Best EMTB fork?.

[SurreySteve]

I think you need to get over that and look at guys like Sam Reynolds, Brett Tippie, Tom Isted, and others, who are charging far harder than you ever will, and all on Suntour forks. I take it you've never looked at the cheap, rusty, Rockshox crap forks then? Do some proper research, instead of turning your nose up dude.

Easy to say ... but I once got some OEM WTB tyres on a bike. Now I can't have anything WTB on a bike even though I know they make some 1/2 decent stuff. Nothing can change the fact in my head the name now means "dangerous crap"... and I'd just feel unsafe riding with any of their products on a bike.

 

[CJaMTB]

You need to be careful with that though, otherwise you'll end up with nothing left to ride!

 

[VWsurfbum]

When I first joined the motor trade, a guy once said to me pretty much the same thing. "You'll hate all cars for different reasons"
Still to this day I wont touch anything made by the cheese eating surrender monkeys And from the bike world Crank Bros.

 

[Gary]

You should probably also go and educate yourself by reading some actual unbiased facts on the surrendering part of your blinkered prejudice outlook.

Pretty ironic being a VW fanboi too don't you think?

 

[VWsurfbum]

You should probably also go and educate yourself by reading some actual unbiased facts on the surrendering part of your blinkered prejudice outlook.

Pretty ironic being a VW fanboi too don't you think?

I've educated myself on that side of things , Not really a VW fan anymore either, a name was given to me many many years ago when I worked for Toyota.

 

[LowStandards]

Any idea how good the MRP Ribbon Coil is?

 

[VWsurfbum]

Any idea how good the MRP Ribbon Coil is?

Farty. @Dave.B had one and every time it compressed it let one go!
For a non air fork it seemed to hold air and it squeezed out past the oil seals.

 

[militantmandy]

Any idea how good the MRP Ribbon Coil is?

A friend of mine who is a lot faster than me had one. He said it was nice and supple but unpleasantly flexy when pushed.

 

[Bomble]

I swap between Lyrik and Zeb but can’t decide which I prefer. The Lyrik is awesome and the bike is more agile, the zeb just plows through everything and hardly gets deflected.
I have a lot less scary moments with the Zeb but the Lyrik makes the bike more fun. First world problem
Best fork ive ridden was a Fox 38 performance on a Whyte, the one with the sliding compression adjuster. Easy to setup and felt amazing everywhere.

 

[Singletrackmind]

If the lyrik and pike are on your short list , then the fox 36 (and maybe even fox 34) should probably also be on there.

To be honest , all/any of those will be decent options, just depends on your budget and what you class as trail riding.

It looks to me like the zeb ultimate is possibly the best for the money, or the fox 38 factory if money is no issue.

I think most people will not have ridden the current version of all those forks though , so people will largely recommend what they have.

Spot on analysis!

 

[BowenTheSheep]

I think you need to get over that and look at guys like Sam Reynolds, Brett Tippie, Tom Isted, and others, who are charging far harder than you ever will, and all on Suntour forks. I take it you've never looked at the cheap, rusty, Rockshox crap forks then? Do some proper research, instead of turning your nose up dude.

Sorry, but they ride "suntour" forks the same way that Sam Pilgrim rides a "Haibike" dirt jumper: *Technically* made by the brand, but not exactly an off-the-shelf model.

 

[Endoguru]

I have ridden the latest ZEB, Fox 36 and 38. I think it comes down to what kind of riding you do. In my lighter weight non ebike I have the 36 because I’m trying minimize weight to make the uphill suffering as minimal as possible. On my long travel ebike I have the 38. I much prefer the downhills and for me the 38 is the best fork I’ve ever had. Very plush yet stays up in its travel and doesn’t blow through the travel on my many poor jump landings.

 

[CJaMTB]

Sorry, but they ride "suntour" forks the same way that Sam Pilgrim rides a "Haibike" dirt jumper: *Technically* made by the brand, but not exactly an off-the-shelf model.

And you know that for a fact how..? I know that Tom rides a completely off the shelf model, becuase we have mutual riding mates and so I know there's nothing 'trick' or 'pro' about his forks. Do let me know who your source is for your info, 'cos I don't think they're particularly reliable.

 

[1oldfart]

Will be upgrading to a better fork in the near future for aggressive trail riding.What have you found works for you in the 150-180mm range?.

So far I am thinking Zeb, Lryrik, Pike or Fox 38.

What is your fork presently?

 

[R120]

Sorry, but they ride "suntour" forks the same way that Sam Pilgrim rides a "Haibike" dirt jumper: *Technically* made by the brand, but not exactly an off-the-shelf model.

Sam Reynolds rides a bone stock off the shelf fork - I once had a good chat with him about his set up when out in the Surrey Alps, he was riding with out riding with Blake Samson and to paraphrase what he told me, he was always amused by the amount of people riding around locality with full factory set ups and crazy kit, when the average stuff is good enough for him and anyone else.

 

[joliver]

I just rode a ZEB Dual Position (150/180mm) and I couldn't be happier.
For strong climbs I put it at 150mm at a time and when not, to enjoy, I am delighted.
I'm not one for many adjustments, I'm not that "delicate" but if necessary, you can put the R2C2 cartridge in it and it becomes a Dual Position Ultimate.
In addition, it is very economical.

 

[BowenTheSheep]

Sam Reynolds rides a bone stock off the shelf fork - I once had a good chat with him about his set up when out in the Surrey Alps, he was riding with out riding with Blake Samson and to paraphrase what he told me, he was always amused by the amount of people riding around locality with full factory set ups and crazy kit, when the average stuff is good enough for him and anyone else.

Fair enough, I stand corrected.

