29er front suspension forks suggestions.

Heading off to work, but wanting some suggestions for a new front forks. Current ones were the original ones on my diamondback overdrive. 100mm travel 1 and 1/8" threadless disc brake. SR Suntour XCT 29", 100mm travel, external lock-out, external preload.

This shock was fine for me. Seals started leaking and started getting a lot of play and flex around 13,000 miles. Over 19,000 miles now it's still surviving but has been on the list for a while. Just ordered all new drive train stuff, and hydraulic brake upgrade for front and rear. Down to replacing the shock and probably going to buy a new front rim with hub.

I don't need heavy trail ride suggestions. It's a hard tail, and it rarely goes on dirt. Looking for sub 200 USD shock, closer to 150 preferred. Also looking for shipping within the U.S.. Amazon just has a poor selection of 29er forks with reviews and shipping from the U.S.

Haven't started to search for rim replacement for front yet. Nothing wrong with it, but the hub has spinning for nearly 20k, so if anyone wants to suggest a reasonable priced equal or higher quality front rim and hub speak up.

I think it is so cheap/on a closeout price , because it is a 36 hole front hub.

But if you order a 36 hole rim from them as well it would work.
DT Swiss and Mavic have some strong rims.

http://www.jensonusa.com/Shimano-Deore-M525A-Hub?cs=Black

These items of course will be for forks with drop outs, not the newer through axle forks.

rborger73 said:

I don't need heavy trail ride suggestions. It's a hard tail, and it rarely goes on dirt. Looking for sub 200 USD shock, closer to 150 preferred. Also looking for shipping within the U.S.. Amazon just has a poor selection of 29er forks with reviews and shipping from the U.S.

Click to expand...

I use chainreaction and merlincycles for suspension forks. Their sales (although once a year for forks) are pretty good. If you arent going on dirt, have you thought about going full rigid? a 29er suspension corrected carbon rigid fork is relatively cheap and you never have to deal with leaking fork seals or bent stanchions ever again.

I have thought about doing that on my MTB that I ride on the street because it has a heavy hub motor.

But

Who has both Cheap, and Quality Rigid Carbon Disc Forks ?

I have seen enough youtube videos on the ones that break.
B.T.W.
( I bought a Cyclocross Carbon Rigid Disc Fork from Nashbar.com , but the axle to crown and axle to bottom bearing measurement was not long enough, and that was putting it up against a 27.5 suspension fork that has only 80mm of travel, with the suspension fork compressed ) so stay away from a Carbon Cyclocross Forks , even though 700c wheel and 29 er wheel sizes are the same, the forks / frame's on Cyclocross and MTB's have different geometries .

ScooterMan101 said:

I have thought about doing that on my MTB that I ride on the street because it has a heavy hub motor.

But

Who has both Cheap, and Quality Rigid Carbon Disc Forks ?

I have seen enough youtube videos on the ones that break.
B.T.W.
( I bought a Cyclocross Carbon Rigid Disc Fork from Nashbar.com , but the axle to crown and axle to bottom bearing measurement was not long enough, and that was putting it up against a 27.5 suspension fork that has only 80mm of travel, with the suspension fork compressed ) so stay away from a Carbon Cyclocross Forks , even though 700c wheel and 29 er wheel sizes are the same, the forks / frame's on Cyclocross and MTB's have different geometries .

Click to expand...

I've got 2 carbon forks from aliexpress (mine is tapered) which have served me well. My first one was a 29er suspension corrected fork which was good with high speed stability. I then purchased another carbon fork designed for 27.5 (drops the axle to crown height) to reduce my slack angle and make the bike more twitchy/nimble. It also works fine with a 29er balloon tire. The problem with cyclocross forks is that they are really designed for 35c tires instead of balloon tires, so you miss out on about 1cm of clearance on the sides and possibly the top. Stay away from the Mosso aluminium forks. I've got a set here that bent/skewered when using a 180mm disc brake. It's just not strong enough laterally for bigger brakes. I use the 27.5 carbon fork on my BBS02 ebike (29er) and use the 29er carbon fork on my rigid pedal only 2x10 29er commuter. They both work fine as long as you understand the geometry changes with slack angles by reducing the height on the fork.

The crown to axel difference is only 1.5cm from 27.5 to 29er. It's why you can sometimes use a 29er wheel on 27.5 or use a 27.5+ fat tire on a 29er.

I'm sure there is probably a thread somewhere where people asked for non suspension forks.. :lol: Never have had a thread on here not go whirling off topic.. lol

"Hi I'm looking for a yellow turtleneck sweater"

"Have you thought about instead getting a can of condensed milk and some sausage patties?"

:lol:

Raged said:

rborger73 said:

I don't need heavy trail ride suggestions. It's a hard tail, and it rarely goes on dirt. Looking for sub 200 USD shock, closer to 150 preferred. Also looking for shipping within the U.S.. Amazon just has a poor selection of 29er forks with reviews and shipping from the U.S.

Click to expand...

I use chainreaction and merlincycles for suspension forks. Their sales (although once a year for forks) are pretty good. If you arent going on dirt, have you thought about going full rigid? a 29er suspension corrected carbon rigid fork is relatively cheap and you never have to deal with leaking fork seals or bent stanchions ever again.

Click to expand...

Ya no luck on either of those sites either. Merlin had no 29er suspension forks, and chain reaction had one but 200 is cheapest they have. Still on the hunt.

Ok never used Jet.com but they seem to be a reliable source. They have a lot of the entry level decent forks there for those looking. I went with pretty much the same as was on my bike. 77.00 with shipping. Building a second bike with same frame etc. Bike I have is on sale was 800 when I got it few years ago, and I can get same bike new shipped for 395 now. With almost 20k on the frame and original components, I feel pretty good about grabbing another one. Going to replace all 30 4s hard packs, and motor and controller anyways by end of summer or sooner, so won't cost much to build a new bike, and use the older one as the backup.

Anywho, here is a link to the fork I ended up with. Just needed decent and reasonable. This will be good for a while again.

https://jet.com/product/SR-Suntour-XCT-Suspension-Fork-29-1-18-Threadless-Steerer-100mm-Travel-Disc-Blac/976903828e454a2b8d4432edeaf2b827

Two things worth mentioning, a more expensive fork will work better, last longer and most importantly, be rebuildable with parts you can find for years. A cheap fork is disposable and rides like crap. The same thing goes for hubs, use a decent sealed bearing front hub and just pop the bearings in and out, they'll last forever.

I'll probably go with a higher end fork on the 2nd bike I'm building. Just spending too much on updates on the bike as well with some other projects. I was happy with the fork that was on the bike. It lasted a solid 13,000 miles. Started getting worn over the l 5,000 miles since. So not too worried with this new shock that should be here today or tomorrow. I serviced my front hub a few days ago. Bearings are still pretty good. Going to order some new ones to pop in though. Just a tiny bit of play. Going to order whatever is replaceable on it.