36" Fox Float or Talas? Anybody riding a float?

[Egg Beater]

Hi All,

Building up an Ellsworth Moment and was originally planning on putting a 36" Talas up front. What about the Float? Sounds like the same shock without travel adjustment. Up side seems to be less complexity and lighter weight. Any opinions?

Thanks!

[sanjuro]

Well, consider your style of climbing. Assuming you use a bike with less travel than 160mm now, do you tend to "wheelie" when you ascend very steep sections? Are you able to make sharp switchbacks without washing out the front wheel? Do you handle your bike well in slow speed manuvering, like around roots or ruts?

The Float has one fewer adjustment than the Talas, namely the travel adjustment. It is a very simple feature to use, with only 3 travel height settings (160mm, 130, 100).

Considering you save less than a quarter pound, it is a feature which I think is important for longer travel bikes.

[Egg Beater]

I've definitely felt really light on the front end on numerous occasions an d the weight difference isn't very significant. That leads me toward the TALAS, thanks. I've only ridden the 36" Van's and loved the buttery plushness. From what I hear, the float and TALAS have a different feel due to the "LAS" part of the TALAS. The float ramps up a lot more.

So, it's down to plushness of the VAN vs. adjustment in travel on the TALAS.

Thanks!

[arboc!]

ive got a talas on my ride, its sick. and its 36mm not 36 inches

[sanjuro]

I use an older 125mm Talas fork. I don't notice any plushness issues, although my friends prefer a Marzocchi 66 with ETA over a Fox 36 Van.

[Matrimony]

I rode a talas rlc 125 for a while on my ht, and I gotta admit, it was real nice, even for a street bike...it felt like I could do anything with it...very light too.....although I do prefer coil over anything, I had a bad experience with a nut on the bottom of a talas explode on me, or maybe it wasnt a talas, it was some sort of air filled fork though, i remember that!

[Pau11y]

I started w/ a Float 32 RLC on an '04 Enduro Pro. Now I've got a Float 36 RC2 on a Nomad. Sooo smooth. I'm not sure what you're talking about w/ ramping, but then again, I've only been on the Floats from Fox. I've had a '04 or 5 Z1 Bomber QR20 and it's feels pretty much like both of my Floats. I'm also on a Monster T2, and again, feels like the Float to me.... Maybe I'm numb or maybe once you get to a certain quality of fork, they all feel pretty damn good (?)

[Arkayne]

If you want an all-around bike get the talas. Being able to race DH on the weekends at 160mm and then climb with the guys on weekdays by dropping to 100mm is the best.