Suspension Forks for Street riding

[Simple818]

Hey guys I see a wide array of different forks being used on bikes. Everything from dual crown to single to rigid. I just want to get some opinions on what would be a good fork for mainly street riding. As I believe that dual crown is wayyyy overkill for street riding and rigid is just no good.
I have been currently looking at Marzocchi dj3 for there heavy steel construction but wanted to get some input from you street riders about a good mid range fork. Thanks

 

[Kyle201]

Depends how fast you're going, how bad your roads are and what you + the bike will weigh.

I really like the Marzocchi 55's, much thicker stanchions than the DJ forks, pretty burly. I use the top end RC3 models, and the performance is good even off-road, but the cheaper models will suit road e-biking perfectly as well. Also the travel can be lowered easily enough if necessary.

I would definitely go with something marzocchi. Easy to service as well as the longest service intervals around.

 

[Ottodog]

I've been reading some good things about Rockshox new "Pike" Shocks. I don't know how good Rockshox are, but these get great reviews. Supposedly at the top of the heap in that weight class.

Here's a review I read last night: http://www.bikemag.com/gear/tested-rockshox-pike-rct3/

RockShox claims that the Pike rides high and resists diving. Yup and yup. The best part, however, is that the fork still manages to feel outstanding on bumps of all sizes. The compression damping and rebound damping are also easy and intuitive to dial in. I’m a fan of both the Fox 36 and RockShox Lyrik and while the Pike isn’t as bomber as either of those forks, it’s pretty damn close. More to the point, the Pike has no rivals in its own weight class.

So, where does the Pike fall flat? Honestly, I’m still looking for an answer to that question. No product is absolutely perfect and maybe when I open my Pike to service it, I’ll have something to grumble about (I haven’t had the need to do so, which is testimony to how robust the new design is), but at this point it’s been all roses and unicorns and rainbows. Sure, you could always add more millimeters and a 20-mm through axle (I’m a fool for both the Fox 36 and the RockShox Lyrik), but the Pike is plenty stiff and adding any more material to this fork would only add more weight. For lightweight enduro/all mountain bikes, the Pike is an absolute weapon.

 

[cal3thousand]

Hey guys I see a wide array of different forks being used on bikes. Everything from dual crown to single to rigid. I just want to get some opinions on what would be a good fork for mainly street riding. As I believe that dual crown is wayyyy overkill for street riding and rigid is just no good.
I have been currently looking at Marzocchi dj3 for there heavy steel construction but wanted to get some input from you street riders about a good mid range fork. Thanks

Dual crown is not wayyy overkill for street depending on what type of riding you will do. Gonna jump off curbs at 20mph with a 80lb bike? You might want a dual crown.

But for regular commuting and easy 20-30mph, it is definitely too much. I would get a nice tame 30-32mm fork like a Rockshox with something like 80-120mm of travel. Here's a good one that one bust your bank: XC32TK

I got 2 similar ones (during a deal) for my slow bike and my wife's bike. They work fine and have a lock out feature for pedaling. What's cool about it is that it has a blow-out valve which lets it compress if you hit something major while in lock out mode.

 

[Simple818]

I looked at the xc32s as well. My commute has good roads and I dot jump curbs. I know all the potholes on my 8 mile stretch which can be avoided. Right now I have it narrowed down to the xc32s and the dj3s. Also looking at the suntour xcrs. I had the suntour XCMs but thought they were shit but the XCRs are supposed to be better. Anyway, any other suggestions in the $100-$200 price range would be appreciated

 

[cwah]

Yes which one js best and best value

 

[tahustvedt]

I recommend an air fork. For example RockShox XC 32 TK Solo Air, or higher up in the range. Air shocks can be tuned prefectly to your weight. Coil shocks only work for a certain weight range without changing the spring. A good fork is plush, so it does not take extra force to start moving the suspension action. So much better to ride with than the cheap coil sprung steel shocks. Street riders also benefit from a good fork, because the bumps are made from much harder material than on the trail.

I'm not a fan of locking the fork. Defeats the purpose of getting a suspension in the first place. I never lock mine. Not even here: http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r535/tahustvedt/stitur05.jpg

 

[dogman dan]

I tend to agree with that. Air shocks are nice for ebikes because you get a bit more range of preload adjustment. You'd want them a bit stiffer IMO, for street use for two reasons.

1 You only occasionally need big travel, unless you hop curbs a lot. Here, they have the ADA curb cut nearly everywhere, so curb hops are only done when taking a short cut.

2 A stiffer preload will help reduce pedal bob. Assuming you will pedal a lot on the street, you don't want the bike set up as soft as you might for dirt riding up and down rock staircases.

So the air shock of any brand might be a good choice. More able to tune the bike to squish down evenly front and back, despite a motor or a battery throwing the normal balance of the bike all out of whack.

