed compression dampning better the high speed compression dampning feels better the the old SPV too.
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