[Darkreaper]

My LBS has these forks reduced from £325 to £199 ($614 to $375) at the minute. I currently have a Spinner Grind AC 323 (80mm of travel) on my Marin Bobcat Trail, but I'm not particularly happy with it - it seems to have a lot less than 80mm of full travel...

So my question - is this a good fork, and is it a good deal? I use the bike for road riding, about 6 hilly miles a day to school and back, and for off-road through local forests, but I want to increase my off-road riding.

 

[blue]

Psylos aren't known for their reliability, but if it has U-Turn, it can make it viable for road riding by reducing the travel enough. If it doesn't have U-Turn, putting a 120mm fork on a frame designed around an 80mm one can seriously whack out your headtube angle and make it ride funny.

I have ridden Psylos a few times, and from experience they're fairly plush, but for anything more than mildly aggro trailriding it felt a bit flexy. Be warned: They have a bad reliability track record, from what I've seen, arches like to snap and the like.

 

[skatetokil]

I have a Psylo XC from 2002 with U-turn, and while I am not particularly excited about the performance of the fork (the rebound adjuster does nothing as best I can figure and it can be a little flexy in hard cornering or braking) but all in all it is a solid workhorse of a fork. Never had any problems or failures of any kind. I did replace the spring with a heavier one a while back which meant a minor rebuild. All in all good if you can get it on the cheap. . . look ebay.

 

[Skookum]

From the description of how you are to use the fork, i'd say it may serve you well.
While i don't want to discount the critisism above, i've owned one myself and would mirror most all of the comments, i still would mantain for your situation it very well may work for you. But if you can afford a better fork a Fox Talas RLC air kicks the pyslo's ass up and down the trail.

Here's an interesting review...
http://www.bikemagic.com/review/reviewproduct/mps/RGN/2/RCN/50/RPN/20323/v/1/sp/332353698141328525316

 

[Darkreaper]

Flexy as in side-to-side wobbling?

Ah well, I've put a deposit down on it so looks like it's my new fork. Apparently the bike I currently have is designed for a 100-120mm fork, so it's all good. I couldn't even afford the Rockshox at it's normal price, the reason I'm looking at it is because it's 38% off. The guy in my LBS has had one and says it ain't too bad, and there's fsck-all in the way of hills round Belfast - no big problems. The lockout will be great for the daily 2 mile climb to school, too

 

[Darkreaper]

Sorry, I should have mentioned I'm talking in pounds sterling here. £1 = $1.88, or $1 = £0.53

The Psylo SL 04 is costing me the equivalent of $405, including installation (hey, I havent a clue how to do it...). Assuming identical labour charges, the cleapest pike is $537 inc.

 

[mack]

no, they leak like mo fos, there on our rental flelet.

 

[Darkreaper]

Balls... Bit late now, I suppose - they're getting installed this afternoon.

The forks I have at the minute suck balls (Spinner Grinds) so anything's an improvement

 

[Skookum]

Balls... Bit late now, I suppose - they're getting installed this afternoon.

The forks I have at the minute suck balls (Spinner Grinds) so anything's an improvement

Yah they will be fine, at least you won't have any suprises with it, and for the most part the fork really performs well. Many people today have not had the pleasure of running bottom of the barrel or ancient technology suspension, the psylo is neither of those things really. While having weaknesses it's not a piece of junk by any means....
The lockout is a fine amenity to have, but the U-turn/travel adjustment option is by far the most useful feature in the fork. Have fun.

 

[Darkreaper]

Got and it's sweet. The bike feels really different with the extra length of the fork, very 'pimped out' if that makes any sense. The fork is soft though, it bounces quite a bit if I'm just standing up and pedalling hard. What can I do about that?

 

[Skookum]

Got and it's sweet. The bike feels really different with the extra length of the fork, very 'pimped out' if that makes any sense. The fork is soft though, it bounces quite a bit if I'm just standing up and pedalling hard. What can I do about that?

You may have to upgrade to a stiffer spring, in the meantime try tuning your rebound a little slower. If that doesn't work just lock it out when "the bob" is an issue. Or just get used to it.......

 

[binary visions]

Got and it's sweet. The bike feels really different with the extra length of the fork, very 'pimped out' if that makes any sense. The fork is soft though, it bounces quite a bit if I'm just standing up and pedalling hard. What can I do about that?

When you go to a 5" fork, it will tend to bob a lot more than a shorter fork.

If you're bottoming the fork out when riding, then you need a stiffer spring. If you've got the right spring rate for riding, you just need to learn how to pedal smoother - the only reason it bobs is because you're shifting your weight forward with every pedal stroke. If you're more even when you pedal, it won't bob as much.

I'm sure you'll be psyched with the Psylo. Experience on rental bikes is really not applicable, because you get all kinds who ride rental bikes - hacks, people who are too heavy for the springrate (obviously they're not going to change the spring just 'cause some big guy rented it for the day), and rental parts get abused like crazy.

The Psylo is not something that you can expect to be uber-stiff and last forever, but on the other hand, you get what you pay for - you didn't lay out a lot of cash, and in return, you'll get a decent fork that will work pretty well.

 

[caputo1989]

No, once the stanchions warm up the shock becomes slugish.

 

[binary visions]

No, once the stanchions warm up the shock becomes slugish.

I can't believe you just said that.

Touch your stanctions after a ride and tell me how warm they are.

Did you bother to read the thread or did you just decide to post in it anyway?

 

[Kornphlake]

Somebody actually told me that I should take the boots off my Manitou SX-R (which is a bad idea due to the lack of dust seals) because the boots can keep the fork from cooling. I laughed.

 

[binary visions]

Somebody actually told me that I should take the boots off my Manitou SX-R (which is a bad idea due to the lack of dust seals) because the boots can keep the fork from cooling. I laughed.

I hate that people spread stupid information like that. They don't even think, they just parrot what they heard from some guy who heard it from some guy who heard it from his dog when he was drunk.

 

[budgetrider]

News Flash! 04 and 05 Marzocchi stanchions heat up more than 01 and 02 stanchions!

(cause they're black)

 

[caputo1989]

I can't believe you just said that.

Touch your stanctions after a ride and tell me how warm they are.

Did you bother to read the thread or did you just decide to post in it anyway?

I have riden Phsylos and what I ment was that after a while they start to become slugish throughout the ride. and it is because of the coating easton puts on those stantions. For short rides they work fine.