Whats your favorite early 90's suspension fork

[brocklanders023]

Re:

For a 90/91 it's got to be the original Pace RC35, original Manitou or Rockshox Mag 20.

 

[SEANSTEPHENS]

Re:

The RS mag 21 Is easilly my favourite retro fork, i had a pair and they were brilliant. They rode far better than any elastomer fork ive ever ridden

 

[Defiant]

Manitou all the way!

++ Best looking CNC orgy
+ Plush
+ easy service
+ can be converted to coil springs
+ very light if using elastomeres

- no rebound dampening (but with those few cm of travel not an issue, really)

100% agree for that era. A few mods and they will never let you down.

I think I'll try these.
It is for my daughter her Dean Titanium so it won't get hard beatings any time soon.

 

[FMJ]

Hub choice made a big difference with Mags. A few companies made OS locknuts for Shimano hubs which helped with slider twisting. Hubs like Pulstar or Specialized with skraxles were a big improvement, too.

When choosing between the big 3, I went with a proven commodities from manufacturers with experience building forks (unlike Answer). I had ridden Marzocchi MX forks in the 70s and 80s, so I went with them first, then switched to Mags. The partner in Rock Shox that no one seems to remember made some of the most sought after aftermarket forks in the pro MX ranks before partnering with Paul Turner (who was the brother/mechanic for factory Suzuki rider Jim Turner).

 

[FSXStumpy]

For me, it's easy. The Specialized FSX Carbon-Ti air/oil fork of 1994. I've been running one for 20 years now (with 10 year hiatus in the middle). Original seals. Original bushes. Some new o-rings and air valves. Long travel kit (55mm) and custom damping tuning.

Add a brake booster, and its quite stiff. Cromo uppers are very long wearing. 1150g ish with alloy steerer, oil and brake bosses. As tunable as any Mag (indeed, Mag 20 internals, mostly).

Then, it carried 170# me thru races, bonzo stuff of my youth and thousands of km's of commuting. Today it guides 230# me as I teach my kids to ride, and seek to regain the svelte figure of my youth.

So what if the purchase price BITD was enough to make the wallet pucker? Damned near $800, IIRC. Gettin' my money's worth.

J

 

[captaincosmic]

Re:

Mag 21 s I have them on two of my bikes and they work as well now as they ever did ,unlike pace forks which I maintained fastidiously only to be rewarded with 10mm of travel and poor rebound.
You can play around with the baffles in the Mags and adjust the air rebound and use different oil for tuning

 

[Explosif Phil]

Re:

My favourites have always been Marzocchi Bomber 2's, which I have on my Kona

 

[jimo746]

Re:

I love the Pace RC-35's, but to be honest of all the forks from that era I found the Mag21 to be the best in real world performance.

 

[02gf74]

Re:

Marzocchi z1. Did I spell it wirght?

 

[M-Power]

Manitou all the way!

++ Best looking CNC orgy
+ Plush
+ easy service
+ can be converted to coil springs
+ very light if using elastomeres

- no rebound dampening (but with those few cm of travel not an issue, really)

100% agree for that era. A few mods and they will never let you down.

I think I'll try these.
It is for my daughter her Dean Titanium so it won't get hard beatings any time soon.

I read on a US forum about a dad who found and installed super soft 40 Shore on the Durometer scale, polyurethane elastomers in his kids fork. They worked really well.