Leading from the front pannier onto bolt thru... Got me recalling the love I had for my Bombers. Never realised others loved theirs and they were just so... well... they just worked.

Anyway, my favourite must have been the Magura Menja 140mm. They were the upgrade from the Bombers (or the upgrade from the bombers to the Talas and then finally to them). Can't remember, but they just worked and lasted and lasted without any fiddling or faffing.

When I finally sent them to the UK Magura specialist (RaceMechanic I think he was called) after about 3 years he sent em back in bits. With an offer to rebuild another set from NOS he had. He had to decomission them cos one of the adjusters under the stantions was siezed (and allow so ungrippable). They never needed any adjustment in them 3 years but that was probably mainly cos they didn't have much adjustment to make.

I loved em... So I got nice-person RaceMechanic (honest... he was lovely to deal with) to build me another set which did me another 2 or 3 years. They also either go seized, or I sold em to go check out the rigid fuss (with some Surly 1x... they were trash)..

Whats your favourite forks ever... and why

Salsa Fargo V2 fork

Cheap
Lasted years without so much a service
Comfortable enough
Cheap
Wide, never had trouble fitting tyres
Will take a rack, guards and anything cages
Cheap

Z1s were great. People say game-changer a lot but the Z1s were. I had a v1 Chameleon with orange Z1s, D521 rims and IRC Kujo tyres, Azonic bars and stem - such a great bike.

Since then, the Jones truss fork. Not game changing but eye opening. Maybe to rigid forks what the Z1 was to suspension forks back then.

Pace RC35 MXCD suspension forks. Elastomer with maybe 60mm travel.! Lush carbon sliders. No adjustment and all held together with c-clips.
Marvellous. Considering they replaced a Girvin flex stem they were a technological revelation

Can I play?

#PukingGnome

JohnClimber wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:35 pm Can I play?

#PukingGnome

Only if you don’t mind every one Laufing at you

JohnClimber wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:35 pm Can I play?

#PukingGnome

Don't think you're allowed to play the puking knome without actually having access to it...

marzocchi bombers (sp?) fecking vaguely exciting.

1st edition fox 36's, bombproof.

Totems.

It's forks. They either hold the front wheel on or they bounce up and down a bit and hold the front wheel on. I can't say I take much notice of them.

Pace RC31 C types - notable for the flex (or is it flutter) when braking. I'd love to still have those on my Onion.

Major revelation (no pun) would be the Blutos on my current fatbike. Seven years of believing that fat/suspension was an unnecessary mix only to have that thrown up into the air. They say that if you don't try, you'll never know.

Probably Kona project 2 forks, although they came on the front of a brand new 1994 cinder cone which was such a massive upgrade from the previous Saracen it's hard to isolate the effect of the forks!

Otherwise, Sunn obsys upsidedown DH forks on the front of my Sunn Radical. They were such an amazing step up from anything else I'd tried (Judys on my Kona, and rc35s, bombers or mag21s on other people's bikes) and were way ahead of their time - as was most of that bike really. I love old bombers, and still have some MXCs on my singlespeed, but these were a class above.

I'd quite like a set of Blutos too!

I guess the boxxer 151s I had on the Schwinn straight-8 which replaced the sunn when it got robbed were as good, but didn't have the same amazing leap forward feeling.

PaulE wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:19 am Probably Kona project 2

I was thinking of (well, similar to) these. My GT Pantera had the rigids on which first got me loving rigids. So beautiful and lovely and I still remember riding down the back track from my old house with em. Tried to upgrade the worn BB on that bike and it never quite recovered.

Colin, can't believe you can talk with such indifference about forks. For me it's whats makes or breaks a ride

Good game and hard to decide.

Maybe some Z4 Bombers that 'just' worked and required nothing. Possibly SC Shivers but perhaps more for how they looked than performance or could be some 160mm 66 that I had on the front of a very slack NS hardtail ... that was quite mad but lots of fun DH.

