Talk to me about affordable DJ forks

iRider · Dec 10, 2023

Why spend €400+ on a fork when you can get a full bike for 900?

THE BRUCE | Most wanted Dirtbike

THE BRUCE Dirtbike ist dein Ticket für noch mehr Airtime, Action und Style.

www.rosebikes.de

Upgrade on the more expensive model is the Pike and the brakes, rest seems to be the same.

What is wrong with the old bike?

SuspectDevice · Dec 10, 2023

In America at least, many complete DJ bikes are on deep sale. Evil is blowing their bike out, last i heard they still have a few left.

At small frame builder pricing, the Cane Creek Helm DJ, the Ohlins dj fork(both of those are assembled on 27.5” chassis so you get 90 instead of 100mm of travel) and the Pike are all within $60 of each other.

I’ve tried all 3 this year, the Ohlins was ultimately my favorite in terms of spring and damper performance, but the lighter weight of the Pike and the extra cm of travel are mighty nice if you are just out gooning. I like the helm a lot, but swapped the Helm over to a 130mm 27.5 fork for my FS ds bike, it’s nice that it is as simple as a lowers service to convert the Helm into a standard fork.

I avoid the manitou forks because they are too long

(edit- those Rose completes look bitchin for the price, they look almost exactly like the DMR Rythm I have in my basement, but with 3 bolt swapouts instead of 2 bolt swapouts)

iRider · Dec 10, 2023

norbar said:
The old bike is heavy AF. Finding new parts for a 2007 DJ is a PITA and there are some small annoyances with it too which result in me generally wanting something new that will cause me fewer issues.

I was thinking about this rose. Not sure how durable the frame is. Dartmoor two6player evo is 100E more in PL so that's also a competitor.

Is it for pump track use of real DJ-ing?
If it is for pump track use, you can go old XC fork if you are not too heavy. I run a 120 mm Manitou Minute 26" with 20 mm axle on mine. Super light fork.

Yeah, not many straight steerer forks out there anymore.

iRider · Dec 10, 2023

SuspectDevice said:
I avoid the manitou forks because they are too long

Weird, did they change something? My old 120 mm Minute has the same A2C as a 100 mm Marzocchi 4X

SuspectDevice · Dec 10, 2023

iRider said:
Weird, did they change something? My old 120 mm Minute has the same A2C as a 100 mm Marzocchi 4X

That era of M-arch Marz forks was also long!
The reverse arch comes at the cost of making the fork longer so the arch doesn’t hit the downtube. If i were less lazy i would go find the chart i made with the various modern “jump” forks.
On my bikes with straight headtubes I have an amalgam of old XC forks… the improvements in damping and spring over the last 15 years are more noticeable than anything else…

iRider · Dec 10, 2023

SuspectDevice said:
That era of M-arch Marz forks was also long!
The reverse arch comes at the cost of making the fork longer so the arch doesn’t hit the downtube. If i were less lazy i would go find the chart i made with the various modern “jump” forks.
On my bikes with straight headtubes I have an amalgam of old XC forks… the improvements in damping and spring over the last 15 years are more noticeable than anything else…

Thanks, didn't know that. No need to find the chart, I am happy with my setup. Minute was always a pretty progressive fork, so run with higher pressure results in a nice feel on the pump track and good resistance to bottoming out on fu**ed up landings.

SuspectDevice · Dec 10, 2023

(the best option for straight steet tubes i can find in america is a Suntour Epicon… until the damper blows up it will offer almost enough rebound damping, but the stock compression range isn’t very useful at high psi)

HAB · Dec 10, 2023

The Circus at 100 mm travel is 2 mm shorter than a Pike DJ and about 10 mm shorter than the Ohlins or Helm at 90 mm.

SuspectDevice · Dec 10, 2023

oh, lol i musta been looking at the manitou forks at the 130mm lengths, ahahaha.

fwiw
I’m assuming anyone looking for a replacement fork for a frame from 2007 needs a straight steer tube. It’s Manitou and Suntour left in that game… or your buddies basement.

boostindoubles · Dec 10, 2023

Marzocchi Bomber DJ: Mountain Bike Suspension Fork for Dirt Jumping

The all-new Bomber DJ is back in the mix with a whole new bag of tricks. Get the most reliable, burly and ready to send Dirt Jump fork on the market. Sharing the same 36mm chassis as its big brother, the Z1, the DJ comes in a dedicated 26” wheel configuration.

www.marzocchi.com

Anyone have time on a fox/marz dj fork?

It's probably not the boat anchor the DJ3 was back in the day. Bomb proof but so damn heavy, those were!

two-one · Dec 10, 2023

I've had a manitou circus expert 100mm (32mm legs & 20mm axle) for a long time now. Coil spring with air preload, ABS+ damper.
The fork is more than stiff enough for my usage with 26" wheels. The damper is shimmed as their 'jump stack', which means the shim stack is very thick and highly preloaded, so you can lock it out to fully rigid. The rebound knob is a cheap plastic 180deg adjuster though, and the old manitou 20mm hex axle is a pain to remove/mount because of 5 bolts.
They also have a gen2 and gen3 version with 34mm legs, single bolt axle and air springs.
If you can find it cheap, the gen1 is definitely great, just as long as you are not planning to remove the front wheel every ride.

