[kelesis]

I have just started into mountain biking in the last month or so and i am curretly riding a hardtail with judy tt forks and deore gears. So thats my bike, nothing special but suits me fine. the track i ride has a few jumps ranging from 2-5 feet and bigger if i pedal faster.

I dont really like the judys and have read great revews about the Z1 wedge from Marzocchi. they are within my price range and seem really great. I was just wondering will it be easy enough to fit these on my bike and any other ideas you guys have about me putting these on instead of my 80mm judys.

thanks in adavance

Chris, 16, Northern ireland

 

[Not So Fast]

Two options

You have two options first, have the shop install it for you or install it yourself. I installed my fork ( a Marz also) last October. It wasn't difficult and I haven't had any problems. See if you can find my postings. I posted some questions around Sept, Oct 2003. A guy named Mike T answered it all. I followed his advise and it all went well. Read as much as you can. I used a pipe cutter to cut. The fangle nut was a little difficult cause I didn't have the inset tool, instead I use a long thin shaft screwdriver that fit perfect. It took about three hours to do the whole job. I can now probably do it a couple of hours. Also check out tooltime.
good luck.

Ping

 

[kelesis]

thanks

yeah seems like good advice tho i'll prob just leave it for the shop as i have a nasty habbit of breaking things. yeah funny you mention mike T cause i have just read a post in the beginners cornor that asked how fast can bikes go and i know myself what sorta speeds and mike T was the only one who gave a realistic answer so he seems like a sensable guy.

thanks again

 

[Not So Fast]

No problem

No problem. Mike T really does give good advise. I saved about 50 bucks doing it myself. With the research and buying some tools. It came out to about 5 bucks an hour. But I have the satisfaction of knowing I did it.
Ping

 

[keen]

I have just started into mountain biking in the last month or so and i am curretly riding a hardtail with judy tt forks and deore gears. So thats my bike, nothing special but suits me fine. the track i ride has a few jumps ranging from 2-5 feet and bigger if i pedal faster.

I dont really like the judys and have read great revews about the Z1 wedge from Marzocchi. they are within my price range and seem really great. I was just wondering will it be easy enough to fit these on my bike and any other ideas you guys have about me putting these on instead of my 80mm judys.

thanks in adavance

Chris, 16, Northern ireland

80mm to a 130mm fork is a pretty big change - your steering is going to get a bit lazy. The Wedge is a good single hit fork not the best all around unit , it has the SSV ported dampner. I'd look into a 80/ 100mm fork possibly a Manitou Black.

 

[kelesis]

nice one

Thanks, thats kinda what i was looking for cause i was wondering myself what this would do if i had it on my bike. So you reccomend the Manitou Black. i'll check it out. I'd also doubt if i would use the 130 mm travel anyway. I just primarily wnated to get rid of my judys. they not too bad but i know they arent great.

Thanks once again

Chris, 16, Northern ireland

 

[kelesis]

hmm

I;ve just been looking through the black range of forks and ive become confused.

Could you reccomend one of the black forks that would be a good replacement/upgrade for the judys from about 420 dolars max thnks in advance once again. i just cant really see which one would be better as i'm still learning the ropes.

 

[Warp]

Marzocchi MX Comp w/ETA

120mm which can be reduced to 25-30mm for climbing and the bomb-proof performance of Marzocchis. $260 to $300

Another option should be a Manitou Black Elite RTWD '04 (around $350) or older Blacks. The Rapid Travel Wind Down let's you set the travel between 90-120mm so it would be more suitable for climbing or descending.

In the Rock Shox line there's the Duke U-turn '04 at $250. U-turn is another feature to get less travel (63-108mm).

I pointed out these forks cause they're accesible, have decent features and they allow you to adjust the travel (and hence geometry) to riding conditions. There might be others but these are very recommendable.

 

[kelesis]

very useful.

thanks warp

 

[Not So Fast]

Marzochii

I upraded from an 80 mm Judy to the Marchochii Mx Comp ETA 105mm. I don't regret it. It handles so much better and it didn't change my geometry much. I really enjoy the shock and I weigh 215lbs. I'm not much into jumps although I will occasionally try 3 foot drops, and I crash and burn but the Marz holds up.