Fully Rigid for Jumping

boostindoubles · Jun 18, 2005

that 20mm rigid fork looks pretty sweet, probably a bit lighter than a marz dj.

If you ride park and trails, i think rigid is ok. Just no love if you dont land the most proper. I've had my front fork save me from endo's before, by sucking up and taking the hit when i nosed in a bit much. i ride a fox vanilla 125r. I had a djIII but opted for the fox as its almost 3 lbs. lighter than the djIII.

arboc! · Jun 18, 2005

nice pegs....

aznfreerdr08 · Jun 18, 2005

i have those .243 bars, and i love them. i ride em for street and dj's, and you should definately get them if you can.

Bicyclist · Jun 19, 2005

Shocks... Pegs... Lucky!

I'm gonna try rigid for a while, but I'm gonna do more trail riding. I'll let you know how it works out.

Changleen · Jun 19, 2005

Some of the best UK dirt jumpers are moving to rigid forks on 24" bikes now. DMR make 'trailblade' rigid forks specifically designed for DJ - They are designed to take account of removal of suspension.

Bicyclist · Jun 19, 2005

Sherman. Although I dislike Manitou very much, the DJ'er series is way too heavy IMO. You may also want to look at the Marzocchi MX series. They're similar to Fox Vanilla's, but they're stronger and feel better.

Bicyclist · Jun 19, 2005

I should be getting the fork sometime pretty soon. I'll let you know when I do.

PatBranch · Jun 20, 2005

On my azonic evolution, I have a DIrt jumper II '03 with 5 inches. I run it with like 25 psi, its not much, but it came with a stiff spring (For 2 months, I didn't know that it had air assist, I thought the plastic caps were for looks). I run it stiff enough to keep front lowering alot but it still work for trails and light freeriding.

I wouldn't get a ridged because I am not smooth enough and it has saved me when coming up too long on a jump with my front wheel lower than the rear.

Cash-Money · Jun 20, 2005

definatly try rigid out, it will make you a better rider

arboc! · Jun 20, 2005

unless you really suck, then it makes you hate riding

Bicyclist · Jun 20, 2005

I rode rigid for a while when I was saving up for a bike. I took my little sister's 24" mountain bike, put V-Brakes on it, and turned it into a single speed. In a few weeks, I got to be a much better rider. I did a 5 or 6" drop on it towards the end of my ownership of that bike and it seemed like nothing. That is because I learned to be smooth. At first, though, I hated riding it. It seemed scary. If you stick with it for a while, you'll get to be a lot better.

bpatterson6 · Jun 20, 2005

I personally think rigid is best for DJ's.
Suspension compresses and then acts like a spring and potentially throwing you off and causing an over shoot of the DJ or maybe just throwing off your balance. After watching for several hours or so of Riding at Angel Fire on the MX course (Which Jumps were like DJ's), I am convinced that Rigid is a better way to go for DJ's and in certain MX cases if the track is smooth that a Fully Rigid bike is better. Especially if you already come from a BMX Racing back ground. Just my .02

arboc! · Jun 20, 2005

after riding both rigid and suspention, my vote goes for suspention forks, because if they are setup stiff enough, they wont mess with your rythem or ant thing. in fact if you ride them right you can actually pump through the rythems better. the suspention can also same you if you screw up, it there to give a little bit of give so you and your bike dont get messed up.

also, imo, the marzocchi dj forks are in fact heavier, but once its on the bike, you can hardly, if even tell a difference (in weight) between it and a lighter fork.

art vandelay · Jun 20, 2005

Rigid. Cheap, light, low maintenace and they really do force you to become a bit smoother.

boostindoubles · Jun 20, 2005

dirtjumpP.1 said:
also, imo, the marzocchi dj forks are in fact heavier, but once its on the bike, you can hardly, if even tell a difference (in weight) between it and a lighter fork.

dirtjump, i'm gonna have to disagree with you. I ran a djIII on my bike for a couple months, and switched to my fox vanilla (3 lb diff.) since. There has been a huge difference in the way my bike feels and rides. My front end comes up alot easier for wheelies and on dj's. Instead of nosing in on everything like i did with the dj, i can control when i nose in, and when i dont nose in. If that makes no sense, i'll just say that i was surprised the difference it made, cause i thought that it wouldnt make much of a diff. either.

arboc! · Jun 20, 2005

hmm, i didnt feel much difference... maybe it was because i was just so happy to be running a sus. fork again....

Bicyclist · Jun 20, 2005

Plus you were coming from an EXR before that, which has a similar feel to the DJ'er.

arboc! · Jun 20, 2005

it was a mz... even worse! it doesnt have that similar of a feel, its linear and stiff, thats about it. the dj is way stronger and better preforming... not to mention lke 3 lbs heavier

Changleen · Jun 21, 2005

Why are the old DJ3s so much better than the new ones? :lament:

arboc! · Jun 21, 2005

i dont think they are any better.... they feel about the same to me, just now they have less travel

monkeyboy424 · Jun 21, 2005

they are also a pound an a half lighter...

arboc! · Jun 21, 2005

haha, its lighter, but it has 30mm more travel.....

JTVW · Jun 21, 2005

I have that fork, the Funn rigid, and I like it. It is unbelievably stiff, and will hold up to anything. A good choice if youre going the rigid path.
For some reason I am sticking with my Marz DJ though, its just a little more comfort on the wrists. Sure its not as good at pumping in between the jumps, but it will save your @$$ a lot if you're still learning (can you say nose case?)
plus you still feel like youre staying true to the mtb thang, not trying to be a bmx wannabe
which leads me to my next point; if you want mad skills, try a bmx, they are small and squirrelly, hard to control when ur used to the big wheels, but they'll make you a better rider
or just ride hard with what youve got, whatev

Bicyclist · Jun 21, 2005

One of the benefits of rigid is that you can throw a suspension fork on later and not have to get used to a different bike, unlike switching from BMX to MTB.

JTVW · Jun 21, 2005

Bicyclist said:
One of the benefits of rigid is that you can throw a suspension fork on later and not have to get used to a different bike, unlike switching from BMX to MTB.

whatver, talk to my hand...

PatBranch · Jun 21, 2005

I have an '03 DJ II; I would much rather have it than a new one because it has 5" instead of 4.

Changleen · Jun 22, 2005

dirtjumpP.1 said:
haha, its lighter, but it has 30mm more travel.....

Yup - Mine is set down to 90mm down anyway - I just think the newer ones are excessivly heavy.

art vandelay · Jun 22, 2005

jayfrizzo said:
Yeah, dude, but don't you ride BMX? I think Hev was onto something with the whole size thing.

Though if I don't find a fork to buy in a week I'll just go rigid cause I can afford it.

Yeah I do ride a 20", but I know tons of people riding cruisers. I've only ridden one at the track and I really didn't feel the whole movement thing hev was talking about, but what he said does make sense. I'm not sure how big your bike is, but the 24" bikes I've been on weren't too much bigger than my bmx. I ride a pretty big bmx since I'm 6'4". I don't think I'd buy rigid without trying one cause you could really hate it.

Fully Rigid for Jumping

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