[ghost_03]

Doing a new build, and particularly stuck on what fork to get. Primarily for XC racing, I go fast but I don't abuse my bike. 5'8", 150lbs. Kona Kula Primo frame, i beleive it's designed with 100mm travel more in mind.

The Fox f100rlt looks nice but at 3.5lbs and $650 it's heavy in two ways.

The Manitou Skareb is kind of in between, comes in at 3lbs and $450.

The RockShox Sid Race is the lightest at 2.87 and $400. Should note that this one is 80mm while the others are 100. Would be nice to go with this one but nobody really seems to be overly happy with it compared to the others.

Anybody used any of these forks? Any recommendations or advice? Weight is important, shooting for under 22lbs, but I don't want to shave half a pound for something significantly worse.

 

[fsrxc]

Doing a new build, and particularly stuck on what fork to get. Primarily for XC racing, I go fast but I don't abuse my bike. 5'8", 150lbs. Kona Kula Primo frame, i beleive it's designed with 100mm travel more in mind.

The Fox f100rlt looks nice but at 3.5lbs and $650 it's heavy in two ways.

The Manitou Skareb is kind of in between, comes in at 3lbs and $450.

The RockShox Sid Race is the lightest at 2.87 and $400. Should note that this one is 80mm while the others are 100. Would be nice to go with this one but nobody really seems to be overly happy with it compared to the others.

Anybody used any of these forks? Any recommendations or advice? Weight is important, shooting for under 22lbs, but I don't want to shave half a pound for something significantly worse.

Try and test ride a SID and see if you like it.

 

[ghost_03]

Try and test ride a SID and see if you like it.

I want to, neither of my LBS had any though. Apparently XC racing dosn't sell near as well as trail, free-ride, or road bikes.

 

[carlos]

i have a sid world cup and its a very nice and very reliable fork, mine is almost 3years old. the sid race is not a good option in my opinion because it doesnt have a lock out, try the sid team. the skareb super is great, stiffer thant he sid, a litle bit heavier but not by much.

the fox is the stiffest, and it should be because its almost 300grams heavier than the sid and 150grams heavier than the manitou, its the most expensive and in my opinion the least reliable, loosing seals, oil leakage, loss of lockout... not a good option for a high priced fork.

 

[Bike Nazi]

A lot of people bag on the SID

Doing a new build, and particularly stuck on what fork to get. Primarily for XC racing, I go fast but I don't abuse my bike. 5'8", 150lbs. Kona Kula Primo frame, i beleive it's designed with 100mm travel more in mind.

The Fox f100rlt looks nice but at 3.5lbs and $650 it's heavy in two ways.

The Manitou Skareb is kind of in between, comes in at 3lbs and $450.

The RockShox Sid Race is the lightest at 2.87 and $400. Should note that this one is 80mm while the others are 100. Would be nice to go with this one but nobody really seems to be overly happy with it compared to the others.

Anybody used any of these forks? Any recommendations or advice? Weight is important, shooting for under 22lbs, but I don't want to shave half a pound for something significantly worse.

but a lot of people only qualify fast on how fast they can go down the roughest 200 yards of their favorite trails.
I have an 03 SID race and an 04 RLT80 that I have switched back and forth on my HT for the last year. I love the RLT80 it is a great fork but the SID is the overall faster choice if you are counting the whole ride (uphill and down hill).
With either of these two forks there is compromise but you probably won't be disappointed with either one.

 

[Ratt]

What about a Reba Race or SL:

-3.5lb
-32mm stanchions
-Simple to tune Spv
-$288 (SL)
-If you want to spend more you can get the lighter Team and the handlebar mount Lockout

Sub 22lbs? you might not have any choice but go with the Sid.

 

[ghost_03]

thanks for the replies.

i believe the sid race you can upgrade with a lockout, which is why I was thinking about it. i'll heed your warning about the fox.

bikenazi--you have both? how comfortable is your SID compared to the fox? speed is more important to me but i'd feel better about getting a sid if it's a decent ride.

What about a Reba Race or SL:

-3.5lb
-32mm stanchions
-Simple to tune Spv
-$288 (SL)
-If you want to spend more you can get the lighter Team and the handlebar mount Lockout

Sub 22lbs? you might not have any choice but go with the Sid.

I had considered the reba but ruled it out as i thought the fox would be better for a "heavier" fork. And yea, the weight of the sid is very appealing to me--i'm just torn because the manitou isn't too too much heavier.

 

[gfrench]

thanks for the replies.

i believe the sid race you can upgrade with a lockout, which is why I was thinking about it. i'll heed your warning about the fox.

bikenazi--you have both? how comfortable is your SID compared to the fox? speed is more important to me but i'd feel better about getting a sid if it's a decent ride.

I had considered the reba but ruled it out as i thought the fox would be better for a "heavier" fork. And yea, the weight of the sid is very appealing to me--i'm just torn because the manitou isn't too too much heavier.

If you buy a Fox you should insist on testing the play in the bushings BEFORE you buy it. It seems all the 2005 are plagued with excessive play. The one on my 05 Epic had this problem. The local bike shop returned it to Fox for repair and after 3 weeks it came back with 04 lowers.

