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Which fork for the Ripley?

4K views 23 replies 15 participants last post by  glance2 
#1 ·
I am debating with myself about which fork to get for the Ripley. The aim is a do-it-all-bike. I ride mostly trails, mainly rooty and techy, race a few techy marathons every season and am 6'1"/187cm and 165lbs/75kg. I want to use my current custom Crest/AC wheelset, which means 15QR. I have both Rock Shox and Fox on my bikes today and like both.

At first I was really into getting the Talas 34 untill a very bike competent friend of mine said his experiences with Talases were that the spring rate had a tendency to be a bit "funky" and uneven. Anyhow, after a rethink I feel that I should not build a bike around a 110mm travel for two reasons: it is the wrong height (should at least be 120mm) and using the the lowered setting as the main setting MIGHT not be optimal for performance.

So, back to the regular floats: it is gonna be F32 or F34? Am I gonna "need" the stiffer fork and the added pork (around 0,7 lbs/300g compared to the F32)? Or should I get the F34 just because it is a more modern design? Or is it the better fork?
Besides, will I get full travel on the F34 FIT? Not so from my current F100 FIT...

At the moment I am thinking of getting the Float F34 and use spacers to lower it to 120mm and then adjust to what lenght is best for my use.

Or what other forks should I look at?

Any and all input is welcome. The Kashima coat on the Ripley RP23 shock might be a color match issue here ;-)
 
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#6 ·
yep, as discusse
you're probably looking at a 2015 fork, made by the to be newly formed SROX corporation,
featuring one 34mm stantion, one 35mm stantion and an extra 35.5mm stantion, offset for maxiumum rake, specifically made for the new 29 3/4" inch wheel standard

internals will be made from a mix of aerospace grade unotainium with an organic oil made from rendered duck fat giving an adjutable travel range from minus 7mm to 285 miles

features will include flip flop adaptors to handle, QR, 15mm, 20mm and 25mm axles, remote telescope and camera mount and not only a bottle opener built into the drop out, but, a six burner BBQ and pizza oven

probably
 
#11 ·
My current plan is to go for F34 Float 140mm which option to reduce to 120mm (with spacers).
This may not work as well as you may think. It's not like you're simply getting a beefier Float 32 120.

The rake on the Fox 34 is 51 mm, whereas the rake on the Fox 32 is 44 mm. On a 29er with a normal sized front tire, the difference in rake changes the trail about the same as one millimeter. In other words, the 51 mm rake fork will have about the same effective trail as a 44 mm rake fork with a one degree steeper head angle. And with the Ripley likely having an already steep head angle, going with a 51 mm rake may make the bike a little more sketchy at speed and in technical stuff.

Using the 34 at 140 mm travel instead of 120 will slacken the head angle, making the trail about the same as if you were using a 32 at 120 mm.

Math is fun.

And whoever said that 29ers can have 2 degree steeper head angle than a 26er probably hasn't actually done the math and looked at the trail figure (at least with Fox forks - I don't know the rakes of other forks).
 
#10 ·
I'm going Lefty.... again!

I have high expectations for the new Ripley... it will be replacing my Tallboy which I absolutely have a ball on - racing or all day riding.... I'm currently running a Lefty @ 120mm travel using the Project 321 tapered adapter.

I've tried other forks but always seem to come back to the Lefty: Smooth, full travel, stiff, light weight saves you almost a pound). :thumbsup:

I plan on a Lefty for the Riply as well.

Cheers
 

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#18 ·
living in the alps, i would go for a F34 talas with an angleset to get maximum slack angle (i rode a satori at 68° with felt nice, and hva got a 69° paradox). 110mm is a must to be able to climb steep inclines without turteling.
I have 2 F32 29 talas (and a reba 120, a revelation 140, a sid 100, manitou 100, tried some float in 100 and 120, marzo in 140...) and like the talas damping. Does not feel so different than the float. Crank the low speed compression to prevent brake dive and go !

The idea of the lefty is nice for a light build. It's a pitty lefty's hub have such poor geometry for whell stifness
 
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