[ilovewvmountains]

New member here, finally getting back into mountain biking! A few years back I was pedaling a few nights a week, had just built a “back then” new GT I-Drive XC 2.0 up with DH wheels, full XT build kit etc... A few weeks later I was in a motorcycle accident and badly damaged my right knee, since then I’ve broke my right ankle and rolled my left ankle tearing the ligaments, needless to say, its been a fun ride….

Anyway I’ve been pedaling again for a while, mainly the C&O canal and back roads, anywhere from 20 to 50 miles a day. I bought a new Haro Sanford, which is a flat bar, carbon forked road bike, put some bigger tires on it and have been racking up some miles since. I still have my I-Drive sitting on the rack collecting dust, I got to ride it ONCE before my accident, its practically brand new! I think I’m going to part it out or try to sell it for what ever its worth as Ill never need another dual suspension bike, I cant take the risk of hurting myself again!! I’ve been slowly putting my GT Zaskar LE back together and I want to buy a good light fork but have been out of the mountain bike scene for so long I don’t even know where to begin! What is a middle of the road, light fork? I don’t need more than 100mm of travel, don’t care if its air or coil as long as its light as I’m not going to be riding like I used to, I cant I looked at the low end Marzocchi 33 lock out to Fox F100’s but really don’t even know where to start! Any input would be greatly appreciated! I originally posted this in the All Mountain section and the guys said the F100 or R Shox would be the way to go, just thought Id reach out to the XC croud, I dont race but want my light hard tail back, Im 5'11 180 lbs, What ever fork I buy I want to be light and a lockout is a must as I do a lot of climbing here in WV!

 

[hatake]

What year is your Zaskar? If it's pre-1997, then you most likely "need" 80mm fork, like Fox F80 or alike. I say this because early Zaskars were made for 63mm Rock Shox Mag series, and 95 ish also with 63mm Judy, and I think it hits around 100 about the turn of the century. So the answer depends on the year of the frame.

Assuming your LE is mid 90s, I would not go any higher than 80mm. 100mm will change the handling characteristics and you may not like the change (I didn't). F series are air fork, so you can adjust the sag with the air volume. Unless you are super heavy or super light, you can safely set it up to have about 20% sag, making the fork stroke about 65mm. This setup on my 93 zaskar has a perfect balance. Not period correct but it rides about 268% better than Mag 21 I have on my other zaskar.