If you can't afford to get something like that, at the very least get a fork that has 100 mm of travel, and both preload and rebound adjustment. Then you can at least screw down the preload tight as it goes, and the 100mm will give you enough travel to take the sting out of a deep pothole you never saw riding at night. This is a fork like that rockshocks example above. The Dirt jumper fork is similar, but here's a good price on an air fork, just a few bucks more than the DJ

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/marzocchi-marathon-lr-forks-9mmqr-2015/rp-prod128505

You will feel the difference if you get something better, even just street riding. But definitely no need for a full on $2000 DH fork. For street, $250-800 should get you a very nice ride. It might be a triple crown, but doesn't have to be. Nothing wrong with more than 100 mm of travel. 100-150mm fine. One problem these days is finding a nice fork that still takes a 9-10 mm axle.

Just don't go with a cheapo 80mm fork, that scrunches down to only 20 mm left when you get on the bike. Once you mount, you want half your travel up, the other half down. So you don't ride around bottoming out, or topping out. It's definitely worth spending $100-$500 for a better ride. With forks, you do get more when you upgrade. The difference between that rockshocks and a low end air fork is just amazing. If you can afford it, get a nice fork. You'll be glad you did.

 

[MadRhino]

Well, air forks are lighter and tunable through all the range, but do require more complicated maintenance. Cheap air forks are sh*t, while you can find a spring fork for cheap that is really not that bad. An oil bath spring fork can go for years without any care.

Choice has to be according to priorities: Weight, budget, performance, service skills... And the bike, I mean you don't buy an 1800$ fork to put on a wallbike.

 

[d8veh]

I have air forks on all my commuter and touring bikes. They give a much more comfortable ride than all the non-air forks I've tried. I've never had to do any maintenance on any of them in five years other than setting the air pressure and damping when I first got them. I think it's definitely worth paying the extra if you can afford it.

 

[Ykick]

Air suspension is just one of those things well suited to eBikes. Since we significantly alter weight & speed of a bicycle to convert it into an eBike the adjustability air provides is much easier to tune when compared to mechanical spring systems.

Reminds me of touring motorcycles - gross weight can change so drastically from 1-up city riding to 2-up camping on the road. Air suspension is about the only reasonable way to deal with extreme range spring rates.

 

[Ch00paKabrA]

I like sticking with Marzocchi forks for a number of reasons:

Marzocchi makes forks for Ducati. The technology and R&D trickle down to the bicycle components over time.

The seals for Marzocchi motorcycle forks and bicycle forks interchange. This may not seem like a big issue but MTB fork seals will run you $30.00 + and motorcycle fork seals will run you $10.00.

I prefer Marzocchi's older oil bath forks like the 888, Drop Off, and Dirt Jumper forks because they are super plush and easy to work on. If you are heavy, you can add a spring to the left side and run dual springs. They have air adjustments for compression and you can also remove the coil springs entirely and just run them as an air spring.

They are very versatile. My bikes have Drop off triples and Drop off 4s on them. Dual and single crown. The 32mm stanchions are a bit narrow by today's standards but they work very well on both road and dirt.

Good luck and to answer your question, Yes. the DJ3 would be a good fork for the street (and some trail riding).

 

[MadRhino]

You see ?

So many forks, so many opinions and preferences.

On the street, you don't need a lot of suspension travel, yet long travel is not a turnoff because long travel forks do ride good on the street as well as on dirt. This means you have more choice. You should go with the frame geometry, a bike usually ride better with the length of fork that it was designed for.

Some forks can last very long, especially when they are not tuned to use their full travel and optimal response. On the opposite, when a fork is tuned to its optimal operation you need to apply the service manual maintenance shedule, and that may be very frequent service for some high end forks.

Some forks have a very primitive system and limited tuning options, yet they are also very reliable. The more complex the system, the finer you can tune them, the more you pay for them and the more often you need to service. I am using both extremes: WC racing forks with sophisticated tuning options, and bullet proof old school forks.

 

[dogman dan]

Think we can agree on one thing, $50-$100 buck forks don't cut it, even for street.

Definitely hold out for both preload and rebound adjustments. None of my cheaper spring forks ride that great, stuff like a low end rockshocks. Adequate, but not nice ride.

I have not ridden the Marzocchi Dirt Jumper. So maybe it's a lot better than what I've ridden. I do like the Marzocchi bomber forks I have, air forks.

When a quality fork for street riding really shines, is when that a hole in a truck runs you into the ditch. Then plush long travel suspension keeps you upright, instead of doing a flying W to break your collarbones.

 

[bowlofsalad]

and bullet proof old school forks.

What are some bulletproof old school forks you can recommend?

 

[skWarDog]

Well, air forks are lighter and tunable through all the range, but do require more complicated maintenance. Cheap air forks are sh*t, while you can find a spring fork for cheap that is really not that bad. An oil bath spring fork can go for years without any care.

Choice has to be according to priorities: Weight, budget, performance, service skills... And the bike, I mean you don't buy an 1800$ fork to put on a wallbike.

^^^^^THIS CAT KNOWS HIS SH*T, MAN! I'll just add, finding correct spring\progression rate takes time, but only 1 time.... Air, NSM!? RHINO MUST ROCK!^^^^^

 

[overhauledped]

Call me unconventional but my pick when considering Durability, Affordability, Street use, solid construction, and overall value would have to go to Moped forks.

