Dj Fork opinions [Archive]

3rides

02-28-2005, 01:58 PM

rpk1988

02-28-2005, 03:00 PM

Check out the new Stance line. They are inexpensive and some come with 20 mm hex axles. Running your Fox wouldnt be a bad idea at all. I have heard great things about those forks and they are super adjustable. Go for it. The DJ series by Marzocchi works well too or possibly even a Z.1 series.

iridebikes

02-28-2005, 03:35 PM

don't get a stance. very cheap. I haven't really seen any super bad stuff about them, but I haven't heard anything great about them either.

Personaly if you're looking at a fox. get either the float or the talas. You'd be able to adjust preload super easily. You could pump it up to the point where it's almost locked out. but then again you could do the same thing with the lock out and blow off adjustment. but for how tough they are. the float, talas, and vanilla are all rated for freeride riding. the vanilla isn't considered to be a xc fork, so I think out of all of them that one might be warenteed for a little more abuse.
I would stay away from the new dj series from marzocchi... unless you want a 7.5 pound fork... then i guess its ok... if you can get ahold of an older(2002) dj1, then they're a little better weight wise, and look a bit cooler. You can also adjust those down to 80mm of travel if you wanted.

so out of your options I would go with the talas because of the talas adjustable travel, its a very nice option.

rpk1988

02-28-2005, 03:39 PM

The Stance Static isnt that bad...it just needs stiffer springs for a 160 pound person.

dexter

02-28-2005, 10:09 PM

static of jumper depending on your price range

scurban

02-28-2005, 10:11 PM

The Stance Static isnt that bad...it just needs stiffer springs for a 160 pound person.

what? My Stance Static 80mm is SUPER stiff (I weigh 195 too!) it's for sale too if your interested.
sorry about the spam

Ynot

02-28-2005, 10:52 PM

I saw a guy break his static on a 50/50 case of a 17ft double. It was his first day on a brand new fork.
I bent my 2003 DJ1 on the same line a week later. Then I borrowed a Firefly 2004 version for a few days and it felt light and plush. The 130mm mode was great for freeride hits, it felt like a light plush 2003 DJ1. The 100mm mode was awsome for the DJ hits but other riders and the Manituo people said that it would'nt last at 100mm. Then I got my 2005 DJ1 on a crash replacement deal and it felt heavier in the dirt jumps but the weight made the bike feel as if it was flying on its own throught the jumps, it was super stable. I weighed the 2005 DJ1 on my 10 year old non-digital scale and it was 6.5lbs give or take .5. Not bad.
I think I'll stick with the 2005 DJ1 but I am going with the travel upgrade to 120mm and I think that that will be great for both dirt jumps and free-ride.
I weigh 155lbs and am not a stud trickster, but I do go pretty big on my P2. I cleared my first 30ft double a few weeks ago.

theFOOT

03-01-2005, 01:28 AM

i was about to ask how the firefly was for jumping, and i just got a p.2 but the fork sucks
i am gonna save up for a firefly, but do you think i will need stiffer springs for freeriding and dirt jumping, i weigh 200 pounds and am pretty hard on stuff, if i would need new springs how much do those cost?

Ynot

03-01-2005, 12:10 PM

In my opinion the 2004 Firefly stiffens up a lot when lowered to 100mm and felt great. It might work for a 200lb rider but Manitou told me to buy extra internal parts because the "teeth" that hold the fork at 100mm will wear out if you jump it a lot at 100mm.
For freeriding the fork ramped up very well in the 130mm mode. I overshot a 30ft jump and nearly flat landed it and the fork didn't bottom out.
The new Fireflys are 150mm and if you want to make your fork last and not jump in the lower travel mode then that is too tall for dirt jumping.
The firefly was torsionally more stiff that my 2005 DJ1.
the guy I borrowed the Firefly from weighs about 220lbs but he doesn't go really big.
I hope that helps.

dexter

03-01-2005, 02:24 PM

i street rode/raced mtn x/ hucked/ generally beat my 03 firely to death the whole time in the 4inch position before selling it and it never slipped once

rpk1988

03-01-2005, 02:35 PM

How about the Sherman Jumper. IF you were to look at the Sherman series, maybe you should check out the Pike series too.

theFOOT

03-01-2005, 05:52 PM

yeah i need more travel then the 80mm you get from the sherman jumper, and i found a sweet deal for an '03 sherman firefly, like 2/3 the regular price, 380 instead of 600 so yeah, and thats new so thats why i wanted to make sure it would be good, i do more freerideing than jumping, but i just got my jump bike, so that may change a lot

motomike

03-01-2005, 06:05 PM

I ride a Fox Vanilla 100R fork. The best, stiffest, smoothest, strongest, and best looking fork ever. For DJing, that is.....

boostindoubles

03-02-2005, 02:16 AM

i've riden a fox vanilla 125r for almost a year and a half now. It has super easy adjustments for rebound and compression. It finally went through its first seal replacement two weeks ago. Its been on a kona roast i ride at least an hour a day, usually more. its taken tons of abuse from street riding to big dirt jumps & 12packs. its super light too. i had a dj3 on it earlier, and theres almost a 3 lb. difference between them.

my only beef is that i have to ziptie my brake line to the fork arm and if i dont keep a pad of tape between the line and arm it wears through the arm.

