[greenreese]

Does anyone run a Float for anything besides XC/trail use? Like street, dirt jumps, skatepark? I have been looking into a new fork and this and the sherman jumper are the top two. I am leaning towards the float because it is almost 2 pounds lighter, feels great, has awesome adjustability and can be made stiffer just by pumping air into it.

I am trying to make my bike lighter and this without a front brake would shave about 3 pounds. I only weigh 138lbs and don't tend to really break anything. I couldn't even manage to break anything on my dad's Trek Fuel in about 2+ months of street riding before I got my evil, nothing at all.

The jumper looks awesome and I love that it has a 20mm, which my current front wheel does. But I run a deemax up front and have the stuff to convert it to regular dropout. I have never liked the feel of any of the 8 or 9 sherman forks I have tried. They all seem to compress and rebound waaaay to slow for my liking. The Float feels just like my Z.1.

I have a hybrid 03/04 Z.1 Freeride which feels great except for the fact that it bottoms out coming down from manuals. Which I do NOT like at all. The front of my bike is also really tall, which is another reason for a shorter fork.
I have had the fork rebuilt by Marz twice and numerous times at shops- nothing.

So,

Has anyone used a Float for street use?

Will the Float be harder to bottom out seeing as it is an air shock, and can be pumped up?

Has anyone been able to make their sherman anything faster than slow ?

Can I run a bolt on axle with a deemax and the converters?

thanks-

dAn

 

[ZEDMAN]

my friend ran a Vanilla 125r. its more for aggressive riding. he wasnt the smoothest rider but i would say that he didnt really trash the fork. regardless of this he blew the bushings 3 times. so in saying that i would go for something a little more heavy ,aggressive, and cheaper.

the float would be harder to bottom out because the amount of air put in multiplies faster than a spring does during compression. but this makes the fork less active over bumps and really stiff.

 

[speedster]

I ran a Float 100RLC for a few months of dj'ing, street and some slalom. It worked great, it was light and I had zero problems with it. It handled everything I threw at it including continuous use on big sets of doubles....20 pack of dubs about 5' high and 10-15' tip to tip...without a whimper. I was suprised seeing as a detonated a RS Psylo Race after a month of riding. I weigh 170, and I am smooth...so for you I would say it would be a great fork. The great thing about an air fork is you can set it up stiff without losing all your travel or having that dead feeling.

 

[MtnbikeMike]

Just so you know... The F80RLT is the white one and a lightweight XC fork. Much different than a Float, whick is gray and is built a little heavier.

 

[thaflyinfatman]

I know a guy who runs an F80 for 4x/jumping, and it seems to hold up just fine.

However, if you're having problems with your Z1 bottoming, add about 5mL of fork oil to each leg, then try it. If it still bottoms out easily, add another 5mL to each side.

 

[911]

A float should work great for you. The F80 (lighter silver color) is more of an XC fork though. Get regular dark grey float (or a TALAS which are also super nice). They'll hold up fine and can be set up much more progressive than a vanilla (which I've heard is a pretty linear fork).

 

[greenreese]

I know a guy who runs an F80 for 4x/jumping, and it seems to hold up just fine.

However, if you're having problems with your Z1 bottoming, add about 5mL of fork oil to each leg, then try it. If it still bottoms out easily, add another 5mL to each side.

I have had this fork gone over so many times that I just don't even want to bother any more. I have had it for about a year and it has probably been rebuilt 5 or 6 times. I am done with it.


-dAn