I went around and checked about 10 bikes at various dealers with 05 Fox and they ALL had exceesive play. All 04 bikes I checked with 04 Fox F100RL or RLT were fine.

 

[Hecubus]

Don't bother with the Sid. If weight is of consequence to you don't look at anything other than the Skareb. The Sid is slightly lighter but comes at a huge expense in performance. It's flexy, lacks adjustments and ramps up really hard after the first half of the travel. Its just an inferior fork in every aspect except weight. The Skareb is significantly stiffer and has fantastic suspension feel with a great dampening system. Better than either of the other two options. Don't mind any of the ridiculous watch out for this brand or that brand being unreliable out of the box. All of these companies put out good forks. There are no serious issue's with Fox forks of any kind. Yes they sometimes do have problems but there isn't a single brand that doen't. God knows RS has put out batches of turds with their forks. My personal choice would still be the Fox. Its a stiffer fork with a better feel than the rest of them and that matters more to me than a few grams. The Skareb and Sid are really obsolete forks and both companies realize it. Even racers now prefer the heavier Reba to the Sid. If you want a light weight fork you should wait till the Manitou R7 next year. It will substitute the Skareb and will weigh 2.9lbs.
FYI, I've had five Sids and two Skarebs, and two Fox forks over the last five years so I'm not just making any of this up. I have a good idea how they compare against each other.

 

[ghost_03]

Thanks for the input. Unfortantely my fork is pretty much toast and I can't wait another year, if next years are that much better I might be able to get a new one then and switch whatever i get this year to my older bike.

So the manitou sounds like it might be a better choice for me.

 

[cdub]

my cousin has a sid and it worked very well until a few days ago when the rebound was so high that you could baerly get any travel. my advice would be take the extra weight and have peace of mind.

 

[1speed_Mike]

Doing a new build, and particularly stuck on what fork to get. Primarily for XC racing, I go fast but I don't abuse my bike. 5'8", 150lbs. Kona Kula Primo frame, i beleive it's designed with 100mm travel more in mind.

The Fox f100rlt looks nice but at 3.5lbs and $650 it's heavy in two ways.

The Manitou Skareb is kind of in between, comes in at 3lbs and $450.

The RockShox Sid Race is the lightest at 2.87 and $400. Should note that this one is 80mm while the others are 100. Would be nice to go with this one but nobody really seems to be overly happy with it compared to the others.

Anybody used any of these forks? Any recommendations or advice? Weight is important, shooting for under 22lbs, but I don't want to shave half a pound for something significantly worse.

I've raced on lots of SIDs: most recently, a SID WC. I then went with a Fox F80X. FWIW, I'm only 140lbs, 5'6" and I noticed a difference between the two forks in: weight and stiffness. I've don't have any riding experiences with Manitous.

The SID WC (cut to 195mm) without the standard remote lock-out (using thumb Climb-It Control dial due to lack of downtube clearance), without V-brake bosses and with the required compression cap assembly weighed 1346g (2.96lbs). My Fox F80X bossless (cut to 195mm) with King headset cap, nut and star fangled-nut weighed 1629g (3.59lbs). The uncut bossless fork weighed 1633g (3.60lbs). The King headset cap, nut and SFN weighed 27g. So, a difference of 283g (0.62lbs)!

The SID uses 28.6mm stanchions versus 32mm on the Fox. The difference in diameter can be felt in terms of stiffness. The Fox can definitely be pushed harder into corners without wandering. The SID, when pushed, would hunt around for the corner searching for a line.

Durability-wise, I'd give the thumbs-up to my SID. It was bullet-proof through 1.5-yrs of XC-racing and training and never really needed much in the way of TLC. The Fox wasn't so good. Within the first 2 weeks, I had to send my F80X back to the CDN Fox Authorized Repair Center to have the dead TerraLogic cartridge replaced; the infamous Fox "knock" removed; and, a creaky steerere/crown/stanchion assembly replaced. I also later replaced the terrible stock Fox seals with some Enduros.

Having said all of that, if your frame is designed for 100mm, then you shouldn't go with a 80mm SID. This will drop the front-end of your bike down.

Also, should you decide to go with F100RLT, make sure you check the frame's downtube clearance. The Fox's right-side caps are very high (especially on the RLTs) and can hit the downtube when the bars are cranked to the right.

I had this problem with my F80RLT (which I sold to get the F80X - which has lower caps).

A racing buddy of mine just got his new Norco EXC 1.0 HT carbon HT (large) and he was very pissed to find that the F80RLT's caps hit his downtube on his large frame. I warned him after he bought the fork, but unfortunately, he had already cut his steerer tube. Had he known earlier, he would have gone with something else. He had to butcher the caps (file them down) to get the clearance he needed. Fox doesn't seem to care about this issue, because it's been a known problem for a couple of years with many different frames. Just something to be aware of.

 

[ghost_03]

Thanks for the info guys.

Went to the bike shop today to order some parts, ended up going for the manitou w/o rim brake mounts--3.2lbs with a remote lockout. Should be a bit stiffer than a SID, and as 1_speed_mike pointed out since teh frame is more geared for 100mm forks I figure it's a safer choice. Can't wait until it comes in!