Currently running a Fox Vanilla 125 on my Enduro Pro w/ a Pushed Float in the rear. The Vanilla provides a very plush ride but now w/ the Pushed rear the bike feels un-balanced. Anyone compare these two forks? Will the Minute 1 be as plush? I don't want to loose the smooth dampning the Fox provides just wondering if the Minute one is comparable? Thanx
Vanilla 125R to a Minute1?
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I've had a Vanilla RLC and Minute 1 on my Turner XCE. The Vanilla is very supple. Verrrrry supple. The rebound is nicely tuneable and bottoming can be controlled precisely through oil height. The fork si stiff, looks great, has fantastic tire clearance, and has a generally high quality feel (nothing plastic here). The is a "knock" at topout when set to 125mm sometimes. It is the spring support rod tapping against the stanchion wall. The Fox has really very unsophisticated compression dampening. There is nothing special about the fork when you get up to speed and start whacking through the rocks. There is some wallow and compression spike. It seems to eat up its travel pretty fast, and when you run out, you know. The oil seals wear out and leak pretty fast. All in all, an excellent fork showing its age.
The Minute 1 (04 model) is also quite stiff and nicely finished. The "travel wind-down" is a very cool feature which works well to maintain spring rate over a range of travel settings. The little travel setting window is easy to see when on the bike and dialing in the travel ok, though it does take a few turns to go through the range, and when increasing travel you have to unweight the fork a few times. It is only an operation you do when you don't have to pay a lot of attention to the trail for some distance. The rebound knob SUCKS. THere are no detents (clicks) and so dialing in a setting is pure guess work. The rebound is also at the bottom of the leg so you have to stop to change it. It has a mushy, winding-up feel to it. Just pathetic. The results are good, the process is bad. The fork is not that supple at slow speeds over little stuff. THe one I rode may not have been completely broken in, and I would need to give it a few months and an oil change to really do it justice, but I cannot see it ever feeling like the Vanilla. Where it spanks the Vanilla up one side and down the other is when you hit about 10 mph on a rough trail. The fork really shines at speed. So smooth and controlled. No spikes, no noticeable bottomout, no ramp-up. Just very high quality travel. I personally don't give a poop about bob-reduction in a fork, so I could live without SPV's activity filtering, but it sure makes for nice compression dampening.
To sum up: at walking speed (slow, technical work), Vanilla all the way. Above walking speed (bombing along), Minute, no question. Mated to a Pushed rear? Most likely the Minute. Especially in 05 when the SPV guts are supposed to allow for much greater small bump compliance. In stores soon. How does that compare to the 05 Fox forks? No idea...
The Minute 1 (04 model) is also quite stiff and nicely finished. The "travel wind-down" is a very cool feature which works well to maintain spring rate over a range of travel settings. The little travel setting window is easy to see when on the bike and dialing in the travel ok, though it does take a few turns to go through the range, and when increasing travel you have to unweight the fork a few times. It is only an operation you do when you don't have to pay a lot of attention to the trail for some distance. The rebound knob SUCKS. THere are no detents (clicks) and so dialing in a setting is pure guess work. The rebound is also at the bottom of the leg so you have to stop to change it. It has a mushy, winding-up feel to it. Just pathetic. The results are good, the process is bad. The fork is not that supple at slow speeds over little stuff. THe one I rode may not have been completely broken in, and I would need to give it a few months and an oil change to really do it justice, but I cannot see it ever feeling like the Vanilla. Where it spanks the Vanilla up one side and down the other is when you hit about 10 mph on a rough trail. The fork really shines at speed. So smooth and controlled. No spikes, no noticeable bottomout, no ramp-up. Just very high quality travel. I personally don't give a poop about bob-reduction in a fork, so I could live without SPV's activity filtering, but it sure makes for nice compression dampening.
To sum up: at walking speed (slow, technical work), Vanilla all the way. Above walking speed (bombing along), Minute, no question. Mated to a Pushed rear? Most likely the Minute. Especially in 05 when the SPV guts are supposed to allow for much greater small bump compliance. In stores soon. How does that compare to the 05 Fox forks? No idea...
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Much better...
I did the same thing for the same reasons. I had a Vanilla on my Hammerhead but after getting the Push mods in the rear, it didn't feel right. I switched to the Minute 1. At first, I thought the Minute was a bit harsh on the small slow stuff like Tscheezy mentioned but was fantastic out on the trail at regular speeds. The Minute shipped with too much oil in the SPV and not enough in the semi-bath. After changing the oil and adding the right amount of semi-bath, it was soooo much better. It's a much more sophisticated damping than the Fox and feels much better overall. I didn't notice any loss in stiffness. I'm only about 165 lbs but ride hard and go out of my way to hit the rough lines. I also agree the RTWD is nice but the rebound knob is lame. It's a good thing you don't have to mess with it much.
The other option would be to keep the Vanilla and hold out for the Push fork mods which should be available in the next couple weeks. The mods are for an RLC but they are working on getting top caps from Fox so they can do the mods on R and RL forks as well. The mods include new 2 stage piston (just like the rear) with separate high and low speed rebound damping, valved and shimed for your weight, and adjustable platform. The compression dial sets the platform and the lockout lever turns the platform on and off. Should be sweet.
I did the same thing for the same reasons. I had a Vanilla on my Hammerhead but after getting the Push mods in the rear, it didn't feel right. I switched to the Minute 1. At first, I thought the Minute was a bit harsh on the small slow stuff like Tscheezy mentioned but was fantastic out on the trail at regular speeds. The Minute shipped with too much oil in the SPV and not enough in the semi-bath. After changing the oil and adding the right amount of semi-bath, it was soooo much better. It's a much more sophisticated damping than the Fox and feels much better overall. I didn't notice any loss in stiffness. I'm only about 165 lbs but ride hard and go out of my way to hit the rough lines. I also agree the RTWD is nice but the rebound knob is lame. It's a good thing you don't have to mess with it much.
The other option would be to keep the Vanilla and hold out for the Push fork mods which should be available in the next couple weeks. The mods are for an RLC but they are working on getting top caps from Fox so they can do the mods on R and RL forks as well. The mods include new 2 stage piston (just like the rear) with separate high and low speed rebound damping, valved and shimed for your weight, and adjustable platform. The compression dial sets the platform and the lockout lever turns the platform on and off. Should be sweet.
This is a big reason I went with a Minute over a Fox. I would have spent $500+ for a Talas RLC then another $100+ for the push mod. Instead I went with the Manitou 1 for $300 to balance with a Pushed Vanilla on the back of my 4/6 Banger. I had thought about waiting for a Nixon Platinum but balked at the thought of it's $850 price. I may also try to find the 05 Minute SPV evolve damper for an upgrade in the future.Homebrew said:
I assume the Push fork mod's low speed compression damping will reduce dive and wallow like SPV?
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Push
Instead of spending all that extra money on a Minute, wait a bit for the Push industries mods for the Fox fork. You will get a great fork, adjusted to your weight and riding style, and you will also get a stable platform if you want it. In my limited experience the Minute is not such a great fork, certanly not as smooth as the Fox or Marzkeen said:
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