100 or 120 mm fork for trail bike?

[pedro]

is the extra travel, worth the extra wt, or are 4 inches plenty for trail riding?

[zulu]

  If your not doing alot of large drops and your riding alot of trails or XC the 100mm is pleanty. I have a Fox 100RL and it is so plush it feels like a much longer travel fork. I ride what I call aggressive XC not freeride but an occasional drop or two and some fairly rough trails & I love the travel. In this case I dont think you would benifit from the extra travel.
Enjoy!

[Matno]

Of course, with the huge influx of adjustable travel forks these days, I'd probably go with one that can do both! Personally, I think 4 inches is perfect for aggressive trail riding. It's a good compromise between 3 and 5.

3 inches is not enough for the downhill part of any of the trails I like to ride (but nice on the climbs) whereas 5 inches is awesome on the downhill sections, but more noticeable on the climbs.

Remember, quality of the fork is more important than quantity. A 3 inch fork with really smooth travel might be better than some 4 inchers in the rough, whereas a really nice 5" fork (like a Fox) might actually be better than some 4" forks while climbing.

I still recommend the 4" Manitou X-vert - especially if you're on a budget. There are still lots of them to be found on the used market. Many of them in new or nearly new condition. Manitou actually went back to the TPC+ damping used in the X-vert after reverting in 2002...

[jimbo]

I agree with what Matno said plus make sure the fork has the bigger stantions (sp).  Most of the new high end fork have bigger stantions, but some low end fork and super lightweight fork have 28mm stantions.  The extra weight is worth the extra stiffness.

[jedoaks]

Consider a Psylo. A lot of people like those those forks. Unless you're extremly abusive . Then you can choose 3-4-5, anytime. And the weight is decent.  Another feature that I recently used on a Marzocchi is ETA. It's a 5" Z1, which is heavy, but they make a 4 " Marathon that is highly rated and light. The Extended Travel Control works beautiful. Drops the fork down for climbs, but still leaves you with 30mm travel. It really works great with a 5" fork.I was always pro Fox, but climbing with a 5" fork is tough . If I was going to buy a 4" fork, I'd buy a 2002 Marathon w/ETA.Good prices too.

[Carbon_Angus]

i agree with a lot of these comments,a four inch should be just great for a trail bike set~up.

the recos mentioned here are good.

i have been on four inces on the Oz for awhile and would never consider going back to three, five is tempting, but my riding style/ability doesn't warrant it.

[smiley=beer.gif]

[dmc]

My evo climbs better now with a 125mm Vanilla R than it ever did with a 100mm fork, Mind you I still believe that coming down is the fun bit and the ride up will always suck so I don't really care if its abit slower on the way up anyway. dmc

[sammydog]

I just put a set of Marzocchi MX Comps on my 955. They seem to be great going up hill and even better on the way down. I can't fault them yet.

I can't see any reason at the moment (for the riding I do) to want more than the 105mm of travel they have.

[numbnuts]

I have 100mm on my Evo and want more! I hear that the Fox 125 feels more like 100 when climbing but ain't tried it yet. The zokie Z1 seems to be ideal now the ETA problems have been resolved. I am pretty heavy and abusive so would rather these than the psylo. These forks are not ridiculously heavy, IMHO the xtra wt is worth it.