[MikeMartial]

I've just purchased a brand new Cake 1 DLX frame, and am planing on building it up. I'm unsure of what fork I should purchase, though. I plan on doing mostly XC, but I also do sporadic mountain and downhill throughout the season.

Initially, this bike came with a Maverick SC32 with 125mm of travel. JensonUSA doesn't carry the Maverick, so it's not an option. What I'm considering is a Marzocchi All Mountain SL '06; it has 130-150mm travel, and retails for $750; it's on sale at jenson for $350. Either that, or a Marzocchi All Mountain 3 '07 for about the same price and specs.


Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[317000]

personally i think all those forks you mentioned were crap. if i were you i would hook myself up with a brand spankin' new marzocchi Super Monster. just my opinion though.

 

[MikeMartial]

personally i think all those forks you mentioned were crap. if i were you i would hook myself up with a brand spankin' new marzocchi Super Monster. just my opinion though.

I was looking for informed opinions based on the GF frame geometry, which obviously you know nothing about. A double crown 300mm travel behemoth downhill fork is NOT suitable for the Cake 1 DLX frame.

If the forks I mentioned were "crap", please explain why.

 

[TheBigC]

I've got a Zochhi MX Comp 120 on my Cake DLX right now. Not sure I would want to go much more travel than that. I have to keep my chest down if I dont twant my front end to come off the ground when climbing. I would think a 100- 120 adjustable travel would be ideal.

 

[MikeMartial]

I've got a Zochhi MX Comp 120 on my Cake DLX right now. Not sure I would want to go much more travel than that. I have to keep my chest down if I dont twant my front end to come off the ground when climbing. I would think a 100- 120 adjustable travel would be ideal.

Thanks for the reply, BigC. Just the opinion I was looking for, especially from other GF riders.

 

[dnlwthrn]

You could look into the various brands, but here's what I would look for specifically:

100-130mm travel, adjustable travel, air or coil spring is your preference.
30mm stanchions MINIMUM, 32mm is better.

I'm running a 2005 Manitou Minute 1:00 on my Fisher (not a Cake) right now, and other than the fact that the SPV doesn't seem to work right, its a decent coil fork. My wife's Trek has a 2007 Rock Shox Reba SL on it, which seems plenty stiff laterally and fairly plush too.

What year is your Cake? I'm assuming that it has the longer travel rear due to the DLX label, so I think you'd be fine going up to 130mm in travel on the front. You might even be able to go a little taller as long as you've got the travel adjust option. Maybe a Rock Shox Pike with U-turn? That'd give you 100-140mm of travel, but comes with the Maxle (20mm front quick-release axle) and it might not work with your wheels...

TONS of options, now you need to filter through them.

Good luck and post your build when you get it done!

p.s. I forgot to mention, I demo'ed a 2006 Cake 1 DLX back in the fall of 2005. It had a Fox Float fork on it, I think it was set up as 130mm front and rear travel. I've never seen a Cake with the Maverick fork, so that kind of surprised me. Do you have a model year for the frame?

 

[dnlwthrn]

Ok, looking up the Fisher specs, yours must be a 2005 frame. It doesn't specify what the rear travel is in mm, only 5 in... So that could be 120, 125, or 130mm, as the 5in is actually 127mm. I still think you'd be fine with a 130mm fork on the front, as that's what they specified on the Cake 2 and lower models for '05.

Whether you choose Fox, Marzocchi, Rock Shox or Manitou is up to you. Check the deals, then check the reviews and see what you find.

 

[TheBigC]

No problem.

Here's some pics of my setup:
http://gallery.mtbr.com/showphoto.php/photo/35255/cat/500/ppuser/255104
http://gallery.mtbr.com/showphoto.php/photo/35256/cat/500/ppuser/255104

My seat is now about and inch above the bars, the pics were right after I finished assembly.

 

[dnlwthrn]

@TheBigC: Did you cross-chain on purpose for the photo? Looks good. Have you ever measured the actual travel of the rear wheels?

 

[farmboybunk]

My brother had a 04 cake dlx for 2 years. It came with a manitou black ffd 120mm of travel fork. He upgraded the fork to a marzocchi all mountain 1 at 130mm travel and liked it a lot (marzocchi's run tall, so depending on your preferences a 130mm fork should be fine). It also had ETA for the climbs, which he used occationally. He never did like the rear shock setup on it. He could never get the manitou swinger 3 way to feel right. He was going to upgrade the rear shock, but ended up saleing the frame instead and buying a Marin.
Bunk

 

[TheBigC]

I put it in big ring for the photo, I guess it happened to be in big cog, too. Dont remember all the circumstances exactly, it's been almost a year Never measured actual wheel travel except in "Yee- has!" The rear has plenty of Yee-ha. The 3 Way is a so-so shock. I have to pump it up every ride and by the end of epic rides, its usually lost about 30 lbs of air. :madmax: