Forks & Suspension

RockShox started the suspension fork ball rolling back in the early 1990s and little did they know of the whole industry that would spring up devoted to bouncy bike forks over the next couple of decades. Marzocchi were quick to jump on board and then Fox came along and pretty soon all this competition meant that forks progressed very quickly. Over in the UK we had Pace forks flying the flag and eventually their fork designs were purchased by DT Swiss and this company has continued the tradition of excellent XC forks. Modern forks are mostly air sprung. There are still some heavy hitting DH and Freeride forks that run coil springs. How much damping adjustment you require is up to you and sometimes simpler is better if you're not a serial set up tweaker. Having said that, it's nice to be able to set a fork up just exaclty how you like it and also be able to quickly tune it for the conditions and terrain on the day. There are loads of forks and fork options to choose from and it's important that don't get the wrong fork for your bike. The amount of travel should be broadly similar to your exisiting fork. The steerer tube standard and the axle standard must match exactly to that of your frame's head tube and your front wheel's hub respectively.