Flo33 · Dec 10, 2023

I still have an unused CSU for the first gen (<2011) 36 with a straight steerer laying around if anybody is in need of one.

Gary · Dec 10, 2023

norbar said:
should I simply swap my parts from my 15 year old DJ bike

It'd kinda help if you told us the bike and it's spec incl what's making it so heavy
Unlike most other mtbs nothing's really changed dramatically with DJ bikes since 2007

toodles · Dec 10, 2023

The Manitou Circus models aren't bad if you've got a 20mm axle front wheel and don't get an eye twitch from the reverse arch. The Pro and Expert are like 2000g, while the coil sprung Comp is 2500g and they seem available in both tapered and straight steerers. The Marz DJ is also a good contender if you're spending that much coin and I think they're usually cheaper than the Pike DJ.

X-Fusion does a Dj fork but I haven't seen or ridden it. The RST dirt model is utter shite and you'd be better off finding a rigid fork at that point. Actually a rigid fork isn't a terrible consideration if you're riding pump track or whatnot.

Just be aware that DJ forks come in both 15mm and 20mm axle versions as well as a bunch of steerer configs. FWIW, most of the price of a DJ bike is in the fork these days so if you're really after a new DJ fork consider the value of a complete build option - particularly now while the industry shits itself after price gouging for the past few years.

MrBaker87 · Dec 10, 2023

two-one said:
I've had a manitou circus expert 100mm (32mm legs & 20mm axle) for a long time now. Coil spring with air preload, ABS+ damper.
The fork is more than stiff enough for my usage with 26" wheels. The damper is shimmed as their 'jump stack', which means the shim stack is very thick and highly preloaded, so you can lock it out to fully rigid. The rebound knob is a cheap plastic 180deg adjuster though, and the old manitou 20mm hex axle is a pain to remove/mount because of 5 bolts.
They also have a gen2 and gen3 version with 34mm legs, single bolt axle and air springs.
If you can find it cheap, the gen1 is definitely great, just as long as you are not planning to remove the front wheel every ride.

I have the same fork on my blk mrkt edit1.

I’ve used it heavily for dirt jumps, gooning around and the very occasional trail.

it’s a fine fork. It’s light enough for me, it locks out hard as a teenager on prom night and it’s easy to maintain. If I were to do the build tomorrow, I’d probably go with marzocchi or a pike just for the slight stiffness increase, though truthfully it’s not a big deal. I think the circus has been updated to have thicker stanchions as well. But not sure.

For proper jumps and pump tracks,you’re going to be running the fork overly stiff and so I wouldn’t personally give a flying fudge about the damper. You aren’t trying to be concerned about trail vibration/traction when you’re riding your intended zones.

my recommendation is to get whatever is cheap or comes from a company that you like, or even that is aesthetically pleasing with your build.

Gary · Dec 12, 2023

in that case I wouldn't even bother fannying around asking what fork to buy and just grab one of the many completes that suits your budget and doesn't have terrible components (incl fork). You really don't need anything other than basic damping on a pumptrack/DJ hardtail. and you'll have warranty should it fail

Gary · Dec 13, 2023

Everything breaks if hit hard enough. But I don't think I've seen a single complete DJ bike under £700 from any decent brand that had a truely terrible weak fork in over a decade.
Quite refreshing when you consider the current piss take in mediocre and above trail/enduro bike pricing.

Gary · Dec 13, 2023

TBF neither hold a candle to the madness that is Roadbike pricing

chuffer · Dec 13, 2023

boostindoubles said:
Marzocchi Bomber DJ: Mountain Bike Suspension Fork for Dirt Jumping

The all-new Bomber DJ is back in the mix with a whole new bag of tricks. Get the most reliable, burly and ready to send Dirt Jump fork on the market. Sharing the same 36mm chassis as its big brother, the Z1, the DJ comes in a dedicated 26” wheel configuration.

www.marzocchi.com

Anyone have time on a fox/marz dj fork?

It's probably not the boat anchor the DJ3 was back in the day. Bomb proof but so damn heavy, those were!

Yeah. It’s lighter than the old stuff Marz stuff fer sure.

It works fine (I am sure any modern dj fork would) for me. Running at max psi and damping fully closed I think, but damping really doesn’t matter. Mostly the fork just takes the edge off / helps avoid catastrophic otb when being a hack.

Gary · Dec 13, 2023

chuffer said:
lighter than the old stuff Marz stuff fer sure.

The OG Marzocchi DJ was a weird fork. A lot of things about the design just didn't make sense. Aesthetically they were made to "look" and "feel" strong rather than actually be any stronger or moar durable. The range was also confusing AF with changing various overcomplicated internals throughout the line and the entry level fork having a completely different chassis and internals (made by Suntour). those things did have elastomers tho so well ahead of the game :brows:

*apparently*
New stuff looks to be far more sensible in every way

Gary · Dec 13, 2023

Comparable?
lol

Jm_ · Dec 14, 2023

DJ Japan Stainless Vieux Paris 3 Cocktail Forks & 1 Cocktail Type Server Fork

sethimus · Dec 14, 2023

Jm_ said:
DJ Japan Stainless Vieux Paris 3 Cocktail Forks & 1 Cocktail Type Server Fork

reported for spam

kidwoo · Dec 14, 2023

sethimus said:
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reported for not believing in magic

Jm_ · Dec 14, 2023

sethimus said:
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Talk to me about affordable DJ forks

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