I've got a pair on my SS right now. I mostly commute on it and go out on the trails with it when I can. On the road it works great, but on the trails I don't like it that much. I do plan on replacing it with a pair of RS Psylos that I have on an old frame. I've never ridden on the Fox Vanillas, but I'm sure other people can comment on other forks that would be good.
RS JUDY J3's ANY GOOD????
Anybody Got Any Recommendations? Is The J3 Worth Keeping On My Fsr Xc Or Is There Something Lighter And Stronger Out There Worth Investing In (that Wont Break The Bank? Is The Fox Vanilla A Good Option?
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the thing is, the fsr xc with all stock is a bit on the heavy side. One of the guys i ride with has an M5 epic with fox sus front and rear. its a much lighter bike but without being able to lift both frames at the same time, how much of the extra weight on my bike is down to the suspension? RS J3 front and Xfusion rear! ye see, wanna lighten the bike cause going uphill is about as much fun as head-butting a bed of nails!!!
any advice or experience would be real helpful guys!
any advice or experience would be real helpful guys!
If you are going to start talking weight, the Fox Vanilla is the wrong fork to start talking weight with. It is a silky smooth fork though. If you want the whole package, I would recommend a Reba Race if you want 100mm of travel, or a RockShox Revalation 426 if you want 130mm of travel. I went from a fox F100 to a Reba Team, and I absolutely love the Reba. It is about a quarter of a pound lighter (which is much appreciated in the front end) and it is super easy to dial in. I'm also a rebound junkie, and love the rebound actuation from Rockshox forks. I'm not knocking Fox, they make great forks, but for the price of the Reba Race and Revalation 426 ($450 MSRP either fork), I think that you are getting a much more versatile (air) fork than the Fox Vanilla (Coil), and a lighter weight fork than a Fox Vanilla. Despite what the published weight says on the Fox website, the Vanilla will weigh over 4lbs.
My recommendation: Rockshox Reba or Revalation. You will love it!
My recommendation: Rockshox Reba or Revalation. You will love it!
cheers, need advice like that. have only used rst (GT AVALANCE) and the J3's to compare, but have heard good things about the Reba and Revelation. Question, if you put 130mm travel fork on your bike, does that make it harder to go hill????
Yes. By putting a fork with more travel on your bike, you are slackening (is that a word?) the head tube angle. A good option is getting a fork with adjustable travel, such as the RS forks with U-Turn. You will pay a little bit more for adjustable travel though. On the other hand though, when you go downhill with a slacker head angle, you will fly!
just had a look at the revelation and reba team/race u-turn models on the RS website. the 130mm travel is very tempting for down-hill. What forks out there have 130mm but will lock out at 80/100mm for up-hill. is it worth investing the extra (€ in my case) to go Team over Race. Is there other forks out there offering the same for your money. Again, have budget of €500-600. dont need a super-light fork but most will probably be lighter than the J3 anyhow, i guess!!!! My LBS is Fox-mad so is their advice maybe bias? Or are they just looking to get as much money out of me as possible? Or is it sound advice? what to do!!!!
If you're looking to drop some weight without spending a lot of cash then I'd have to also recomend one of the RS forks - REBA or Revelation - and a U-Turn version would be even nicer. For the money you get a h3ll of a lot of fork, that's u;tra tuneable. I've had my REBA SL for about 16 months, put over3,000 miles on it and after this time definitely am ubber happy with the purchase.
That's cool if your LBS is Fox-mad, I used to be. I understand where they are coming from. Fox makes good forks, but dollar for dollar, Rockshox makes better forks Their new forks (ie, Reba, Revalation) are solid forks, pretty stiff (32mm stanctions), and very reliable. Not that Fox aren't, they are, they are just more expensive. You will be hard-pressed to find anything bad about the Revalation. It's a smokin' fork. From what you're saying, the Revalation would be a great fork for you. The Reba is very similar, only the Revaltion gets more travel. There are higher end versions of the Reba though if you want uber-lightweight.
Well. . .Heres the Rockshox Revaltion Breakdown:
Revalation 409-I believe is OEM spec only. Soooooo, I'll just tell you about the Revalation 426.
There are 4 different versions of the Revaltion 426-
426 Dual Air-130mm travel. Still has external floodgate, you can still lock it out, just not from your handlebars. MSRP $450
426 Dual Air Poplock-130mm travel, with handlebar lockout. When you lock it out, I believe you still get 10% of the travel, so it is not completely locked out, just enough to take the edge off. MSRP-$495
426 Air U-Turn-Adjustable travel from 100mm-130mm. From what you are saying, this is more what you are looking for. Lockout, but not from the bars. MSRP-$525
426 Air U-Turn w/ Poplock-This is the WHIP! You get adjustable travel from 100mm-130mm AND Poplock to lock it out from your handlebars. Both of the U-Turn forks penalize you with a quarter pound extra weight though. MSRP-$570
Compared to a Fox fork, you get the stiffness, and more adjustablity for less money. I believe that in in the current exchange rate, event the
426 Air U-Turn w/ Poplock fits into your price range. Now go get a fork! Oh yeah, post some pics too after you put it on!
:thumbsup:
Well. . .Heres the Rockshox Revaltion Breakdown:
Revalation 409-I believe is OEM spec only. Soooooo, I'll just tell you about the Revalation 426.
There are 4 different versions of the Revaltion 426-
426 Dual Air-130mm travel. Still has external floodgate, you can still lock it out, just not from your handlebars. MSRP $450
426 Dual Air Poplock-130mm travel, with handlebar lockout. When you lock it out, I believe you still get 10% of the travel, so it is not completely locked out, just enough to take the edge off. MSRP-$495
426 Air U-Turn-Adjustable travel from 100mm-130mm. From what you are saying, this is more what you are looking for. Lockout, but not from the bars. MSRP-$525
426 Air U-Turn w/ Poplock-This is the WHIP! You get adjustable travel from 100mm-130mm AND Poplock to lock it out from your handlebars. Both of the U-Turn forks penalize you with a quarter pound extra weight though. MSRP-$570
Compared to a Fox fork, you get the stiffness, and more adjustablity for less money. I believe that in in the current exchange rate, event the
426 Air U-Turn w/ Poplock fits into your price range. Now go get a fork! Oh yeah, post some pics too after you put it on!
:thumbsup:
second the Reba...
If its in budget. I got one and love it. I've never owned a Fox fork, but I'd love to... but my wallet wouldn't love it. So, really I have not compared Fox to RS personally.
I just did Downieville on my '05 Reba Race Dual Air PopLock set to 100mm, and it was heaven. The baby heads on the upper trails were actually fairly comfy. The new ones have U-Turn travel adjustment and poploc, IIRC.
The Reba SL is pretty similar, just without a couple features and a few bucks less. I've seen them on Craigslist going used for around $200 as take-offs from built bikes.
If its in budget. I got one and love it. I've never owned a Fox fork, but I'd love to... but my wallet wouldn't love it. So, really I have not compared Fox to RS personally.
I just did Downieville on my '05 Reba Race Dual Air PopLock set to 100mm, and it was heaven. The baby heads on the upper trails were actually fairly comfy. The new ones have U-Turn travel adjustment and poploc, IIRC.
The Reba SL is pretty similar, just without a couple features and a few bucks less. I've seen them on Craigslist going used for around $200 as take-offs from built bikes.
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