suntour/dart 2 huge difference?

[torker]

I want to get a front susp. hardtail for a rear hub setup to run dirt roads. I have been looking at mtbr reviews and checking Craigslist.

My question is will I notice a big difference running washboard dirt roads between a suntour 70 mm and say a 150 dollar rock shox dart 2 ? If so I am thinking about just finding a decent frame and spending the money on a decent fork. I would really like full susp. also but I want an open triangle for batteries and that seems to really limit choices in the low cost arena. Like I said no jumps or drops for me but I want something that rides really plush.

 

[BikeFanatic]

Piricepoint.com selling dart2 on sale for 74.99- I have that shock on my tidal force frame and its good enough.
just type in dart2 in there seaarch feaure if you cant find it.

 

[torker]

Thanks for the info. That is a really good price. The next thing is to figure out what frame to use. The Dart 3 fork looks really nice too . It is hydraulic. Twice the money though. Not sure about the dart 2 I think it is just springs and elastomer..

 

[EVnewbie]

I have a Rockshox J4 fork on my MTB,
It is the one that adjusts from 80mm to 125mm of suspension travel. Nice fork, it is elastomer/spring with damping and uses a steel steerer tube for strength. It is nice to adjust the travel, the damping and spring rates on the fly and I've had no problem with it. Not sure of the Dart series but go for the fully adjustable version, it is worth the extra money. I have mine set to 125mm of travel to make up for the height drop when using the 24x3.00 front wheel.

 

[torker]

I may go for the Dart 3 It has 100 mm of travel and is fully adj. Also it depends on what frame I end up with. I would like to use a 24 " on the rear for more torque so I need to find a frame with rear disc mounts. I'm not looking for big speed- maybe 20 mph. and decent low speed torque for cruising backroads.