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Suspension Forks For Trials


CurtisRider

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right since snapping my curtis forks, i found curtis wouldnt replace them and i couldnt afford to buy some new ones so i temporarily fitted some rockshox judy xcs that are about 3 years old and have seen better days in terms of abuse (externally they are mint though which is weird!)

anyway ive had them on my base for a good month or so now and my riding style has changed loads, ive always been a streety style rider, but these have got me far more into those street style moves

i currently have been doing loads of front wheel moves since fitting them and the forks arent showing any signs of breaking yet (ive fitted a headlock just incase!)

i have them setup soft (im 13stone and they go through half their trvael when i lean forwards) with what id call a medium setting on the rebound-not fast,not slow-sorry its hard to be specific without showing someone...

anyway i was wondering how many of you have used/ still use suspension on your bike? running really shit suntour forks doesnt count either (Y) i mean proper forks with damping...

ive found so far that my front end is very high-im runng a titec rip stem on 2inch rise easton ea70s but it hasnt really affected my backwheeling (i was never good anyway ;) ) balancing is a bitch as the suspension is so soft it makes you wobble about (ive got them on the hardest setting and cant really be bothered to change the springs as i intend on changing these forks asap) bunnyhops are far easier, i can bunnyhop gap way further and as mentioned before going to front wheel is far easier

i was looking into perhaps gettin some marzocchi mx comps in 85mm travel as they appaear to be the newer version on my old z4 air sports(and they were excellent), does anyone else have some suggestions?

im not ruling out rigid as it had its good points just i want to try suspension for a bit :-

i think ive given enough detail, any help would be great

cheers, paul

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right since snapping my curtis forks, i found curtis wouldnt replace them and i couldnt afford to buy some new ones so i temporarily fitted some rockshox judy xcs that are about 3 years old and have seen better days in terms of abuse (externally they are mint though which is weird!)

anyway ive had them on my base for a good month or so now and my riding style has changed loads, ive always been a streety style rider, but these have got me far more into those street style moves

i currently have been doing loads of front wheel moves since fitting them and the forks arent showing any signs of breaking yet (ive fitted a headlock just incase!)

i have them setup soft (im 13stone and they go through half their trvael when i lean forwards) with what id call a medium setting on the rebound-not fast,not slow-sorry its hard to be specific without showing someone...

anyway i was wondering how many of you have used/ still use suspension on your bike? running really shit suntour forks doesnt count either ;) i mean proper forks with damping...

ive found so far that my front end is very high-im runng a titec rip stem on 2inch rise easton ea70s but it hasnt really affected my backwheeling (i was never good anyway :( ) balancing is a bitch as the suspension is so soft it makes you wobble about (ive got them on the hardest setting and cant really be bothered to change the springs as i intend on changing these forks asap) bunnyhops are far easier, i can bunnyhop gap way further and as mentioned before going to front wheel is far easier

i was looking into perhaps gettin some marzocchi mx comps in 85mm travel as they appaear to be the newer version on my old z4 air sports(and they were excellent), does anyone else have some suggestions?

im not ruling out rigid as it had its good points just i want to try suspension for a bit (Y)

i think ive given enough detail, any help would be great

cheers, paul

i think you'd be better off just sticking with the forks you got and not buying some new ones as you will probly soon want rigid again thus saving you the price of new sus froks when you can spend it on some rigid forks

and yes i used to run sus for a while when i first started trials and it was ok just rather rigid forks :-

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i think you'd be better off just sticking with the forks you got and not buying some new ones as you will probly soon want rigid again thus saving you the price of new sus froks when you can spend it on some rigid forks

and yes i used to run sus for a while when i first started trials and it was ok just rather rigid forks  :-

but dude im doubting they will last much longer, thye ahd a fair few nasty hits on the jump bike!

if i buy new ones and find i want to go back to rigid it is no problem-the sus can go onto my spare jump frame (excuse to build it (Y) )

another reason to go wih sus is cos there is no weld at the disc mount, ive cracked 2 sets of forks there so im hoping that the 1 piece design of a sus fork will stop that.....

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but dude im doubting they will last much longer, thye ahd a fair few nasty hits on the jump bike!

if i buy new ones and find i want to go back to rigid it is no problem-the sus can go onto my spare jump frame (excuse to build it (Y) )

another reason to go wih sus is cos there is no weld at the disc mount, ive cracked 2 sets of forks there so im hoping that the 1 piece design of a sus fork will stop that.....

sounds like you've answered your own questions mate :-

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sounds like you've answered your own questions mate :-

not really cos i want more feedback from other riders with it-wanna know if im right about the disc mount or not?

and i also wanted to know what forks would be best so ermmm yeah i can see what you mean-im halfway there lol....

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Sus forks would be a cool idea.