TWISTED

03-05-2005, 02:20 PM

I'm new to the dj world and I'm looking for a fork that isn't necessarily dj specific but will hold up to it. I also have plans on using it for street and general trail use.

What do you think of the Fox TALAS RLC? Anybody riding this fork? Is it tough enough? I currently have a Vanilla 125 RLC but I think I would appreciate the ease of the TALAS adjustability rather than tearing my fork apart to change travel.

My other option is to just set up my Van RLC to 80mm travel and leave it.

PS I'm running this setup on a Planet X new Jack Flash.

Any input would be appreciated, thanks.
I'm planning to get an '05 Vanilla RLC from work, so I'm curious about it. I've ridden many Marzocchis, but they don't really make a similiar fork. I try not to buy Taiwan crap, especially when they try to charge as much as USA or Italian made stuff (propably cost $3 to make).

Maybe you could try your Vanilla RLC at 100mm and play around with the compression and lock-out blow-off adjustment. The '05s only drop down to 100mm, so that's what I'll have to do. I would like to be able to set it up so it doesn't move unless I hit something. Then when you want a trail fork that absorbs the bumps, you can back both the "L" and "C" all the way out. Please try this out and see if you can set yours up like that and let me know how it works.

t1maglio

03-05-2005, 07:17 PM

What about something like a RS Pike Race (coils of course), or a Manitou Nixon? Anyone actually ridden these, I really don't want opinions with out ride time. I was also considering something along the lines of a z1, but anything with a thru axle and 100mm is open for debate.

thanks

Mattoid

03-05-2005, 07:30 PM

go with Marzocchi dirt jumpers. I used to run a dj, went to a sherman jumper, and now im back on a DJ1

ioscope

03-05-2005, 08:06 PM

I went from a manitou six to a black, and the six was actually better for dirtjumping because I had it set up with little sag. But the black is noticeably stiffer.

What do you trhink of the black as a DJ fork? I've seen it done before.

Mattoid

03-07-2005, 07:07 PM

black noise

03-07-2005, 11:40 PM

I'm planning to get an '05 Vanilla RLC from work, so I'm curious about it. I've ridden many Marzocchis, but they don't really make a similiar fork. I try not to buy Taiwan crap, especially when they try to charge as much as USA or Italian made stuff (propably cost $3 to make).USA and Italian made stuff is great, but there is a article in Bike about Taiwanese manufacturing, and it's on par with us in the US and Taiwan is actually a wealthy nation. It's not quite like China (don't buy Chinese bike stuff).

If you're not racing, I think a DJ1 would be fine for you if you don't mind weight. It's cheap and pretty good. I have a DJ3 and I like it a lot for jumping and some trail riding. If you have money, the Pike or Shermans look good. If you go big and can't handle a lot of mainanance, stay away from Fox forks.

dexter

03-09-2005, 04:55 PM

um a black will last for dirt jumping it did for me for 2 seasons then a rebuild and sat around for a year. then my sherman was being reduced travel wise so i threw it on and sessioned this huge sign/wallride with spomer. imagine a 6 foot dirt jump carved into the dirt up a 4foot gap to a 20 foot tall sign to a drop of around 10-15 feet when you got up there. no problems at all and i wish i could post the pics but they are being used in a publication shortly.

the nixon kicks ass also, like all manitou forks granted i am kinda biased, but i had one on my 575 and i took that combo down a few shuttles and it worked really well. but all in all a sherman is the right fork for you. foxs creak/ break often, the old marzocchi dj's broke like a twig and the new ones are so heavy its stupid

Ynot

03-11-2005, 11:56 PM

Just FYI.
I just had a great day on my new '05 DJ1 I was able to hit a new DJ line with three 15'+ jumps that I had only done a few times before and the fork worked great. I was also able to clear the 30' table on which the fork bottomed out(I noticed later) but I never felt or heard the clang. It's heavy but I didn't notice it after a few runs.
I found that the '05 DJ1 has its stanction tubes set farther forward than those on the'04Firefly that I was on. This gives the bike a longer wheel base and makes the bike feel much more stable when hitting jumps at high speed. The Manitou felt very unstable on the 30' table where the DJ1 felt great.

