Lightest crowns for Fox 40?

Ian Collins · Jul 1, 2008

if you've got no qualms about spending money then get the persist, they are moto as hell....who cares if they weigh more.....they're beautiful....i would kill to have those.......however, i just sold my 08 fox and ordered an 09 and it comes with a stem that accepts the International standard and that will definitely suffice......by the way, the new fox is only available with white, or black lowers....no more gray.....

JudgeDH · Jul 1, 2008

What stem are you running, Point One?

Probably the lightest setup is the one you have. The lightest direct mount stem is the Point One at 129g. Fox's direct mount crown is 206g (17g more that the regular one). If your stem is that light I don't see any other possible option (without taking into account the additional steerer tube to be cut).

Ian Collins · Jul 1, 2008

erikkellison said:
Maybe I should have emphasized the point of this post more? Talking about missing the point...

oh i understood the point....i think obsessing over grams and posting something like this is pointLESS..... to split hairs gram couning online is silly when the persist simply blows other stuff out of the water....that was MY point.....have fun

Udi · Jul 1, 2008

erikkellison -
Just do what the rest of us do and ignore Ian Collins. You're wasting your time. What stem are you currently running anyway (as Judge DH asked)?... The Point One is the lightest direct mount boxxer stem at the moment @ 129g with all bolts (in steel at that!). Not sure on the crowns as I run a boxxer, but for the stem, that's what I'd go with.

Ian Collins · Jul 1, 2008

erikkellison said:
Thanks for your opinion. But MY point was to find the lightest direct mount setup, and I created the thread. If you want to know which one looks the best, create your own thread about that.
Gram counting isn't pointless - I don't need to explain myself on that I'm quite sure. And just how does the Persist blow the other products out of the water? The others are stiff, strong and light. I fail to see just how the Persist blows the others out of the water (except looks maybe). It's certainly not going to perform significantly better. Nonetheless, I wanted this to be an all-inclusive thread, so I included it just like I included the heavier direct mount stems. I would like this thread to be a reference for those in the same boat as I am, looking for a light crown/stem setup for their 40.

sweet.....as i said....have fun.....but in terms of out-performing.....its bigger, and most definitely stiffer due to the added overlap on the stanchions and extra mass......ask ricky carmichael or bubba stewart if bigger, burlier crowns outperform skimpier ones.....

Jonny5 · Jul 1, 2008

Got my point one the other week. Very nice. Ti bolts are already installed

Impressed with the build quality.

Bike hit 34lb too

nuclear 674 · Jul 1, 2008

erikkellison-check out the function crown stem. i picked up one about a month ago and it is pretty nice. they were easy to deal with and have had very good customer service and follow up.

allen4g63 · Aug 15, 2008

+1 to the Function Bikes Crown, Steerer, and Stem combo. If you are looking for something thats sexy, light, and inexpensive (compared to the other crown/stem options) this is for sure your best choice. I was looking to lighten up my bike, medium Ventana El Cuervo, because it was at 41.4lbs. I saw this thread and got the function a week ago. Its about 200g lighter than my stock/ Diabolus setup very nice! :cheers:

lamp · Aug 15, 2008

allen4g63 said:
Diabolus

power tools? :banana:

go-ride.com · Aug 15, 2008

The Function Bikes crown looks nice for the $, and from what I've seen many others have taken a liking to the original aftermarket top crown/stem combo from Go-ride.com. As for why would anyone buy any other top crown than the Function...I can think of a few reasons.

1. There is a reason the Go-ride crown has the stanchion pinch bolts on the front of the crown. That reason is that we've owned forks that had them on the out side and got tired of banging out knees on them.

2. We worked with Fox when designing our crown and they were most concerned with how thick the tab was that created the pinch on the steer tube. The version on the Function Bikes stem is about 1/3 the thickness that the Fox engineering team specified. I've also never seen a OEM manufacturer design a steer tube pinch system that cuts into the meat of the crown in that way, there might be a reason for that?

