When did front suspension start not being crap??
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justbackdated
Retrobike Rider
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3 pages and no mention of the 'P' word??????? 
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what P word?
Pr*n ?
Police?
Politics?
... now where did I put my dictionary ...
Pr*n ?
Police?
Politics?
... now where did I put my dictionary ...
theredchili
Old School Grand Master
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Pace
The only retro sus folks I ever owned ( new at the time ) was hell of an improvement on rigid's i was running at the time, not to mention the nicest looking, my original RC-35's had a gold crown, looked great coupled up with Magura's , hard to beat at the time
The only retro sus folks I ever owned ( new at the time ) was hell of an improvement on rigid's i was running at the time, not to mention the nicest looking, my original RC-35's had a gold crown, looked great coupled up with Magura's , hard to beat at the time
The trouble with this thread is that there is no official Retrobike definition of the word crap, so setting a date is difficult when forks have just gradually got better.
Some early forks were actually very light, with 24mm stanchions and air springing. I think it's fair to say that when Judys came out in 1995, they instantly became the fork you had to have. It sounds strange now, but 28mm stanchions were a huge advance on what had gone before and the elastomers were ok, at least initially, so Judys just blew the competition into the weeds.
Then in 1997, Z2 and Z1 Bombers came out with 30mm stanchions, plush coil springs and reliable damping and that was a further advance. I think this was the first time when the fork became more important than the frame - if you read any bike test, it was always the bike with a Z2 that came out as the best bike, never one with a Judy, regardless of the frames.
The Pace RC36 was a fairly close equivalent to a Bomber, but lighter and less stiff with the carbon legs and 29mm stanchions (or is it 28.6 = 1 1/8"?), but again a fork that would always make the bike it was on win a test.
Then I think it was 2001 when Fox came on the scene with 32mm stanchions, really efficient air suspension on the Float, lighter and stiffer than a Bomber. So Fox ruled and now Bombers were crap.
I think it's relevant that suspension also changed the way people ride, so 50mm travel and spindly tyres were no longer up to it. Once you get away from straightaway long distance cross country trails and get into the woods, there really is no point in having less than 100m travel and 2.2 tyres, if the quality is as good as a Fox or a Reba.
Having said that, I recently acquired a 1996 US-built VooDoo so I thought I'd treat it to a 1996 Judy SL and despite what CCE says I found this quite a fast and sure-footed bike. The more lairy the terrain, the more I would prefer a 100mm Float, but I doubt if there would be many seconds difference in my time between that and the VooDoo. And don't forget, the Judy is yellow.
Some early forks were actually very light, with 24mm stanchions and air springing. I think it's fair to say that when Judys came out in 1995, they instantly became the fork you had to have. It sounds strange now, but 28mm stanchions were a huge advance on what had gone before and the elastomers were ok, at least initially, so Judys just blew the competition into the weeds.
Then in 1997, Z2 and Z1 Bombers came out with 30mm stanchions, plush coil springs and reliable damping and that was a further advance. I think this was the first time when the fork became more important than the frame - if you read any bike test, it was always the bike with a Z2 that came out as the best bike, never one with a Judy, regardless of the frames.
The Pace RC36 was a fairly close equivalent to a Bomber, but lighter and less stiff with the carbon legs and 29mm stanchions (or is it 28.6 = 1 1/8"?), but again a fork that would always make the bike it was on win a test.
Then I think it was 2001 when Fox came on the scene with 32mm stanchions, really efficient air suspension on the Float, lighter and stiffer than a Bomber. So Fox ruled and now Bombers were crap.
I think it's relevant that suspension also changed the way people ride, so 50mm travel and spindly tyres were no longer up to it. Once you get away from straightaway long distance cross country trails and get into the woods, there really is no point in having less than 100m travel and 2.2 tyres, if the quality is as good as a Fox or a Reba.
Having said that, I recently acquired a 1996 US-built VooDoo so I thought I'd treat it to a 1996 Judy SL and despite what CCE says I found this quite a fast and sure-footed bike. The more lairy the terrain, the more I would prefer a 100mm Float, but I doubt if there would be many seconds difference in my time between that and the VooDoo. And don't forget, the Judy is yellow.
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Since the late 90's I have been a fan of the Bomber fork.
Until recently I had only used the coil sprung versions.
Whilst hugely supple (for their travel) I found their tune-ability a bit ...... meh.
I always seemed to fall between the firm and very firm springs :roll:
I recentlty fitted some 99 Superfly Air forks and found these to be a real revelation. 65mm of easy to tune supple suspension.
Even with my (cough) heavy frame they didn't batter an eyelid in the Peaks at the weekend:
On a modern retroesque note I shortened the travel on my 2008 Reba's to 70mm to see how they fared on the front of my Caldera around Cannock - the answer ...... well!
Just need some canti mount lowers now ....
Until recently I had only used the coil sprung versions.
Whilst hugely supple (for their travel) I found their tune-ability a bit ...... meh.
I always seemed to fall between the firm and very firm springs :roll:
I recentlty fitted some 99 Superfly Air forks and found these to be a real revelation. 65mm of easy to tune supple suspension.
Even with my (cough) heavy frame they didn't batter an eyelid in the Peaks at the weekend:
On a modern retroesque note I shortened the travel on my 2008 Reba's to 70mm to see how they fared on the front of my Caldera around Cannock - the answer ...... well!
Just need some canti mount lowers now ....
