Best high end XC fork options?

gtluke said:
@mattybfat

@Mountain Bike Mike no, opposite. Because the lefty is a "triple clamp" setup, it equalizes the load on the head tube. A standard fork actually puts a ton of pressure on the bottom bearing, and hardly any on the top one. which is why the tapered headset works and nobody is pushing for a 44mm top bearing.
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ah - I see.. So preferably a 1.5 top and bottom head tube for the lefty because the triple clamps equalizes it. What about tapered? If the load is equalized then the bottom of the tapered can handle it but the top will be undersized, no? Is my logic flawed?
 
Mountain Bike Mike said:
ah - I see.. So preferably a 1.5 top and bottom head tube for the lefty because the triple clamps equalizes it. What about tapered? If the load is equalized then the bottom of the tapered can handle it but the top will be undersized, no? Is my logic flawed?
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no
like Steve said, The lefty really only requires 1.125" head tube top and bottom because the load is equalized. We had to go to tapered, 1.5" bottom because the standard forks hammer the hell out of the bottom bearing only. Cannondale has been using 1.5" top AND bottom forever, but like steve said, it's because their original fork was the headshock which existed inside the headtube, so they needed the real estate. So they just kept with it.
 
gtluke said:
no
like Steve said, The lefty really only requires 1.125" head tube top and bottom because the load is equalized. We had to go to tapered, 1.5" bottom because the standard forks hammer the hell out of the bottom bearing only. Cannondale has been using 1.5" top AND bottom forever, but like steve said, it's because their original fork was the headshock which existed inside the headtube, so they needed the real estate. So they just kept with it.
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Cool - learned something new today...
 
Mountain Bike Mike said:
Cool - learned something new today...
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In case you have never seen one of these monstrosities, the shock existed inside the steerer. it was like one of those thudbuster seat posts, but on your fork.
this is the only reason that Cannondales have the larger head tubes, it's not because of the lefty. It's because they were already using the big head tube.
VtwS8oo.jpg
 
If it's so awesome why didn't they use it here

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Or the single strut on any MX?
Sorry I will stop the derail it has always been a pet peeve why the big C wants to throw their stupid front suspension that is and has been the most unreliable from the day's going back to the head shock.
 
gtluke said:
In case you have never seen one of these monstrosities, the shock existed inside the steerer. it was like one of those thudbuster seat posts, but on your fork.
this is the only reason that Cannondales have the larger head tubes, it's not because of the lefty. It's because they were already using the big head tube.
VtwS8oo.jpg
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I'm familiar with the headshock... I rode a C-dale killer v for 4 - 5 years in the early 2000s. I built it with a Rockshox indy instead of that fork.
 
gtluke said:
oh man, you rode a cannondale? did you apologize to Matty yet?
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Cannondale was my first mountain bike... I think when I first joined this forum, I posted a pic of it asking everyone how much $$ I could get for it and that is when I discovered the MTBNJ trolls / ball busters. I think Carson commented something really funny about the rusty chain.
 
gtluke said:
Lefty
Everything else is a noodle.
Actually the Fox 34 I had upgraded to the solo air spring by Fox actunally felt great. They retrofitted the Fox 36 internals to fit the 34's and it actually felt great. It's hard to compete with the soft bump compliance of the lefty, everything else is pretty terrible in that department. And stiffness too, you can really feel a traditional fork bend when going into hard corners. Actually you don't feel it bend, but when going TO a lefty you notice how drastic the change in precision of the steering is. It actually turns when you want it to, the turn in is totally different because of how much flex a "traditional" fork has.
Edit:
You couldn't pay me to run a rockshox on anything other than downhill type bike. Their cross country stuff is so awful. maybe they have improved after the Reba but holy crap I can't believe they sold a fork that was so bad. I'd really have to be convinced otherwise.
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I kinda liked the one on Falco's bike after it got fixed. Travel is adjustable from 120-150. You should try it.
 
jShort said:
To be fair... lefty's are some of the most finicky forks made. One ride can feel great, the next they feel like poop.
Fox forks may not feel as good, but every fox I had was a set it and forget it (until the stancions wore away 🙂 )
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You'd be more on the negative side if what happened at CR happened at Mooch lol @jShort
 
XC fork, lefty hands down. Weight/stiffness/feel nothing compares to it…especially in the 100mm range of forks IMO. As the weight/travel increase and the foxes/RS’ can be made larger 36mm etc…I think the gap is much closer. But for XC range, nothing else I have ridden has the small bump compliance, the smoothness, progressive feel.

