I've got a mid-90s Saracen Kili currently with rigid forks and have just started taking it off-road a bit. Not having done any off-road stuff for about 25 years my aging body isn't really that enamoured with the rattling around its getting. According to the old catalogues it had Rockshox Judys, Manitou EFCs or Pace RC35s as options. I'm not a stickler for keeping it original as it was by all accounts one of the clearout frames never a complete bike. So how do the retro forks measure up against modern (last 5 years or so) forks. I know I need to find something with 80mm travel to suit the geomtery of the frame. Are even the current entry level Rockshox XC range better performance wise than forks from the mid 90s?
Suspension forks - retro vs modern
- Thread starter Kerplunk
- Start date
- Feedback
- View
Some early Fox F80's or Rock Shox Reba's would be a good choice in my opinion. Both light forks and available with canti mounts. 80mm of travel shouldn't upset geometry too much. Both sell for sub £100 (used). Just make sure the servicing has been kept on top of and you should be fine.
- Feedback
- View
marzocci.
secret_squirrel
Senior Retro Guru
- Feedback
- View
Be aware at 80mm travel you may have to start playing around with stem lengths. Most of the forks it was designed for were of less travel than that.
- Feedback
- View
Perhaps a Judy with speed springs? Old a-c length with improved performance over original elastomers? Certainly can't go wrong with Marzocchi's. I've serviced lots of old Z2's etc that had probably never been serviced in over a decade to find them near 'as new' inside.
PACE RC35/36's or Judys. Bombers are nice but a bit on the heavy side.
:mrgreen:
:mrgreen:
suburbanreuben
Old School Grand Master
Any decent modern fork can have it's travel shortened by adding travel spacers, so you should be able to keep the geometry virtually the same.
With modern damping, even 70mm of travel will be magic carpet plush compared to last century's offerings.
With modern damping, even 70mm of travel will be magic carpet plush compared to last century's offerings.
We_are_Stevo
Old School Grand Master
- Feedback
- View
At risk of sounding boring... :facepalm:
You could do a lot worse than pick yourself up a decent nick RST Mozo PRO; don't be fooled by the poor report because of the entry level forks they produced at the same time and the same current offerings...
...the Mozo PRO (and Comp) came in a variety of lengths with both canti/V bosses and disk mount, in enough colours to match to most frames.
They look like a Judy but the internals are better; MCU/spring stacks in each leg and a simple air valve damper in the bottom of each leg. They are very easy to maintain and offer decent enough performance for most riding a retro bike (and it's rider) would subject them to.
I just bought a virtually mint red Mozo Pro from 'Matthews' on here and when I removed the internals so I could swap an alloy-steered crown on to it they looked like new (I was going to swap some slightly longer stanchions over as well but the originals are too good not to use!)...
The best thing about them is you get all this for between £30 - £40 for a really good example!
You don't really need much more on a retro, unless you're worried about 'labels...'
You could do a lot worse than pick yourself up a decent nick RST Mozo PRO; don't be fooled by the poor report because of the entry level forks they produced at the same time and the same current offerings...
...the Mozo PRO (and Comp) came in a variety of lengths with both canti/V bosses and disk mount, in enough colours to match to most frames.
They look like a Judy but the internals are better; MCU/spring stacks in each leg and a simple air valve damper in the bottom of each leg. They are very easy to maintain and offer decent enough performance for most riding a retro bike (and it's rider) would subject them to.
I just bought a virtually mint red Mozo Pro from 'Matthews' on here and when I removed the internals so I could swap an alloy-steered crown on to it they looked like new (I was going to swap some slightly longer stanchions over as well but the originals are too good not to use!)...
The best thing about them is you get all this for between £30 - £40 for a really good example!
You don't really need much more on a retro, unless you're worried about 'labels...'
simonlovell99
Senior Retro Guru
+1 on marzocchi's, z2, z3 or z4 either air air or coil with 80mm or newer MX comps/pro 80mm. Some have a lockout feature (ETA). Either that or rst mozo pros 3.5, had a pair and converted to coil ( speed springs). Careful with MCU/elastomer forks as they are whether dependent (warm = soft/bouncy) and (cold = hard or rigid). If get 80mm, minus 15/20mm sag. Measure your current rigid from Axel to crown, 80mm forks are around the 425mm mark.
Hope that helps
Hope that helps