 

[Planemo]

Have a very good look at the SR Suntour Durolux forks. I have previously always favoured the Lyrik Ultimate but, having recently picked one up through the trade, I have been riding a Durolux36 R2C2 for the last couple of months and so far have only good things to say about it. Performs way above its price point, which is half that of some of the Fox forks! My initial review is here.

The first time I ever tried Suntours was the stock Aions on my 2019 Trance3. Previously I wouldn't have even thought about anything other than Fox/RS. Even being 'lowly' Aion's, they were every bit as good as my 2020 Lyriks, especially when I swopped out the Aion negative spring to a softer one. In fact I would stick my neck out and say the Aion's were actually better re stiction. As a result I would deffo consider Suntours again in any future fork choice.

 

[2WheelsNot4]

You mean like the respect you showed with your original post, or did you edit that too now? You are right though, I have no respect for you.

I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize for my earlier snappy comment. It was unfair of me.

But suntour are not fit for purpose, and companies stocking them on bikes are a bane of the novice cyclist. Their cheapness only means the customer ends up with a POS fork. We should have standards.
Especially when people are sending £2 1/2k on an Ebike and they're getting the poo end of the stick.

Mine was just over £5k. This is something else you can get for that type of money.

Axminster Engineer Series SX4 Mill Drill DIGI

This advanced mill/drill has a 3-axis digital read-out (DRO) of the table position (X & Y), plus the head stock height (Z). All the other attributes of the standard SX4 are here including being made almost entirely of cast iron with a dovetail column...

www.axminstertools.com

315kg, high precision, designed for industrial use for decades. Hundreds of individual precision parts. Compared to a 24kg bike with a somewhat unreliable motor, at least by comparison. These companies are ripping us off to hell. And it sickens me when they put tat on a bike and tout it as something special.

 

[CJaMTB]

I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize for my earlier snappy comment. It was unfair of me.

But suntour are not fit for purpose, and companies stocking them on bikes are a bane of the novice cyclist. Their cheapness only means the customer ends up with a POS fork. We should have standards.
Especially when people are sending £2 1/2k on an Ebike and they're getting the poo end of the stick.

Mine was just over £5k. This is something else you can get for that type of money.

Axminster Engineer Series SX4 Mill Drill DIGI

This advanced mill/drill has a 3-axis digital read-out (DRO) of the table position (X & Y), plus the head stock height (Z). All the other attributes of the standard SX4 are here including being made almost entirely of cast iron with a dovetail column...

www.axminstertools.com

315kg, high precision, designed for industrial use for decades. Hundreds of individual precision parts. Compared to a 24kg bike with a somewhat unreliable motor, at least by comparison. These companies are ripping us off to hell. And it sickens me when they put tat on a bike and tout it as something special.

Blimey! First off, thank you and no worries. Secondly, where have you been? Hope all is well and there's no negative reason for the duration between posts?

Whilst I agree that their cheaper end forks are crap, so are Rockshox's, but we don't dismiss what's good just because of what's bad.

 

[2WheelsNot4]

Blimey! First off, thank you and no worries. Secondly, where have you been? Hope all is well and there's no negative reason for the duration between posts?

Ach, you know how it is. It sits in the back of your mind that you've been a bit off and its time to sort it.

And I agree, though its probably the same for all forks of a certain price. BITD forks at a given price were pretty much good and fit for purpose, but as prices have increased and (profits maximized) fork makers are in my opinion taking the piss out of us.
Take something like a standard lyrik or pike. 450+ is a lot of money and all they really want to offer is that we buy a different damper or airshaft assembly, sometimes costing 1/2 the original rice.
So what they are effectively doing it putting out a range of forks that must be upgraded and they make their extra profit from that.

Companies like suntour at the top end make decent forks, but the lower end are just a joke, andd for a bike company putting such an offering on a bike thats retailing at 2-3 thousand pounds shows that they simply dont care about the end users experience or how much theyre pretty much losing out by having to buy a different fork

 

[1oldfart]

It is not only forks in my opinion.
Just look at Specialized, Trek and others.
They are asking wayyyyyy toooo much, like pay an extra 2,000$ just for our stickers.
I own a 2021 Giant/Yamaha Stance E+ and the fork is lower level but the price of
that Ebike is a lot lower than any other.

 

[CJaMTB]

Sadly, I think prices are only going to go one way, given where we are globally, and especially so if you live in the UK right now! I'm very grateful that I have the skills to be able to maintain my own stuff, in fact, I'm thinking about offering lessons to teach other people how to properly look after a bike. There must be an awful lot of folk out there who want to save money and keep riding.

Anyhow, I'm rambling a bit now. Stay safe all, and keep riding

 

[Dave_B]

Farty. @Dave.B had one and every time it compressed it let one go!
For a non air fork it seemed to hold air and it squeezed out past the oil seals.

it was very loud......

 

[CJaMTB]

it was very loud......

Maybe had a duff one, mine doesn't sound like that at all (thank god!)

 

[RustyMTB]

Sadly, I think prices are only going to go one way, given where we are globally, and especially so if you live in the UK right now! I'm very grateful that I have the skills to be able to maintain my own stuff, in fact, I'm thinking about offering lessons to teach other people how to properly look after a bike. There must be an awful lot of folk out there who want to save money and keep riding.

Anyhow, I'm rambling a bit now. Stay safe all, and keep riding

Same in that waving spanners around is a pleasure for me. Not everyone thinks the same way or has the time spare but it's an integral part of my mountain biking experience. Shred the bike, take note of that weird rattle/click/noise then put it in the stand & hunt the bastard down. On suspension in particular, a friend of mine runs a servicing business & he'll tell you 95% of his job is cleaning. I agree with him.

 

[CJaMTB]

...95% of his job is cleaning. I agree with him.

I used to charge an additional £30 for that, in the workshop!