Mag's or Judy's?

[development_cycle]

Ok so here is the deal, I have a lovely Jamis Dakar Team full suspension bike from 1995. It is spec'd with Judy XC, but seems to have come with what look like Mag 21's.

So here is the question, do I use the Aheadset and Stem that I have already and source some Judy XC's, or do I spruce up the Mag's and replace the headset and stem?

Never ridden either forks with anger, so interested in retro value/originality/functionality/weight, or whatever else you come up with.

 

[mtbfix]

Hey, Tim.

Judy was, IMO, the firsts suspension fork that actually worked. It was launched in anger in 95 and a clean set will still work well. Mags, Quadras and Indys all best avoided. Only issue is finding a set of 14 year old forks in good nick.

 

[captain8track]

re:

a lot of lightweight fork such as the FRM fork is basically an Mag 21 with some carbon stuff, still it weighs around the same as a Mag 21 SL Ti and if your'e a lightweighter the Mag would still be a roller!

but it will **** the geometry of the bike up, go for a 63mm's Judy that will work, but the first judys where only 50mm of travel so I'm not sure. older sid's are lowerable...

 

[Archangel]

Actually in 1995 at least MBA magazine testers favoured Mag 21 ahead of Judy.

Mag 10/20/21/30 are really racers' forks that are superbly adjustable and work well if taken care of. However, the problem is that finding spare parts is extremely difficult nowadays.

Judies on the other hand had elastomers which crumble/harden and 95/96 models had also a plastic oil cartridge which tended to destroy itself very easily- 96 SL and 97 all models had an aluminum cartridge which rectified the problem.

But all in all, a Judy is much more hassle free fork than a Mag.

 

[FluffyChicken]

JUDY are stiffer under braking and turning than MAG21's

MAG21 are far more adjustable for types of riding, I'm still trying to get my 1995 JUDY XC with Wing springs (so 60mm ?) to work as I would like ('95/'96 JUDY came in three lengths and can be interchanged between them, 50/63/80mm iirc) so know which length you are buying, off course as you go up you increase the sag number.

MAG's can have their lenght increase to the 63mm (standard long travel) or if you are handy with tools to longer, though you increase 'flex' as you do so.

Grab a headset & stem (or see if you can just use a lock nut with your current headset to do the clamping down and see if a quill will fix in there.

Pictures and more Pictures

Ignore the comment about f**king the geometry up, MAG21's and 1995 JUDY XC (in original length) are about the same axle to crown.

 

[captain8track]

re:

I acctually thought that a 43mm travel mag would be shorter AC then a 63mm judy?

How do u change travel to 80mm in an 96 SL? would be fun to know, as I have a 96SL which need more travel

 

[FluffyChicken]

Standard JUDY XC is (2") 50mm, (2.5") SL is the 60mm one [and can go to 75mm (3")] which is longer. 420mm ATC for 60mm I think and MAG standard length is 405/410mm from memory or around there.)


Travel changing is in the Service manual iirc, it's
Judy XC, SL and FSX models are capable of having any of three travels that are
available: 2" (50mm), 2.5" (60mm), or 3" (75mm). The list below gives part
numbers for different cartridge kits available: (cartridge kit=cartridge and
neutral shaft)
2.0" (50mm) adj. cartridge kit 59053
2.5" (60mm) adj. cartridge kit 59054
3.0" (75mm) adj. cartridge kit 59055
The standard MCU spring stack may need to be adjusted when travel is changed.
MCU spring kit part number 59043 includes 2 solid, 4 blue, 4 red springs. See
previous REMOVING MCU STACKS section for details on changing MCU spring stack.
... etc..

 

[scant]

what rockshox should have done was put the mag21 internals in the judy externals.

 

[captain8track]

re:

what they should have done was to beef up the indy with mag 21 internals and disc mounts and in carbon with 80mm travel... oh wait that is the FRM fork...

I still like the Indy SL, had one of thoose after my judy sl bitd and acctually felt that the Indy suited me better. Gave a friend an 80mm's Jet fork and he quite likes it, some people like the feel of the indys, I'm one of them.

 

[MJN]

what rockshox should have done was put the mag21 internals in the judy externals.

Guess they sort of did that with the SID :idea: