[mshred]

hey im am curently thinking of getting a new fork for my '04 kona shred. i am looking at marzocchi shocks, specifically the 66 SL.. http://www.marzocchi.com/Template/listSPAForksMTB.asp?IDFolder=113&IDSerie=28208&IDAnno=28182&LN=UK&Sito=mtb ---sorry for the long link, but anyways, what is your opinion on this? or is there any other forks that you would recommend? i ride mostly trails, not XC, and i like to downhill.. oh yea, one thing i am not sure of is the price!! i am currently trying to find it out, cause price is a factor.
thanks

 

[clokstar]

If price is seriously a factor than I'de say cut out the 66. I've seen them run for 650 to 800 new. Plus you're frame isn't ment to handle that kind of travel. If you want more travel I'de say around 130-140 is all that frame can handle. A pike maybe or if you're on the budget I may as well just reccommend the something in the Dirtjump series now.

 

[mshred]

wow never mind the 66, i never new it was that much.. my bike came stock with 5 inches of travel; would it be bad to add 1 or 2 more inches?? and you recomended the Dirtjump fork and Pike, arent these both for dirtjumping/street? i like to downhill and ridde trails

 

[clokstar]

A pike is a trails fork. It has 95-140mm of travel which should suit you're type of riding by the looks of it and can handle more aggressive trails. I've seen them in a lower price bracket from 400-600 and think that would be reasonable for a fork type of that quality. Also after more thinking a Manitou travis would suit you well also. It may have to be lowered because I believe 150mm would put a lot of stress on you're headtube and cause some problems, but none the less probably great for what you're looking for in a fork. Plus Manitou does have a good trails line-up. Nixon is also a good Manitou brand. I said Dirtjump series because you could find those anywhere from practically any price range.

 

[mshred]

ok thanks for clearing things up

 

[sanjuro]

I would be careful about add 2 inches to a hardtail. It will really make the bike handle super slow, and there is an increased chance of frame breakage because of the added leverage from a bigger fork (although a DJ bike should hold up).

I know the Pike is used by alot of trail and dj'ers, so it should hold up for what you do. A friend of mine put a 150mm 66SL on his new Kona Cowan, btw.

 

[Ascentrek]

I absolutley love my 66SL. I rode just about everyting out there and nothing compares. I go from 7 to 3 inches of travel with a small pump. It takes some time to break in, but when its in, it blows that Fox 36 and Pike crap outta the water.

It is expensive, and you can tune it to 5 inches easily. If you wanted the 7 for the DH, you'd have it. BTW, when you point downhill, you typically loose the first 25% of the travel any way.

 

[capt.crispy]

what is the odtt?

 

[mshred]

well if im gonna get new forks worth 600 dollars CAD or USD, (even worse for me) i might as well get a new bike seeing it is only worth 800 CAD and if i would get a new bike, it wouldnt be too soon