66 Light ETA; RC2 cartridge (basically like HSCV but with a low-speed compression adjustment in addition to rebound). This fork is ironically the heaviest of the bunch by about 20g (so only slightly the heaviest). One side coil, other side air. No need to buy extra springs. You can adjust the oil level if it bottoms. I have one on order.
66 RC2X; RC2x cartridge in one leg, normal RC2 cartridge in the other, the "x" signifies a high speed compression adjustment for the end stroke. Supposedly you use this adjustment if you are bottoming it, or for bigger jumps/drops. Traditionally compression adjustments are not the best way to keep a fork from bottoming. It remains to bee seen if the "high speed" compression adjustment will make it harsher, but the purpose of it is not clear. Is the purpose of this adjustment to keep it from bottoming off drops, if that is so, it might work great for one jump or drop, but if you are riding along it might make it feel harsh (similer effect to what I will describe below with the VF2). The point here is that the adjustment is not quite clear right now, whether or not it's for all-around riding and to make it more progressive, or to just keep it from bottoming. Those two things are different. You can also adjust the oil levels though to make this fork more progressive (making a fork more progressive is the preferred way to keep it from bottoming most of the time). This fork is the 2nd heaviest, and has dual coil springs. I don't know if it has the "air preload" system, but if not, you'd have to buy new coil springs if the stock ones do not work for you. This fork is meant to give the plushest and smoothest ride. The 66 Light should be the most similer to it, but it's for a dedicated DH/FR type bike. I didn't get this fork because I wanted the ETA function of the other 66.
66 SL; Air version, adjustable travel between 150 and 170mm, although those that have the fork are reporting that you can safely take it down to around 5" of travel if you want. The travel is adjusted with negative pressure, there is a main positive air pressure spring, and an air chamber called the PAR adjusts the bottom out resistance. The damping is provided by an RC2 cartridge, so it has the same damping adjustments as the 66 Light ETA.
66VF2; You don't want this fork. This is a 66 with Jr T type internals. No cartridge damper, rather it has a "ported damper" with a fixed orofice size, which the oil must flow through. If the oil flows through too fast it will "spike" and feel harsh. This would happen at high speeds in choppy terrain. The fork feels the same as the others on the showroom floor and on drops/jumps, but as speed increases, it will feel harsher. At speed, my description of the damping system is "feels like it's trying to break your wrists off". I'd stay away from this one, BUT if you are trying to spread the cost out, you could get this one and later upgrade to some sort of a cartridge version (like the 66 light eta?), but it would cost a bit more in the long run.
66 RC2X; RC2x cartridge in one leg, normal RC2 cartridge in the other, the "x" signifies a high speed compression adjustment for the end stroke. Supposedly you use this adjustment if you are bottoming it, or for bigger jumps/drops. Traditionally compression adjustments are not the best way to keep a fork from bottoming. It remains to bee seen if the "high speed" compression adjustment will make it harsher, but the purpose of it is not clear. Is the purpose of this adjustment to keep it from bottoming off drops, if that is so, it might work great for one jump or drop, but if you are riding along it might make it feel harsh (similer effect to what I will describe below with the VF2). The point here is that the adjustment is not quite clear right now, whether or not it's for all-around riding and to make it more progressive, or to just keep it from bottoming. Those two things are different. You can also adjust the oil levels though to make this fork more progressive (making a fork more progressive is the preferred way to keep it from bottoming most of the time). This fork is the 2nd heaviest, and has dual coil springs. I don't know if it has the "air preload" system, but if not, you'd have to buy new coil springs if the stock ones do not work for you. This fork is meant to give the plushest and smoothest ride. The 66 Light should be the most similer to it, but it's for a dedicated DH/FR type bike. I didn't get this fork because I wanted the ETA function of the other 66.
66 SL; Air version, adjustable travel between 150 and 170mm, although those that have the fork are reporting that you can safely take it down to around 5" of travel if you want. The travel is adjusted with negative pressure, there is a main positive air pressure spring, and an air chamber called the PAR adjusts the bottom out resistance. The damping is provided by an RC2 cartridge, so it has the same damping adjustments as the 66 Light ETA.
66VF2; You don't want this fork. This is a 66 with Jr T type internals. No cartridge damper, rather it has a "ported damper" with a fixed orofice size, which the oil must flow through. If the oil flows through too fast it will "spike" and feel harsh. This would happen at high speeds in choppy terrain. The fork feels the same as the others on the showroom floor and on drops/jumps, but as speed increases, it will feel harsher. At speed, my description of the damping system is "feels like it's trying to break your wrists off". I'd stay away from this one, BUT if you are trying to spread the cost out, you could get this one and later upgrade to some sort of a cartridge version (like the 66 light eta?), but it would cost a bit more in the long run.