dexter

03-12-2005, 03:34 AM

um you want a shorter wheelbase on dj's, i have no idea what your talking about/ smoking. to get through the dj's and maintain speed you have to have a shorter wheelbase trust me. the 05/04 dj's weight wore than my frame from the past seasons have. its so over built its stupid might as well get a 7lbs d street fork, oh wait thats wayyyy overbuilt also and weights as much as my truck. stick with manitou or fox 36 or a white bros. fox's have a tendancy to creak and break plus they are not very stiff (xc fork being street riden and dj''d is a bad idea) old rockshoxs didnt performe well, broke constantly, went through bushing like mad, and spewed oil like it was their job. this is all first hand experience. my psylo/sid/judy/boxxer all blew. this might sound biased comming from a manitou sponsored rider but in honesty the only other fork i would rock would be a white bros (mad adjustements) or an avy dhti as of now. fox's new forks are to young to tell what is gonna be a problem (6lbs 8inch travel fork with 9 lbs monster t size parts?? doesnt add up to me)

blue

03-12-2005, 01:00 PM

The Pike race is probably a better choice, but if you're light enough and don't mind a QR fork, look at an RS Reba. With the compression lockout and blowoff (motion control), 32mm stanchions, and 85mm of travel, it makes a decent DJ fork.

Ynot

03-12-2005, 09:54 PM

Dexter "this might sound biased comming from a manitou sponsored rider" is right about the DJs being over built, but who doesn't take a bad landing when pushing it in the dirt jumps. But don't get a Stance, they sound good but I saw a poor guy bend the crap out of his at the steerer/crown junction on a big 50/50 landing(it was his first day on the fork) but I do know a lot of good riders who use the older Flicks and love them. Fox 36 sounds great but who has $900.00 for a DJ fork?

TWISTED

03-12-2005, 10:28 PM

It really makes no sense to me why no one doesn't come out with an ultra simple super stiff basic 3" dirt jump fork that costs under $300. We don't need any adjustments or fancy crap on our basic bikes. Maybe someone will find an elastomer that will work well for a spring. That would make it lighter and probably wouldn't require any other form of damping. Maybe air caps too. The fork should be super user friendly with easily replaceable parts.

Now I'm not talking about a "trail", "all-mountain", "xc", or "free ride" fork, I mean a purpose built dirt jump fork that is meant only to take the edge off the hard landings. It's not for smoothing out the trails or anything.

dexter

03-14-2005, 02:52 PM

i know of something exactly what your talking about twisted, spy pics should pop up around may/june

TWISTED

03-14-2005, 06:14 PM

i know of something exactly what your talking about twisted, spy pics should pop up around may/june
I'm industry. I think I know what you're talking about. One of our sales guys spoke of a major fork company coming out with a whole bunch of brand new stuff with better quality. Maybe I'll have to go look at his pictures.

Sherpa

03-15-2005, 06:30 PM

I'm industry. I think I know what you're talking about. One of our sales guys spoke of a major fork company coming out with a whole bunch of brand new stuff with better quality. Maybe I'll have to go look at his pictures.

Ohh ohhh, if i guess will you tell me?

TWISTED

03-15-2005, 06:44 PM

Ohh ohhh, if i guess will you tell me?
Nope! :cool:

Sherpa

03-15-2005, 07:20 PM

Nope! :cool:

Hahah, it HAS to be one of two companies. I'll call around tomorrow and find out.

guero

04-24-2005, 01:42 AM

What fork are you talking about?

Has it been released yet? New Travis DJ perhaps?

TWISTED

04-24-2005, 01:45 AM

What fork are you talking about?

Has it been released yet? New Travis DJ perhaps?
gold label

dexter

04-24-2005, 04:54 AM

ha this **** is great huh twisted. just wait dont buy anyhting unless its a manitou ohh wait then maby wait

guero

04-24-2005, 12:06 PM

I'm sorry, but what the hell....Are you guys being sarcastic or is there really a new fork coming out?

CreeP

04-26-2005, 12:11 AM

I gotta ask; why do you need a suspension fork for this stuff? Is it just so you can call it a mountain bike? I really don't like suspension forks anymore, they aren't predictable as far as where your wheel is going to be in the way a rigid is. I sure as hell aint paying 600 canadian so it's bit easier to keep speed on a grass patch between parts of a line. if your jumps are rideable they're smooth enough for a rigid. besides, think of all those bmxers who dirtjump with stiffer forks and smaller tyres.

TWISTED

04-26-2005, 12:24 AM

I'm sorry, but what the hell....Are you guys being sarcastic or is there really a new fork coming out?
yes :sneaky:

dexter

04-26-2005, 01:36 AM

yes.

and as to the bmx comment, come feel my fork. i have to jump up off the ground to get it to move an half a cm. plus the suspension when it does moves really helps getting through rough stuff to a big hit, its not all dj'ing most people dont only just dj (okay some do) but more often than not they also street ride and whatnot.

im sticking with my comments of a sherman jumper if you have the money, a used flick converted to lower travel next, then a stance static or wait for the dankalicious