Author Topic: Girvin Crosslink Questions (Read 5362 times)

sammydog · « **on:** September 23, 2004, 09:00:52 pm »

I thought I would draw on your collective minds for a few opinions.

I've been looking for one of these forks on and off for a while now and have tracked down a near new carbon model with a noleen shock. I wilkl put a pic up later of the one I am looking at.

I never had a girvin on my 955 or 856 having gone for the Manitou Comps at the time. I've been rebuilding the two bikes lately and am thinking of buying this fork, which brings me to the questions.

What would a fair price for one of these be? The asking price is $200US, then I have to add on postage.

How are htey to ride? Would I be better off going for a cheap modern single crown fork?

Thanks.

kiwi · « **Reply #1 on:** September 23, 2004, 09:30:21 pm »

i have a carbon girvin x link on my 756.It is a whole lot better than a friction damped mcu vector but i dont think that says a lot!.I cant comment on how it compares to anything else.The biggest fator may be that of course you do not have a disc mount...200 us is a bit high i think.It will cost at least 35 us to get the fork shipped to you.Thats surface mail about 6 weeks.......The girvin x link was found mainly on 97 bikes.It wil have girvin labels on the legs and use a different cm than noleen x links which had a 10mm longer cm

sammydog · « **Reply #2 on:** September 23, 2004, 09:44:56 pm »

Here is a pic of the fork

If you think $200 is a bit steep I may keep looking. What would you say is a fair price for a xlink or a vector? I ould prefer to stay away from the elastomer shocks though.

I'm not worried about mounting disc brakes as I run them on another bike and I already have the vbrakes ready to go. I've never had an issue running a well set up pair of vbrakes anyway.

kiwi · « **Reply #3 on:** September 23, 2004, 10:42:18 pm »

thats a 97 girvin all right.Looks really good nick too.If you have been looking you would know what the market value is.Search ebay and the like.,but remember the freight will be significant....and the exchange rate!

sammydog · « **Reply #4 on:** September 23, 2004, 10:51:30 pm »

I think I am happy with the $200US, we are working out shipping at the moment, if this comes out too much then I will keep looking local although I am yet to see one over here.

What is the travel on one of these forks? I have been lead to beleive it is somewhere around the 63mm mark which is the same as the old forks I have currently on it.

sammydog · « **Reply #5 on:** September 25, 2004, 09:23:49 am »

I've just been looking into this fork a bit more and noticed that there was a noleen crossslink in 97/98. Were there any major differences between these forks or are they the same fork rebadged?

I noticed that the noleen comes in two sizes depending on head tube length. Is this the case with the girvin, and what should I be looking for if I want the fork to fit a 955? Does a normal stem go on htese forks or is the stem integrated?

junkster · « **Reply #6 on:** September 25, 2004, 10:02:36 pm »

Hi,
you can use headset spacers to adjust the height of the rise. The only girvin forks that had an integrated stem was the vector one and maybe two. Make sure you have the upper mount included with any crosslink fork you go for. The one thing I am not sure about is whether you are limited to a 1" stem or whether the later crosslinks were oversized 1 1/8". Can anyone clarify?

ta
D

sammydog · « **Reply #7 on:** September 25, 2004, 10:11:38 pm »

The person selling the fork has indicated that it has the 1 1/8th steerer tube.

tmaybee · « **Reply #8 on:** September 26, 2004, 06:44:22 am »

Girvin Vector forks required a 1" stem. Crosslinks use a 1 1/8"

$200 is a fair price, although in the upper range. They usually go for around 175 on ebay. I have been watching the market for a couple of years and you are getting a fair deal. You may want to ask him to split the shipping, then it would be a good deal. The x-links with a smart shock usually go for the higher prices. That fork looks to be set up with an NR2. I believe Dennis has a Risse unit for a crosslink. I use one on mine. It is not as plush as a coil shock, but it is quite a bit lighter.

I have debated changing my carbon crosslink for a noleen megaair, but I just can't bring myself to. I love the look of the crosslink.

Maybe the performance is not as good as some of the newer telescopic forks, but it works very well for my type of riding.

I have my fork set up with all Ti bolts as well. I will weigh it when I get a chance because it has to be quite light, around the 3 lb mark now.

Travel is 73mm but I don't usually get full travel or need it.

Hope this helps,
Trevor

kiwi · « **Reply #9 on:** September 26, 2004, 02:45:26 pm »

the noleens are slightly longer in the headset area to make room for the nr5 smart shock hence the very slightly longer CM.I think the vectors and girvin crosslink were available in the long version.You wont need the long for the 955 or 856,but you will need a new 1 and 1 1/8 stem,and a new 1 1/8 headset for the 1 and 1/8 bottom race.The 856 at least will have a 1 and 1/8 headset with spacers for the 1 in vector(i think the 955 will be the same) Apart from that and a few 1 and 1/8 spacers its a straight swap.Both versions of the crosslink ie girvin and noleen are 1 and
1/8.You can use a long with a pile of spacers...

sammydog · « **Reply #10 on:** September 26, 2004, 09:00:30 pm »

Thanks for all of that, all I need to do now is make sure that the fork isn't the long version. I already have 1 1/8 headset because I had always run a set of manitous on the bike.

Trevor if this falls through and you do make the move to telescopic forks, get in contact with me because I would be interested in yours.

kiwi · « **Reply #11 on:** September 26, 2004, 10:14:30 pm »

ask your man for the distance between the top ipivot and bottom pivots bolts to the legs,and i will compare to mine...it looks normal tho...

Old Proflexer · « **Reply #12 on:** September 27, 2004, 01:06:10 am »

uh - a little late but here's my 2 cents.

sold my noleen crosslink with smart and an extra nr-2 for $145 plus a few months back on ebay - it was perfect.

hard to set a value on things if you are out of the country and can't get one local -

i still have a few more links (and a chubby with internal OTiS system that works great) and enjoy the ride and the look.

OP

sammydog · « **Reply #13 on:** September 28, 2004, 10:57:11 pm »

Thanks for your help everyone. Pending the additional photos coming tonight looking OK I am going to order the forks tomorrow

(reminder to self to set up a Pay Pal account).

All up it is going to set me back $230US including postage.

Time to start looking at upgrading the cranks and brakes.

sammydog · « **Reply #14 on:** September 28, 2004, 11:24:35 pm »

While I was typing that last message the additional pics turned up and I have been assured that the fork is a standard size.

It all looks pretty good to me so hopefully my search is over.

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Author Topic: Girvin Crosslink Questions (Read 5362 times)