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What's a reasonable distance to get out of a XC fork?


Zoom's picture

By Zoom - Posted on 20 October 2013

NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.

What do you think is a reasonable to distance to get from a suspension fork? How many K's do you have to do before you think you've done enough to justify buying a new one? Only interested in XC forks, 100 to 120 mm. I'm not particularly interested in how long your forks lasted or how the ones you bought back in 1989 are still going strong. Down-hillers can skip this thread.

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Cotic Tony's picture

I was going to dismiss this question as there are just too many variables but as a mate of mine has just killed his Fox Float 100s in just over a year due to lack of TLC & I've been running forks in the category that you've asked about for over 10 years I thought I'd reply.

I'd imagine that if you're a twice a week rider & it's your only bike it'd be a couple of thousand km or couple of years if the seals were wiped after each ride & foams lubed regularly. A proper service every 6 to 9 months or as soon as anything seems wrong would also extent their life.

Of course you could knacker a fork in a very short time if grit & muck gets past the wipers or if the set up is totally wrong.

My forks seem to last about 4 years on average although many have been sold on due to not living up to their promise or something much better has come up at a good price.

IMHO the best fork for reliability, performance & price in your category is the RS Reba 100/120 15mm for around $380

Flynny's picture

Would depend on so many things. Types of trails ridden and how hard you go. Soil type and whether you avoid riding in the wet or not. Whether you wipe them down every ride and how often and how well you clean and service then. Whether you set them up right with correct spring rate to start with... So many many variables.

staffe's picture

I can't see why they would not last for longer than you want to keep the rest of the bike.

Learnt the hard way what happens if you don't service them. Once I started to service them regularly - no issues, it's other parts that break down.

I only have experience with Fox and DT Swiss, the latter one needs more frequent TLC.

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