And an early apology for no pics at the moment. Hoping to borrow a friend's digi cam tomorrow actually.
Fork (150mm 66RC) weighed 7.25# uncut, and 7.0# after I lopped off about 3" of steerer. Yeah, only 3" of beefy steel steerer weighs 1/4#, and that's the thin part of the steerer. The bottom 4" or so has a super thick steel plug in an already thick steel steerer. I'm not too concerned with failure, although a higher-tech alloy steerer with internal walls or cross-bracing would be an awesome weight-saver (the full steerer apparently weighs ~1.2#
). But hey, I'm no engineer - and I already paid as much as I'd like to for it as-is.
The visual impression...WOW. Just WOW. It looks very much like a Z1 when by itself, pretty proportionate to one anyways. But when you get close and then get it mounted it's crazy. I wish I still had my Z1, just for some side-by-side shots. It's crazy how big this thing is. I can stick my fat fingers between my 2.35 tire and the arch. I can run whatever tires I want to. The width is impressive too, and the crown is just a monster. So deep and with so much stantion insert. Again, WOW.
Angles look good for FR, considering the 22.5" a-c height. Glad the RFX is was designed around big forks. Will attempt to get an accurate measurement later. May buy a cheap angle finder just cuz I'm a numbers freak like that.
BB height (~'01 RFX, 6" plates, 2.35 Nevegal tires ft/rr) comes to 14.75". Others have reported that height with much shorter forks (6" Shermans, Z150's etc.), so I must have gotten a *short* bike eh? Works for me! It'll go a little higher yet when I go to the 2.5-2.6 tires soon. But being well under 15" is a big victory for me. Isn't an Id with a 5" XC fork like 15"? Suckas, LOL.
Ride impression later. It's dark and cold here, with muddy trails. I might attempt a short urban ride just to get a feel for the fork. Just rolling around, with no air assist and compression backed off all the way I still can't get into the last inch of travel. I've always been able to bottom out my Marzocchi's stock in the past. I weigh about 230 right now, prolly 235 loaded up, maybe 240 with winter clothes piled on. I'm pleasantly pleased to say the least.
Pics soon. Might wait until my shock comes back from PUSH with the '05 updates and after I get my Hone crankset and old chainguide installed and the new tire set - basically the finished Bulldog-v3.0 build kit. So it could be a few days or a few weeks, sorry to tease, sorta.
Fork (150mm 66RC) weighed 7.25# uncut, and 7.0# after I lopped off about 3" of steerer. Yeah, only 3" of beefy steel steerer weighs 1/4#, and that's the thin part of the steerer. The bottom 4" or so has a super thick steel plug in an already thick steel steerer. I'm not too concerned with failure, although a higher-tech alloy steerer with internal walls or cross-bracing would be an awesome weight-saver (the full steerer apparently weighs ~1.2#
). But hey, I'm no engineer - and I already paid as much as I'd like to for it as-is.The visual impression...WOW. Just WOW. It looks very much like a Z1 when by itself, pretty proportionate to one anyways. But when you get close and then get it mounted it's crazy. I wish I still had my Z1, just for some side-by-side shots. It's crazy how big this thing is. I can stick my fat fingers between my 2.35 tire and the arch. I can run whatever tires I want to. The width is impressive too, and the crown is just a monster. So deep and with so much stantion insert. Again, WOW.
Angles look good for FR, considering the 22.5" a-c height. Glad the RFX is was designed around big forks. Will attempt to get an accurate measurement later. May buy a cheap angle finder just cuz I'm a numbers freak like that.
BB height (~'01 RFX, 6" plates, 2.35 Nevegal tires ft/rr) comes to 14.75". Others have reported that height with much shorter forks (6" Shermans, Z150's etc.), so I must have gotten a *short* bike eh? Works for me! It'll go a little higher yet when I go to the 2.5-2.6 tires soon. But being well under 15" is a big victory for me. Isn't an Id with a 5" XC fork like 15"? Suckas, LOL.
Ride impression later. It's dark and cold here, with muddy trails. I might attempt a short urban ride just to get a feel for the fork. Just rolling around, with no air assist and compression backed off all the way I still can't get into the last inch of travel. I've always been able to bottom out my Marzocchi's stock in the past. I weigh about 230 right now, prolly 235 loaded up, maybe 240 with winter clothes piled on. I'm pleasantly pleased to say the least.
Pics soon. Might wait until my shock comes back from PUSH with the '05 updates and after I get my Hone crankset and old chainguide installed and the new tire set - basically the finished Bulldog-v3.0 build kit. So it could be a few days or a few weeks, sorry to tease, sorta.
