26" Forks For '06 Zoo

[Gibbon on an Orange 2]

Well it's coming up to christmas and I think it's time for some forks.

I've recently got the Zoo finally feeling good with new bars and stem, but I feel the forks are compromising the geo.

They're the old 2003 Orange trials forks they made for the Zero (which I ran them on), but I can't help but feel there's far too much rake so they look like they're sticking out the front like buck teeth?

Does anyone know that the Geo of these forks are compared to modern ones?

I seem to recall them being close to 1000g too so it would be nice to shed some weight from the front end, I like the look of the Echo SL and Echo Urbans, though at 16st am I a tad heavy for the lightweight SL's?

Also, whats the difference in feel between the straight blade and curved forks? I mostly do comp style natural stuff, and ride smooth rather than bash.

Needs to be suitable for a front 180mm Mono Mini caliper and disc.

[Alex Dark]

To be honest, the urbans are probably your best bet on a budget. pretty strong, lightweight and reasonably priced.

I run trialtechs, their only drawback being their length, and a few of my mates have the rockman spade's which seem to be holding up really well and have a geo far better suited to most natural frames.

The orange forks are very short with a long rake I think?

The SL's wouldn't be a good call i don't think. Not very strong at all.

Straight blades and curved both end up being the same geometry, the rake and length is usually the same.

Edited December 7, 2010 by Alex Dark

[Luke Rainbird]

To be honest, the urbans are probably your best bet on a budget. pretty strong, lightweight and reasonably priced.

I run trialtechs, their only drawback being their length, and a few of my mates have the rockman spade's which seem to be holding up really well and have a geo far better suited to most natural frames.

Another vote for Urbans - I've seen a couple of sets of the Rockman forks in bits and not just from big/heavy riders so for the sake of a few grams I'd go with the Echo option

Budget dependant, something like Trialtechs are nice and solid. TryAll Forxx are also a sweet option if you want to sharpen up the steering a tad as they've 35mm rake as opposed to the usual 45mm, giving the effect of a steeper head angle and reigning in the wheelbase a touch

[Sponge]

I got my brother a set of 26" SLs for him to start out on, but I have always wondered why the curved SLs are that much 'weaker' than their Urban counterparts? Same steerer, same cutouts, but are the legs just much much thinner in material than the Urbans for them to become so weak?

[Gibbon on an Orange 2]

The orange forks are very short with a long rake I think?

They seem so:

I'm thinking the beefier Urbans will be the best bet, just wondering if it was worth trying the curved style as I heard years ago that a curved fork gave more 'spring' when hopping, but I'd rather just lifft harder and not have my forks and up in bits mid section

the Urbans seem to be one of the ones available with normal disc mounts rather than me having to run a 200mm rotor with my 180mm caliper.

[Sponge]

Wow, that's nice! I'm building my brother the exact same up. Is yours the long or the short?

[Ben John - Hynes]

To be honest, the urbans are your best bet on a budget. pretty strong, lightweight and reasonably priced.

Another for Urbans.

06 Zoo! rides so well with Urbans. I had one with them

[Gibbon on an Orange 2]

Wow, that's nice! I'm building my brother the exact same up. Is yours the long or the short?

Cheers. Mine's the short as that's the only length that was left so I didn't really have a choice. I was used to the Zero though so this is a stretched Limo in comparrison!

Hmm, seems like it's the Urbans then!

Out of interest, does anyone have a pic of an 06 Pitbull with Urbans on so I can see the difference in fork length and offset?