If you get some get the ones with the lockout on, so if you ever want to go to rigid just have lockout on and it will be rigid. And vise-versa.

The only downside i think having sus forks on is that it is very hard to balance if you havent got quick rebound damping. :-

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Sus forks would be a cool idea.

If you get some get the ones with the lockout on, so if you ever want to go to rigid just have lockout on and it will be rigid. And vise-versa.

The only downside i think having sus forks on is that it is very hard to balance if you havent got quick rebound damping.  :-

the lockout is designed just for light hits-i believe hard hits will blow the seals, well thats what happened on my old psylo sls......not sure if marzocchis system is the same?

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I used to try and ride trials stuff on a mtb with RockShox Judys on, and I always found the only way it didn't feel properly shite was if I set them up pretty stiff. Giving them a stiffer feel will just make them more precise, will help with balancing ('cos you can move the front wheel more easily without having to go through much travel from pumping them down, if you get me?), and so on. Having them just to absorb the harsher sort of impacts, and to make it a bit more fun to pump into manuals/bunnyhops seemed the best sort of way to use them.

Your call though :-

Anyway, just keep them on for a bit longer. If you like the feel, try and maybe get some sorta short travel - like the 85mm Jonny Jones runs - forks. Maybe asking on OTN would be good, 'cos they seem more inclined to run sus forks?

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Tom (spunky munky boy) did have some manitou something or other ( (Y) imo) on a DB tibo. They acted really well, just like a rigid fork but with a soft tyre if you get me. So yeah i'd reccomend them if i find out what they were.

However I think an 888r would be good :- lol

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the lockout is designed just for light hits-i believe hard hits will blow the seals, well thats what happened on my old psylo sls......not sure if marzocchis system is the same?

yeah, marzocchis' lock the compression damping, so it'll lead to blown seals if you really thump it, although most systems like that will blow open if you hit them hard enough anyway. What would be good is locking on the rebound circuit, like Pace RC40's, but I dont think there are cheap/short forks that do that :-

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aha these answers are more like it!

mathuds:ha ha dirt jumpers suck :'( nah they seem to appeal to most but for trials.....hmmm i actually want to be able to get on the backwheel!

onzaboymark-yeah ill try and stiffen them up-im pretty sure you can shorten the travel on them too...i may have some old springs outta my snapped z3s still...

and yeah they do suit me really-i like bunnyhopping things and manuals are something im really close to getting right.....so far the only thing im gettin impaired on is sidehops (ha ha i can barely do them anyway) and when i have the front wheel higher than the back on an object/objects cos the forks tip me back so much

johny jones setup is probably pretty much what would suit me best i reckon-we both have the same sorta style just im not as good-spose im a bit of a ryan leech wannabe...

EDIT: whats OTN?

partz-yeah thats the effect i quite liked-its not that i cant handle rigids just suspension adds a nice little twist to trials riding-and coming from a dirt jumping backround i would like something i could huck off stairs and stuff which is pretty much what ive got now...888r would be slight overkill.....he he

dave85: yeah i dont quite think pace forks are suited to trials either :lol: but that system would be better-how exaclty does it work?

Edited by pauloliver
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i would like something i could huck off stairs and stuff which is pretty much what ive got now

These manitou forks would have been great for that I reckon. He had it set up for manifesto style trials, but you could still correctional hop on it as the force wasn't sucked up by the damping. When he comes back from away I'll ask him what they were....could be a while....

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ryan Leech seems to have been running some variant/s of marazocchi on his Norco trials rigs for years now. Hans Rey seems to like using suspension forks too. I'm sure that these guys would be able to run rigid forks if they wanted, despite whatever their sponsors marketing departments might want. ;)

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Ryan Leech seems to have been running some variant/s of marazocchi on his Norco trials rigs for years now.  Hans Rey seems to like using suspension forks too.  I'm sure that these guys would be able to run rigid forks if they wanted, despite whatever their sponsors marketing departments might want. :D

he he yeah they are awesome riders-ryan leech is one of my bigger rider influences

im still undecided on whether i like sus or not....i just whacked on my identity tuning forks (i rewelded the cracked disc mount :"> ) and i felt sooo smooth, its weird i thought that cos i had been running sus i would of gotten lazy and twatted my front end down really harhsly....but it wasnt the case-infact ive got smoother on the front ;) could be something to do with me gettin a bmx a few weeks ago-but i havent ridden it properly yet-and im anything BUT smooth on it when i have tried it

im gonna keep swapping around, experimenting-may get some 80mm bombers soon-cos 100mm is way too long

either way im enjoying riding my bike-whichever type i ride its all still good fun :P

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Hello guys

I use suspension too...I use it for more then a year...it's very fun and isn't true cus you loose balance.Is weight penalty but is there to save your day...mostly when u pic on front wheel...

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