They are intended for on pavement operation, are built for semi-heavy motored cycles, are easy to do maintenance on and find replacement parts for. Also the fact that it comes in bicycle/moped steerer tube size (1" ~ 1-1/8") is a huge bonus. Oh, and Did i mention the usefulness of having included Brackets and mounting positions for headlights, amber side reflectors and a horn?

$150 for K10 hydraulic forks, and there are other brands.

 

[pedro5189]

DJ3 forks will be perfect!

Most suspension forks are designed for smoothing out a rough trail but in doing this they must be to road standards very soft. On the road you want stiffer suspension so not to squat and squirm so much under braking. Forks that are made for dirt jumping and street riding (of the stunt variant) are made to not only be very stiff in construction but also stiff in damping rates, so not lose too much speed while pumping a smooth set of trails or a skatepark.

Air forks (made for trail riding) make a good choice because their compression rates are usually easily adjusted however their construction does not tend to be quite as stiff as a dirt jump fork. While I love my air forks on my MTB they do need serviced more often and are a little less fit and forget than all the dirt jump forks I used to play with as a youth. I personally like a very stiff ride and tend to go with the stiffest shortest suspension I can get away with which is aided by the biggest rolling diameters (29ers ).

However their is no reason other than written above why you cannot use anything you like on the road, your just trying to allow yourself the best enjoyment, and we still enjoyed the phase of DH bikes for the streets we also used as youths.

My electric bike uses carbon rigid forks at the minute but will try some cheap stiff forks on it for the summer, the cheap hybrid forks I think could be well suited because they are stiff, short and I've bought some brand new for £15

Regards

Peter

 

[MadRhino]

and bullet proof old school forks.

What are some bulletproof old school forks you can recommend?

One good expample, a very durable fork for cheap:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FOES-FORK-D...-bike-MARZOCHI-BOMBER-ROCK-SHOX-/201341036451

 

[skWarDog]

and bullet proof old school forks.

What are some bulletproof old school forks you can recommend?

One good expample, a very durable fork for cheap:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FOES-FORK-D...-bike-MARZOCHI-BOMBER-ROCK-SHOX-/201341036451

Thanks Bro! I own it..... going on a customers build.... my first customer, won't be my last either! Damn, let's sell some bike's! cash talk's bs walk's.....

 

[bowlofsalad]

and bullet proof old school forks.

What are some bulletproof old school forks you can recommend?

One good expample, a very durable fork for cheap:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FOES-FORK-D...-bike-MARZOCHI-BOMBER-ROCK-SHOX-/201341036451

Sorry to be a pest, but I am super interested in this subject and looking for a range of options. Know of any others? There are lots of anecdotes and vagaries in this thread but finding specific models for components seems like a daunting task that has inhibited me from buying suspension forks ever before.

I'd probably buy a marzocchi bomber, or maybe some other oil bath spring forks, if I could find some that I knew were well suited for the task of 20-30mph e-bike road riding and have a range of springs available to them so I could find the correct ones for my ride and weight. Maybe I wasn't able to find the range of springs for the marzocchi bomber forks, but I'd love to know if this is available for various spring forks.

 

[MadRhino]

I'd probably buy a marzocchi bomber, or maybe some other oil bath spring forks, if I could find some that I knew were well suited for the task of 20-30mph e-bike road riding and have a range of springs available to them so I could find the correct ones for my ride and weight. Maybe I wasn't able to find the range of springs for the marzocchi bomber forks, but I'd love to know if this is available for various spring forks.

Fox, Marzocchi, Rock Shox... Top of the lines forks of major brands are all easy to find parts and service info, even some upgrade parts and kits are available for most of them. It is for the low cost forks that don't live the expectations of serious riders, that it quickly becomes hard to find parts.

Even some old forks that are discontinued long ago, like the Monster T series, are easy to find parts because most of them that have been produced are still riding.

Don't fear that any real DH racing fork could not be up to the task, riding the streets 30 MPH. All of them is on a leisure trip when riding 100 MPH on pavement, for they are really made to ride that speed down a mountain trail with jumps and drops. On the street, you don't even need your exact spring weight, because you don't need the full travel of it, so you can just tune it with shims and oil density.

 

[Ch00paKabrA]

what Madrhino said is absolutely correct. The only thing I would add is that if you do opt for one of the older Marzocchi oil bath forks, spring rate is not really and issue since you can just ditch the spring just ride it with air and then just tune it to your specs.

If you are going to go for it though try to find something with at least 150mm of travel There really aren't any crappy forks with that much travel so if it has 150, 160, 170, 180, or 200 mm of travel you are probably good. 100 and 120 mm, there are great forks and then there are crappy forks.

What you are looking for is either oil bath (old school) or cartridge (modern) forks. Stay away from pogo stick forks that just have grease in the lowers. Suntour XCT, XCR and Rockshox XC series forks only have a spring and grease so stay away from them. Rockshox DART forks are total crap and are no better the stuff you find at Walmart.

good luck to you.