My xlr has over 10,000 miles on in 5 years. Same internals, service every 6 months. Just saying. The last reba I had on my epic survived about 4000 miles…the upper wore away and since it was a carbon crown/steerer…it was ungodly expensive to replace…basically made the entire fork junk. I mean I hear people say its finicky… if you are looking for something with oil, seals, pressure chamber and moving parts to remain exactly the same, forever without touching it…really, you should be riding a ridged SS…stay away from suspension all together. Which is probably why matty rides a ridged with mechanical brakes.

@mattybfat There is no reason to have a lefty DH fork and certainly not a moto fork. DH forks are already dual crown and you don’t weigh things in grams on a motocross bike. What would be the point of a DH lefty? I mean im sure you could make a one sided DH fork lighter, but who cares…not that many people counting grams on DH bikes….and with DH forks being dual crown, there isn’t the advantage in stiffness.
 
I've owned almost every headshock variation, they were pretty good when 3" of travel was considered a lot. I've owned/ridden every Lefty variation also, and I think that Fox and Rockshox have them beat in the damping and consistency department. The lefty is nowwhere near as supple as a 36 or Pike. Must be the hybrid needle-bearing thing.
 
Monkey Soup said:
I've owned almost every headshock variation, they were pretty good when 3" of travel was considered a lot. I've owned/ridden every Lefty variation also, and I think that Fox and Rockshox have them beat in the damping and consistency department. The lefty is nowwhere near as supple as a 36 or Pike. Must be the hybrid needle-bearing thing.
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ever try the newer...2014 and up supermax? I would definitely put it up against the 140 fox 36 I rode on a sultan last year.

The older xlrs are by comparison tiny to a modern pike... My carbon one weighs 2.8 lbs, for its size, its amazing, but its not an Enduro or dh fork
 
You been away from moto too long @UtahJoe moto heads are counting grams and in downhill you better damn believe they are counting grams. They have become the biggest weight weenies in cycling.
 
Something that most people don't realize is bicycle suspension has been and probably always will be a trickled down effect from DH racing bikes. It starts from the top. That's how we got to the Pike derived from the boxxer fox cloned there f40s. Point is the lefty comes from where? I been told it's exactly same internals as the Pike in fact I could be wrong but I think rock shox worked with cdale to devoloping that lefty. Correct me if I am wrong @jdog
 
MX bikes have a minimum weight for competition…just like a road bike. So they cant go insane with lightness. Yes they are always trying to make them lighter…but unlike an XC bike..you wont find parts on it that have a max rider weight of 175lbs. They don’t compromise strength on an MX bike for lightness, EVER. Factory bikes use machined rather than stock casted parts bc they are lighter, but they are also stronger. Carbon fiber hubs that are stronger than shitty cast stock one, also stronger…. You would never, ever find something like my valors on an MX bike…where the manufacturer says “ok, ill give you this insanely light wheel for xc racing….but you know..dont do the redbull rampage with it. Everything on an MX bike is redbull rampage. FIRST. Weight second. You can make an XC bike and if someone takes it off the road to nowhere and it splits in half? Perfectly ok…not meant to do that. MX bikes don’t work like this.


They use similar/same dampeners, but they still use the hex slider and needle bearings
 
UtahJoe said:
ever try the newer...2014 and up supermax? I would definitely put it up against the 140 fox 36 I rode on a sultan last year.

The older xlrs are by comparison tiny to a modern pike... My carbon one weighs 2.8 lbs, for its size, its amazing, but its not an Enduro or dh fork
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I took my brothers friends Jekyll with a supermax up in VT when I was shopping for new bikes. I liked the bike overall, and the fork was good, but the damping does not feel on par with a 36 or Pike (even though I don't like SRAM as a company). Both of those feel much better off the top. On the other hand, these were160mm forks, not 120, and my prioity is more on going down the hill fast.
 
gtluke said:
Actually you don't feel it bend, but when going TO a lefty you notice how drastic the change in precision of the steering is. It actually turns when you want it to, the turn in is totally different because of how much flex a "traditional" fork has.
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This pretty much sums it up. Lefty's are really point and shoot. They just track amazingly. And obviously the small bump compliance is really good. As far as the dampening goes it can always be tuned by someone like mendem and is really not that much money when it comes to bike expenses.
 
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