3. The Go-ride stem has 4 dowel pins to ensure that when you tighten the bar clamps your bars stay straight with the stem and forks. I don't know if the Function has these, but I've seen bolt-on stems that always want to creep a bit off center when being tightened. Ours doesn't.

4. Price isn't everything. Daewoo cars are cheap, but somehow Mercedes stays in business. After all, you did buy a $1600 fork. Would a $200 RST be just as good?

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not trying to be a jerk to you or Function. But, to say that no other crown/stem combo is worth buying is pretty unfair. Go-ride never made our stems to make $, we did it because we knew DH racers needed them and if we hadnt made ours these others probably wouldnt exist and Fox would probably still be selling non-stem compatible top crowns

wisdesign · Aug 19, 2008

We get a lot of great feedback reading the forums to hear what people really think about our products. It helps a ton to improve them, and thus, we feel obligated to respond to the prior statements regarding our crown kits. We see the statement from our customer on this forum stemming from excitement and appreciation for the hard work we have put into our products and not as a dis to others. We're stoked that he found the kit that best suited his personal values, which are obviously not the same for everyone.

Anyhow... just to set the record straight, here's some quick responses:

1. Stanchion pinch bolts: This is a reasonable argument, but for the record, we have not had a single complaint or issue with knee contact on our design. You can see visually that the crown is rounded and tapers away from the rider for this reason.

2. Steer tube clamp: We are very detail oriented and understand the loads seen at the pinch bolt area. Although we did not need to consult Fox for our design, we used Finite Element Analysis to verify the pinch bolt design with an adequate safety factor all extreme impact situations and fatigue life. The 1/3 thickness estimate is not accurate; we have more material than is necessary in that area. The thickness of our slot is not an indication of the strength of the pinch bolt design. Furthermore, the location and orientation of the pinch bolt screw are designed to carry the loads with no trouble.

3. Dowel pins: We have never experienced a need for dowel pins. We have very tight tolerances on our handlebar clamps and hardware and the alignment of the bar is always perfect because of this. You will notice that the hardware will not fall out of the clamps easily if you own a Function Bikes crown kit. Furthermore, the dowel pins add weight with the steel pins and material surrounding them so we have opted against it.

4. Price and quality: Function Bikes should not be compared to Daewoo or RST. We respect those companies and the market they serve, but our products are top quality made in the US, right here in Oregon. Our customers will testify to this. We have worked aggressively to offer our top quality products at a reasonable price because we know that many people would sooner buy a new fork than upgrade with an expensive aftermarket option. Function Bikes does not exist to take advantage of riders or to copy existing products. In fact, our pricing is set such that we cannot afford to pay margin to distributors (and then to their dealers), which is why we sell direct to our customers. We're in business to offer functional, killer parts for killer deals. If it doesn't make the ride better or we can't offer it for a price we'd be willing to pay ourselves, then we won't build it.

We welcome competition because it makes everyone's products better, and feel that the market is certainly large enough to support multiple brands with similar products. Just look at any other bicycle component. We are not unwilling to admit if our product has a fault, or if another company has a better design, but we also want to keep the playing field level so the riders can take a look at their options and decide for themselves which product best suits them.

Cheers,
Aaron Bland and Brian Wismann
Function Bikes

ThePriceSeliger · Oct 30, 2008

Sorry to resurrect an almost death thread, but I got my Function crows in the mail this morning for my new 40. For the record, and if it's worth anything, I did own a set of the LowRider crows from Go-Ride and they were awesome too. The Function crowns being very light, they are damn near the prettiest thing on my bike. Without any ride time, I can say that everything went together near perfectly. I really like the idea of the ring pressed onto the steer tube for the race to press onto. It's a pretty tight fit but is clean.

Super fast shipping, affordable, and I'm hoping I can count on their customer service one day. Their DH bike looks pretty trick too.

Curious_George · Oct 30, 2008

Ian Collins said:
bubba stewart if bigger, burlier crowns outperform skimpier ones.....

I know there are pictures of the function any possibility to see the others pzl

Bubba is my n*gga

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