[Tom Church]

Ok these may be a little silly but I am new to Double crown and long travle forks.

I have a '03 Gemini 900 and I'm looking to upgrade the fork. I have the '03 Breakout.

What are the major advantages of a DC fork? The bike is mostly for Freeride and Downhill stuff with some XC mixed in there to get to the stunts, drops (4-8 foot area), and decents.

1) Would a Double Crown fork benifit me here? Why?

2) I'm looking at the '04 Breakout+ and the '04 Slider+. I know the BO+ has a 1.5 tube and the SL+ has a 1-1/8 tube. Does the 1-1/8 tube make major difference in strength or does the Double crown make up for that?

 

[sub6]

A DC is stiffer and probably ultimately stronger.

A SC is lighter and has a better turning radius.

The 1.5 concept is basically to allow a SC fork to get more than 5" of travel (there's more to it than that, but for the sake of argument). You don't need it on a DC fork because the steerer tube doesn't see the kinds of stresses that an SC fork does - all those forces go into the stanchions and not the steerer. So 1 1/8 will suffice for any DC fork, regardless of travel.

The BO's are pretty stiff, you'll gain some stiffness by going to a DC but you'll gain weight and you might find yourself nailing your knees on the upper crown. It's really a matter of personal preference though....