SID WC Carbons. Magnesium lowers, carbon crown, alu. steerer, 63mm of travel, all the vagueness in the world while steering. However, one of the lightest racing forks I've ever owned and one of the best.

THough I do now have a new set of SID Ultimates to cut down to put on my bike today....so we shall see how they compare with nearly twice the travel and stiffness :)

Fox Vanilla 32's c.2005 (iirc).

My first every elastomer forks on a Trek 4500 were a revelation as my first front suspension, however, the Fox's were the first schmooth forks I ran.

I had soem Pace RC36 before them but they were a bit of a PITA and rather firm / wooden / jarring.

As others have said, there's been loads and several have been improvements or revelations at the time.

I always think that the best suspension is the one you don't notice - and the only forks I've had that fit that criteria have been the DT Swiss forks on my hardtail - super plush.

I think possibly the worst forks were the SID Race forks on my 2002 FSR - short travel (63mm claimed, about 50mm actual), and eventually filled up with water on a very wet ride round Coed-y-Brenin. I had to strip them at the car park, empty the water out and carry on with no oil in at all. And super flexy.

ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:18 am
Pace RC31 C types - notable for the flex (or is it flutter) when braking. I'd love to still have those on my Onion.

Still running a pair of those on one bike

To be fair I could reminisce about old Mavericks, Pace, etc., but in reality forks have definitely benefitted from developments in design and build over the years so it would truly be a case of rose-tinted glasses to choose anything from 'back in the day'

The things on the front of my mate's White PRST 1. Simply because of the pleasure I got for pointing at them and laughing. I am sure they invented the puking gnome long before Lauf came along.

Dave Barter wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 11:55 am The things on the front of my mate's White PRST 1. Simply because of the pleasure I got for pointing at them and laughing. I am sure they invented the puking gnome long before Lauf came along.

They were amazing looking bikes Dave mind you, John Whyte had a good reputation for suspension design.

Another one on 'mate's bikes' was the USE Sub which was apparently a good fork.

Niner Carbon fork, convinced me that riding fully rigid could be great fun after only ever going off rood bouncing

jam bo wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:59 pmTotems.

+1

They were incredible.

redefined_cycles wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:32 am
Colin, can't believe you can talk with such indifference about forks. For me it's whats makes or breaks a ride

Sorry Shaf. If they go boing they're fine. Having a lock-up lever is handy for when I don't want them to go boing. Worrying about spring rates, compression, rebound damping, ramp up and whatever just detracts from the riding IMHO. It might be different if you're into competing when having eight different adjustments might save a second or two.

ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 1:25 pm

redefined_cycles wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 12:32 am
Colin, can't believe you can talk with such indifference about forks. For me it's whats makes or breaks a ride

Sorry Shaf. If they go boing they're fine. Having a lock-up lever is handy for when I don't want them to go boing. Worrying about spring rates, compression, rebound damping, ramp up and whatever just detracts from the riding IMHO. It might be different if you're into competing when having eight different adjustments might save a second or two.

Yes. Agreed. I hate all them extra dials. I think that's why i really loved the Magura Menjas (the shorter 120mm weren't they same with too much brake dive)... so simple to setup. I'm looking forward to getting out on the rigid Ramin forks too and hoping they're as comfy as I expect/hope them to be.

At some point I'll b3 going back to rigids on the Sonder but probably not Travis Prongs. They weren't 'the ones' for me...

In date order....

Replacing my rigid forks on my old trek with Manitou Pro C. They were rubbish compared to anything that followed but a big step for me at the time.
Then Z1, yes the orange ones. Amazing forks, at the time.
I think the next big thing for me was fox 36 coils. Superb. Then I spent a lot of time fettling lyrics, changed to coil, fiddle with the shim stacks, oils weights etc. Got them just right

Currently, I have some 2021 SID selects in 120mm. Light, stiff, work really well, half the price of fox.
Best I've had all round.

JohnClimber wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:35 pm Can I play?

#PukingGnome